Cloning VMs in VirtualBox 4.0x w/o The Hassle of Reactivating Windows
Virtual Box 4.x is an open source virtualization software that supports multiple operating systems including Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. It offers excellent performance, and, it is free! It’s a great platform that allows for testing various software systems that do not allow more than one version installed at a time.
This article will provide an overview of the steps you will want to take when cloning your virtual machines to avoid causing Windows to reactivate in the cloned machine. (Note: Be sure you understand your licensing with Microsoft so that you remain in compliance.)
This article assumes a level of familiarity with VirtualBox and working with the virtual drives and machines the program uses. If you are brand new to VirtualBox, this will likely be over your head at first. Note: This outline is specific to VirtualBox 4.0 and above. If you are using VBox 3 or earlier, I do not believe the process is the same and perhaps not even possible with these steps.
Steps to create a virtual machine that you can later clone w/o having to reactivate Windows or Office:
1) Create a new Virtual Machine with a new hard drive – do not install the operating system yet.
2) Use VBoxManage with modifyvm parameter to add a HARDWARE uuid (this is different than a machine UUID which is created at the time you set up the VM initially.)
3) Install Win 7 or Vista. Activate. Install a version of office if you want to have it in your cloned copies and activate it also. I also like to apply all Windows updates and my choice of antivirus/malware protection at this point so as to save time with cloned machines later.
4) Shut down the OS and clone it with VBoxManage.
5) Make a new Virtual machine in VBox using the cloned drive just created – DO NOT START THE VM!!
6) Add the hardware UUID to the newly created vbox file for the new VM – be sure to copy the hardware uuid from the VM that you used as the clone source – this is the key. Windows will see that the UUID is the same, so no activation is triggered.
7) Fire up your new VM – no activation should be needed. Now you have to different VMs to play with. (Be sure you are legal with your licensing.)
Hope that helps! Happy testing.
