VirtualBox

[Patrick Asselman]

On 06 Aug 2014, at 22:13, Dick Dowdell <dick.dowdell at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 2:57 PM, Gene Heskett <gheskett at wdtv.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday 06 August 2014 13:14:51 compdoc did opine
> And Gene did reply:
> > > Hard drives, net cards, and even motherboards die.  To be forced to
> > > buy
> >
> > yet another copy
> >
> >
> > I replace dead motherboards and drives for customers on a monthly
> > basis, and reinstall Windows each time using the same license.
> > Microsoft is very generous and cooperative is this regard.
> >
> You might be able reach them on the phone in a timely manner, at the
> number shown in the paper accompanying the license key. I OTOH, as the CE
> at a tv station with a news reporter whose motherboard died keeping the
> back of my neck warm, don't have time to listen to their hideous music on
> hold for the hours or in one case several days, starting a fresh call
> every morning about 8:30 Redmond time, putting that crap on the speaker
> phone because I really did have other things to do until such time as they
> deign to answer the blinking light.
> 
> > It amazes me how anyone can justify piracy based on their lack of IT
> > skills, or their bias towards Microsoft or the music industry or any
> > entity because they charge for their products.
> 
> I have yet to talk to anyone at Microsoft that didn't spend the first 5
> minutes of the conversation berating me because as far as they were
> concerned, I was just another pie-rat.
> 
> > And this doesn't excuse the stupidity of suggesting the use of infected
> > software in these lists. The very first hit on google for ' Remove***'
> > tells you to disable your AV before running. The reason for that is
> > the infection it includes.
> >
> > I'm not a gambler, but I would be willing bet that Liam will be
> > responsible for the infection of dozens if not hundreds of computers
> > by the time these posts circulate the web in the next few days. Not to
> > mention being responsible for piracy of that many copies of Windows.
> >
> > Windows is a great product.
> 
> Until it breaks.
> 
> > And so is Ubuntu. Have some integrity and
> > show some intelligence.
> 
> Integrity?  I have no problem admitting I am wrong.  It has even happened
> on this list a few times.
> 
> Intelligence? I was tested at 147 on the Iowa IQ test in '47.  I made a
> 98% on the AFQT in the Korean war years along with about 135 other kids,
> whose next best score was 36%. More recently I kept a medium market tv
> station on the air for the last 18 years of my working life, but back up
> the log I had fingerprints in the cameras that were on the Trieste when it
> went down into the mohole in 1960, I sat for the 1st phone in '62 without
> cracking a book, and I did the same for the journeyman C.E.T. certificate
> a decade later, each time turning in the finished tests in 1/3 to 1/4th of
> time allocated.  All that on an 8th grade education because I got bored
> and decided I'd druther fix these newfangled things called tv's.  I went
> to get a GED because the then new wife insisted. 2 weeks later, no
> pass/fail had been received.
> 
> Cornering the test administrator at the post office, I asked about it and
> his reply was "why do you care? You WERE just doing it for the exercise
> weren't you?"  Damn, guilty as charged. ;-)
> 
> I also have a diploma from the University of Hard Knocks, where I got the
> majority of my schooling since even in the 4th decade of the last century,
> the schools were being dumbed down.
> 
> So be careful whose intelligence you impugn.  Us old farts can be a
> treacherous lot...
> 
> Cheers, Gene Heskett
> --
> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>  soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
> -Ed Howdershelt (Author)
> Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>
> US V Castleman, SCOTUS, Mar 2014 is grounds for Impeaching SCOTUS
> 
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> 
> I too have run afoul of overly restrictive Microsoft licensing rules.  My laptop came with Windows 7 Pro and I wanted to use Ubuntu with a Windows 7 virtual guest.  After making my Windows recovery media, I reformatted the hard drive, installed Ubuntu and VBox, created a Win 7 VM, and installed Windows 7 from my recovery DVD.  I was unable to activate Windows because Microsoft tied the license to the specific machine and would not accept a VM on the same piece of hardware.  No amount of discussion with Microsoft was able to solve that problem.  Even though I owned the machine and the Windows license for that machine and was installing it on only that one machine, I could not activate it.
> 
> I have to agree that Microsoft has been very flexible with Windows licenses that I have purchased directly and that I have been able to move them from motherboard to motherboard and machine to machine over time (only one PC at a time) with a simple phone call to Microsoft.  The only problem is with licenses that came installed on a PC.
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This is because MS has different license agreements for both cases.

The preinstalled Windows that most people use ("OEM version") is tied to one computer. MS decided that you can change just about everything on the computer, but if you change the motherboard they define it to be another computer and you need a new license. With one exception: if your motherboard is broken and you replace it with a same type of motherboard your license is still valid (but you may need to contact them to get it to work). 

The Windows that you buy over the counter ("Retail version") is not tied to one computer. You can happily switch it over from one computer to another, however you may only use it on one computer at any one time. (In practice i think there is a limit to the number of times you can move it to another computer). This version is not used a lot though, simply because it is a lot more expensive.

To confuse things further the OEM versions are supposed to not be sold over the counter, but they are. By buying it and installing it on your home built hardware you are violating the license agreement. (Though I don't think anyone was ever penalised for doing so.) This is why MS now has a third type of license called "OEM system builder". 

Apparently MS considers a virtual machine to be a new computer, even if it is located on the original computer that had the OEM version installed. Which is weird because the argument for it seems to be technical: you cannot determine whether your virtual machine is located on the original PC. In legal terms I don't see the point of this reasoning. 


And then they wonder why there are so many pirated copies of Windows out there. You need a degree in computer science as well as a law degree to understand the MS licensing. Using OSX, Linux or BSD you just download the operating system and install it.  :-)


Best regards,
Patrick Asselman
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