Windows 10: How to activate Windows 10 guest in VirtualBox

I have updated my OS to Windows 10 which has been activated during the upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64bit.

I have added Windows 10 as a guest in Virtualbox, how do I validate the Windows 10 guest?

:)

 

Moving a Windows 10 virtualbox guest pc to a new host. Any issues?

I have a virtualbox pc running Windows 10 Home (upgraded from Windows 7 Home Premium, which was installed with a full retail key). I need to move this guest to a new host. I've done this before with Win7 guests, although sometimes I've had to do the
telephone re-authentication. Are there any issues with doing this with Windows 10?

(And no, I'm not trying to run 2 copies of this guest. I'll be doing a full shutdown of the guest, and virtualbox. I'll copy the files to the new host and remove them from the old host after the migration is successful.)

 

Problem accessing shared folder in VirtualBox (Host is Mac OSX. Guest is Windows 10)

I have been running Windows 10 in VirtualBox and accessing files across OS's via a shared folder.

Windows updated this morning and now I've lost access to the shared folder.

I've removed the folder from the VirtualBox Shared Folder list (Windows is booted up). Have re-added the folder (Automount and Make Permanent set). I've restarted a number of times. No impact.

Tried re-installing VirtualBox Guest Additions. This fails with "No device Ids found ...unknown error (0xE0000301)".

Have re-downloaded VirtualBox and re-installed. Still no share and still can't install guest additions.

Can anyone help?

 

Installing Windows 10 to a virtual machine, same activation rules apply as in installing to any new computer. Your options are:

• Install and activate a qualifying OS (Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1) on virtual machine, then upgrade it to Windows 10
• Buy a Windows 10 license for clean install

You cannot just clean install Windows on a computer, be it a real physical one or a virtual machine, and expect it to be activated without a valid product key.

 

I have tied everything legal and morally correct, forget it. I just needed to test some software(beta versions of MBAE & MBAM and some theme patching software) and how it interacts with Windows, I copied the machine a few times to do this, and after each test deleted it. I didn't USE it for an alternate OS or anything like that, just a throw away, so I wouldn't have to image & re-image my whole SSD constantly(save writes).

So depending on what you want to do, for a legal OS to use you will need a retail license, but to test and throw away after, it'll work long enough(just create a local account and don't use the apps to be on the safe side).
THIS IS ONLY FOR A TEST MACHINE- I just wanted to make that clear for anyone else that reads the thread, sorry for the caps.*Smile*Wink

 

Thank you both, too much trouble for a permanent installation, I will use the test method.

Linux looks much more inviting each day, jumping through Microsoft hoops is becoming a bit tiresome.

 

I have also an Ubuntu VM that I keep permanently on my Win10 host*Smile.

 

I'm confused why you say that. I bought a license for Windows and I am running (and using that same license I paid for) in a VM in VirtualBox.

Are you saying that Microsoft should give away their OS for free? Windows 10 is not free. It is a free upgrade if (and only if) you have a legit legacy (7 or 8) version. Otherwise you have to buy it as normal.

I use CentOS (for free), OSX (for free), walking down the road (for free), getting on a plane (not for free, generally), going to a restaurant (not for free).

If suddenly you thought you could steal (and it was OK) then I could travel the world and eat every day for nothing.

Life doesn't work like that though.

EDIT: It would be nice though... Perhaps.

 

Damn cheek!! I have always bought retail versions for 98SE, XP and Win 7 Ultimate and was able to Dual boot or run a copy in Virtualbox on the same hardware as the original installation, which I thought might be possible for Windows 10.

In future keep your self righteous comments to yourself, they add nothing to the Windows 10 knowledge base.

 

My esteemed fellow member gave you a factual and correct answer. It is not his fault that this is how the Windows 10 activation works: with one product key you get one valid and activated installation, be it a real physical machine or a virtual machine.

Users seem to think a virtual machine running on an activated host is something special, granting special rights. Sorry but that is not the case. A virtual machine is for the activation system exactly as any real, physical machine; it is its own entity, it has its own machine ID, it is an individual computer, same activation rules applying to it as if it was a normal physical computer.

It is for Windows and the system totally irrelevant if you install Windows 10 on a physical machine and on a virtual machine; both of them need to be validated. A Windows 10 installation can be validated either by upgrading from a qualifying OS, or by using a bought product key. The third option is the Windows Insider option, only valid if you joined the Windows Insider program before the launch and are upgrading the same machine, real or virtual, in which you already had a Windows Insider build installed and activated before the July 29th.

 

Your esteemed fellow member was very short on facts and very liberal with uncalled for insulting remarks.

 

If it is for testing purposes, then why you have to activate it in the first place? Windows allow you to use the computer for 30 days (I think) before they ask for activation again. You said that you install some application and then format the virtual machine. I don't see where is the need to activate Windows, unless your application depends on that. It is not illegal to use Windows inactivated for testing purposes. In fact when I was working at a computer store, we had a PC with the new then Vista installed for customers to experiment with. We kept it inactivated to avoid paying for a license. Each 30 days we had to format the disk and reinstall Windows to keep it working. For the use we had it, for testing purposes, this wasn't illegal and we took that inconvenience.

Then you said that you could activate older Windows versions such as Windows 7 and 8 in virtual any time. IF you could, why don't you do that again? Install Windows 7 or 8 in the virtual machine, activate it and then upgrade to 10. Now you should be able to automatically activate. If done once and you don't change the hardware of your virtual machine, next time you can go straight to 10 and activate again.

I hope you don't ask us to tell you how to illegally activate Windows 10 permanently. You should know that we would never do it in this forum even if we knew how. "When you were going (to school to learn tricks), I was graduating", we say in Greece. You cannot trick us!

 

OK, as I have done this (and struggled through it) this is what I needed to do (ymmv):

1. You need to have a license for you VM. Your VM is seen as a different computer. If you have not bought a separate license then you may as well stop now.

2. If you have not already upgrade to VirtualBox to version 5 on the host (I have upgraded to Windows 10 on both OSX and Windows 8.1 hosts). I'd recommend it - it works better.

3. In the Guest uninstall the VirtualBox Windows 8 display adapter (otherwise upgrade will fail at 60-70%). This is really boring as it takes about an hour before you get there.

4. upgrade the guest as normal upgrade.

I'd recommend that you download the ISO to use for the upgrade from Tech Bench as the ISO you get via the media tool has a compressed .wim that is less useful - it works OK for upgrade but doesn't work for dism or other MS tools. The Tech Bench version is only about 1GB larger (for x64 en-US which I use).

Now if you want to argue about whether MS should give you a free license for a VirtualBox VM take it up with them (MS - Oracle would not care) but the bottom line is they don't. Any VM needs a license and you need to either buy one or do something else which I'm really not interested in discussing.

As @spapakons says there are free time limited trial versions (90 days normally) you can use if you don't want to buy a full license. If you prefer to do that you can download one from here Virtual Machine (VM), Windows Virtual PC BrowserStack : Microsoft Edge Dev