Windows 10: Throwaway VM licensing

Hi, I have a concern regarding Windows 10 licensing of virtual machines that are, effectively, throwaway environments.


In my company we are given a laptop with everything preinstalled and licensed appropriately. However, it is not possible for us to work with a single installation of Windows 10 since we need access to multiple versions of the same program that can't be installed simultaneously, as well as accessing several different VPNs at the same time, and other concerns that require a different system for each environment.


In order to do this, I thought it would be possible to install throwaway virtual machines that we use to install specific program groups and then delete the machine completely after it has served its purpose. To some extent, act like containers with their apps, VPNs, configuration, etc. But this isn't the case apparently, as I'm being asked to activate the throwaway machine, and I have no means to do that.


I would like to know if there's any version of Windows 10 that we can use without having to purchase a separate license, as my problem here is the Windows 10 monopoly not allowing me to use an alternative OS, and my laptop license is already being paid for.


Thanks in advance.

:)

 

VM Licenses

I'm using a Dell PC with a factory installed OEM version of Windows 10 Pro.

My work requires me to use program editing software from many different vendors, these software titles often don't work well and can cause issue with the PC they are installed on. My thought is to isolate them by using VMs with the software for each vendor
installed on it's own VM - isolated from my Host and the other VMs I would use for other editors.

My new PC with Win10 OEM would be the host. Only 1 VM would be used on the host at a time but there would be as many as 10 different VMs I could run on the host.

Can I copy my host OS to the VM with my OEM license?

If I can't, and I need a new license for the VMs can I use 1 license for the multiple VMs?

Is there an upgrade from OEM to FPP ?

Pat

 

Questions on Windows 10 licensing for a Hyper-V VM

I have a Windows 10 Pro machine which supports virtualization.

I want to create a hyper-V VM running Windows 10 as the guest host. I have some questions on licensing and any activation issues that might occur

1. I expect I'll need to buy a 2nd Win 10 license
   • Does it need to be a retail license?
   • Or can I a buy an OEM license? (I’ll always use the 2nd license for a virtual machine on the same PC but never run more then one VM at a time)
2. If i wanted to create multiple VMs (gen-1 and gen-2) could I use that 2nd license each time? Again, assuming i'll never actually having more then one VM running at a time.
3. And just curious: Does anyone know if MS simply recognizes 2 licenses both for the same PC? If I did a fresh reinstall in the future, would it make any difference which license i lthen used for the PC and which for the VM?

 

Licensing Windows 10 within VMs

I'm a developer, and I'm sorta paranoid, so all my computers run Linux in work mode. I have a HDD with an official install of W7 for gaming, but some of my customers need me into Windows. So the natural answer is a Virtual Machine.

• Can I buy a license of W10 and then install into a VM?
• Or (better) upgrade one of my test VMs with an official license and begin to work with it?
• Will I be able to run multiple instances of that VM (never simultaneous, just one instance each time, in my laptop when I'm out OR my desktop when I'm home)?

I did my search about it, but I cannot find explicit clear answers, just some ppl (assumed Microsoft staff) saying yes, and some (assumed Ms staff too) saying no.

I also bought TWO "cheap" licenses of W10 in Amazon from a digital store, and the activation center denies them. I can live with it, because they were really cheap and I bought them as a test before spending real cash into an official license to see it not
working.