Bootcamp Win10 + VM on Bootcamp activation?

[lsh]

I ran Win8 Pro on Bootcamp on my mid 2012 rMPB with VMWare Fusion VM based on the bootcamp partition.
Win8 was activated on both bootcamp and under VMWare but I do remember having to do a phone activation.

I successfully upgraded and activated Win10 Pro under Bootcamp 7 days ago, but new VM won't activate. Reading VMWARE and Parallels forums, this might be a systemic problem. Some posters have suggested it just takes time but I'm still waiting.

Has anyone gotten both a bootcamp and VM Win10 activated on both? If so, please explain how you got it done!

 

[Gjwilly]

A physical machine and a virtual machine are two different machines and require two different licenses under the Microsoft EULA.
They may have been more lenient in the past but given that Windows 10 was a fee upgrade for most, they may be closing that loophole.

 

[NOTNlCE]

The reason this happens is because Windows activation is tied to a motherboard. When booting with Fusion, Windows thinks that it is in a new computer or that you have cloned it to a different drive, resulting in a non-activation. This used to happen all the time on my 3,1 when I would boot up a Boot Camp drive under Fusion. I am unfamiliar with a way to activate Windows under both iterations, but I have also never had it cause me an issue. Just simply says "Windows is not activated" under the VM. Boot back into the system in standalone, and it's fine.

 

[IowaLynn]

Paragon's HDM 15 v 3 supports bootable cloning and Windows 10. Use to be VMware Fusion's Tools utility had to be installed and would then support dual boot and VM. Proper sequence of activation and VM which should be the same so maybe Tools has to be upgraded still.

 

[Demigod Mac]

Just got off the phone with VMWare on this issue. They were able to reproduce it in the lab and are working with MS on a solution but said it will be a while.

I gave in and bought a Windows 10 OEM license and it works, phone activation and everything.

There is a thread on Reddit with a workaround; I tried it and it worked but as soon as you make any change to the VM it breaks activation, so it's really unsuitable for a production environment.

 

[pastrychef]

My Bootcamp drive is activated in Windows 10 and when used as a virtual machine with Fusion. I really don't know how I did it, though...

 

[haralds]

I ran Win8 Pro on Bootcamp on my mid 2012 rMPB with VMWare Fusion VM based on the bootcamp partition.
Win8 was activated on both bootcamp and under VMWare but I do remember having to do a phone activation.

I successfully upgraded and activated Win10 Pro under Bootcamp 7 days ago, but new VM won't activate. Reading VMWARE and Parallels forums, this might be a systemic problem. Some posters have suggested it just takes time but I'm still waiting.

Has anyone gotten both a bootcamp and VM Win10 activated on both? If so, please explain how you got it done!

I found that you have to wait a bit. I ended up just ignoring it for a while. I also found that Boot Camp 6 activation worked better for the MacBook Pro without the monitor attached.

 

[Demigod Mac]

I found that you have to wait a bit. I ended up just ignoring it for a while. I also found that Boot Camp 6 activation worked better for the MacBook Pro without the monitor attached.

Just checked my test MBP and sure enough, VM was activated again. Remained even after I changed the CPU count. Weird. I guess it's working fine now?

Still don't regret buying a full license for my production Mac Pro, however. Don't need activation drama now or at any time in the future.

 

[Demigod Mac]

Okay so, when I switched to Bootcamp and back, the activation broke again. I imagine it'll be OK again on the VM in a few days? So it's an endless cycle of breaking and fixing itself, it would seem.

 

[Demigod Mac]

And, it's back and activated again in VM. So this is less reliable than I'd like, but I'll take it as my MBP is more my test bench/travel machine and not a production machine.