Vista Activation + Bootcamp 1.3 + Build 4124

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by gooberdlx, Jun 11, 2007.

  1. islagrancan

    islagrancan Bit poster

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    I guess we are all Mac people and so don't know much about windows, but the activation seems to be driven by the fact that Vista sees new ACPI hardware - I wonder if Parallels could spoof the virtual hardware to look like the physical hardware and therefore take care of this issue? Or is there some way that we could stop Windows trying to install new drivers for ACPI, and that would be enough to stop the activation?
    Windows Vista seems to boot fine on the old ACPI driver even though it wants to install a new one . . .
     
  2. Archy

    Archy Bit poster

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    OK. Thank you for answers.

    Right behavior:
    If your Vista is activated in native Boot Camp after running it in Parallels, installing Tools and several reboots it must stay activated in native Boot Camp.
    Vista asks for activation in Parallels - it is normal.
    After activating in native Boot Camp and in Parallels Vista won't bother you again.
     
  3. Archy

    Archy Bit poster

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    Regarding ACPI reinstalling - it will be fixed in next free update.
     
  4. islagrancan

    islagrancan Bit poster

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    Thanks for the feedback Archy, I will try activating in Parallels as well and will post back if there are problems. Glad to hear that the ACPI issue is being looked at!
     
  5. Voodoobobx

    Voodoobobx Bit poster

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    Activated in Parallels first...

    I installed Vista Business using Boot Camp 1.3.
    Installed Parallels 3.0 4128 Trial and Booted Vista into it. (will buy full activation before my trial runs out)
    I activated my Vista installation within Parallels (maybe stupidly).:confused:
    Now I am unable to activate in Boot Camp. Is there anything I can do to make this work?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
  6. twoods

    twoods Member

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    I can not comment on Vista but I would sure like to know if the below holds true as it does for XP since I will be upgrading very soon.

    With windows XP, at startup one thing it checks to see is if the primary MAC address used at activation has changed. If it has then it will report that there's been significant hardware changes and ask you to reactivate.

    By default the Parallels VM assigns a virtual MAC address to the "realtek" driver interface which differs from the system's real hardware MAC address for "en0" (built-in ethernet) interface. The "en0" MAC address is used when you start boot camp in native hardware mode. So each time you switch between the two operating modes (VM boot camp or native boot camp) windows detects a different MAC address and thus the request to reactive which then gets recorded as the new MAC tied to the license.

    To overcome this (at least in XP) you simply change the "realtek" virtual MAC address to match the true hardware "en0" MAC address. So now regardless of which mode you boot in the MAC address remains the same and windows XP is happy. As an additional note I use the "shared network" setting in Parallels and this has not adversely affected any of my applications, VPN operations, wireless access, or Evdo access.

    Procedure:
    ------------------
    1st determine your "en0" mac address. Two ways to do this.

    1) In OS X open a console window and type "ifconfig en0" you will see something in the output that looks like; ether 00:16:cb:c9:da:53 (my example)

    or...

    2) In OS X you can open your "System Preferences" and select the "Network" icon. From there in the "show" drop down window select "Built-in Ethernet", click the "Ethernet" menu tab and you should see something like; Ethernet ID: 00:16:cb:c9:da:53

    - Armed with this info fire-up Parallels and after selecting your VM image (do not start it) go to the top Parallels menu bar and under "Edit" select "Virtual Machine".

    - You should now be looking at the "Configuation Editor" for your VM.

    - Select "Network Adapter 1" and then click on the "Advanced" tab top right.

    - In the "MAC address" field replace the virtual mac address of the Realtek 8029(AS) with the real hardware mac address of your en0. i.e. 0016cbc9da53 omitting the colons.

    This does the trick for XP but not sure for Vista.

    ALSO...

    Memory thresholds may trigger a reactivation request. See the excerpt below found on VMware's forum which would hold true to Parallels too... (I give XP 1024mb)

    Known Issues (from VMware site)
    Product Activation
    The Microsoft Windows XP product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of the virtual machine might require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.

    Set the final memory size for your virtual machine before you activate Windows XP. When you cross certain thresholds—approximately 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB—the product activation feature sees the changes as significant.

    Note The size reported to the Windows product activation feature is slightly less than the actual amount configured for the virtual machine. For example, 128MB is interpreted as falling in the 64MB–127MB range.

    Install VMware Tools before you activate Windows XP. When the SVGA driver in the VMware Tools package is installed, it activates features in the virtual graphics adapter that make it appear to Windows XP as a new graphics adapter.


    Regards,

    Tim
    --
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2007
  7. rogerimp

    rogerimp Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Vista Boot camp asks for activation in Parallels

    1. Was your Vista activated in native Boot Camp before installing Parallels Desktop?

    Yes

    2. Are your Vista still activated in native Boot Camp after installing Parallels Desktop and several reboots to Boot Camp then in Parallels?

    ??? My copy of Vista always boots without an activation warning when I'm in boot camp. When running Parallels Desktop, it always complains of an invalid activation.

    3. Have you activated Vista in VM?

    No.

    4. Are your Vista activated in Parallels after that?

    N/A (answer to #3 is no)

    5. In native Boot Camp?

    N/A (answer to #3 is no)
     
  8. rogerimp

    rogerimp Bit poster

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    Can anyone verify Archy's response?

    Has anyone verified this to be true? I'm still squeamish about activating a second time. I don't want to destroy my expensive new OS.
     
  9. NyQuilKid

    NyQuilKid Bit poster

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    I tried that and it did not work - I booted into BootCamp, re-activated and then when into MacOSX Parallels and opened my BC Vista install - I tried to re-activate there but it stated teh key was already in use.

    This latest build effectively make my Parallels Vista BC useless - VMWare Fusion Beta still works however. If I call up MSFT to get another key, does anyone know if that will screw up my BootCamp install, which is activated and working?

    My Specs:
    Host OS: MacOSX 10.4.10
    Guest OS: Vista Ultimate OEM installed on BootCamp partition
    Parallels 3.0 build 4128

    [8F] The NyQuil Kid
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2007
  10. boygenius

    boygenius Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    If you have troubles with inactive Vista running from Boot Camp partition please answer my questions:
    1. Was your Vista activated in native Boot Camp before installing Parallels Desktop?
    YES


    2. Are your Vista still activated in native Boot Camp after installing Parallels Desktop and several reboots to Boot Camp then in Parallels?
    YES

    3. Have you activated Vista in VM?
    NO

    4. Are your Vista activated in Parallels after that?
    (SEE #3)

    5. In native Boot Camp?
    (SEE #3)

    Thank you for your answers.
     
  11. moose88

    moose88 Bit poster

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    The nice people at microsoft ;) use automated activation via phone now.
    after you give them your install id. They will ask some questions (also automated)
    the questions are as follows:
    1) is the the first time you have installed windows on this computer? Say yes
    2) is this the only computer with this copy of windows installed on it? say yes
    3) has your computer had any changes or repairs to it recently? say yes
    4) have you changed the processor or other hardware on the motherboard say yes
    5) have you replaced your motherboard? say NO


    anyway my install of windows xp kept crashing in parallels and since i had to install about mmm 8 times till it worked I got to talk to the nice automated voice lady alot:rolleyes:

    EDIT: yea i said xp. Im pretty sure they do vista this way too. Correct me if im wrong.
     
  12. rogerimp

    rogerimp Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Just not working

    Well, activating again within Parallels just isn't working. MS thinks this activation is in use. This is the second time I bought the full version of Parallels and I still can't use it with my boot camp vista system. Sucks.
     
  13. Ynot

    Ynot Pro

    Messages:
    387
    rogerimp, Parallels can't hack your activation! :)

    So you should have at least one activation available for guest Windows. If you activated your Vista before some times (5 as far as i remember) and all your activation tries are used, you can't activate Vista in Parallels and Parallels can't do anything with this issue.
     
  14. rogerimp

    rogerimp Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    I only activated my newly purchased copy of Vista once. In boot camp. It continues to be valid in boot camp.

    Anytime I boot the boot camp partition in parallels, Windows tells me my activation is invalid. Also when I try to activate it from within parallels, Microsoft tells me my activation is in use and they can't activate it.

    Again, I have only activated successfully once.

    I purchased Parallels 2.0 because it said it worked with vista and it worked with boot camp. Only after purchasing did I realize it doesn't work with Vista + Boot Camp. I bought Parallels 3.0 because it said it worked with Vista on Boot Camp. I've bought the software twice and have gotten it to work zero times. I'm not very happy with my experience thus far.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2007
  15. premierm

    premierm Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Same Thing Here

    I have the same issue as rogerimp.

    I have been reading this thread for a while, and was hoping that with this new release the problem would have been solved, but alas, it has not.

    My Vista program still asks me for proper validation from my boot camp partition even though I can log into it directly no problem. But the whole reason for purchasing Paralles was to access the program simultaneously with my Mac operating system. This however has not been posible.

    Please come up with a fix soon,

    anxiously awaiting...
     
  16. jetownsend@mac.com

    jetownsend@mac.com Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Parallels and Boot Camp

    And I have the same issue they do. Vista thinks it's running on a different machine when it's running under Parallels virtualization than it was when it was booted and previously activated with Boot Camp, and asks to be re-activated with a new product key. What do we do?
     
  17. nickel4242

    nickel4242 Junior Member

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  18. timlaw

    timlaw Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Not ACPI bios



    I had this problem. I noticed that Parallels had selected Windows XP as the operating system type for my bootcamp partition. I changed it to Vista and then everything worked fine after that.
     
  19. cope23@msn.com

    cope23@msn.com Junior Member

    Messages:
    10
    1) I have a 100% Genuine copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. This is a BootCamp Install and has been running in Parallel 3.0 for about 3-4 months -- no issues.

    2) Yesterday -- It would not let me log in. Code:0xC004E002. "The Software License Service Reported that the license store contains inconsistent data"

    3) When I log in via BootCamp (native into Vista -- same UID) it initally says -- not genuine software. Then is corrects itself, says it is genuine.

    4) log out, log back in -- no issues in BootCamp. I repeated this with both my named user and the Admin user

    5) Go back to OSX, start parallels, same issue -- wont log in, "not genuine"

    6) Go back to bootcamp same as Step #3 (initally not genuine, then genuine)

    I have deleted my parallels BC; and reinstalled. Same issue (except that I get to login once and not be able to use anything as it says I am not valid...)
     
  20. bulletproof

    bulletproof Member

    Messages:
    26
    My post here will resolve the BSOD issues (...the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM and Stop Error 0x0000007b) that arise from installing Parallels 3 and using it with Boot Camp, but will not resolve the activation issue.

    The reason reactivation is an issue is because of the significant hardware changed detected by Windows when switching from Boot Camp to Parallels, or vice versa. When using Boot Camp, Windows has complete access to all hardware in your Mac. When using Parallels, Windows has a different Hard Disk Controller, Video Card, and Processor core count. Which ever configuration you have Windows activated under will cause the other to be invalid.

    Parallels will need to come up with a way to allow Windows to run without "Significant Hardware Changes" or a way to duplicate and change the files that Windows uses for activation, so that the installation under Parallels shows that it is active, without affecting the Windows installation under Boot Camp...
     

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