3036: Win-XP Home Re-Activation issue/problem

T

trent

Bit poster
I guess it's more efficient to start an own thread for discussing this issue/problem of the new Parallels Desktop for Mac 3036.

So here it goes.

First word about this new version: Great! Good work guys, very impressive. :)

But here's my problem:

macguyincali said:
Weird. I got the Virtualized BootCamp to work but it says I need to reactivate windows due to some sort of hardware change. I was able to reactivate in BootCamp but then in Parallels it asked me to reactivate and it tells me I have exceeded the number of times I can use this. Ouch. Now what? Did I do something wrong?

BTW, the new update is pretty cool otherwise. I'm impressed with all the work they've put into this. Definitely well spent money. (still waiting for my Garmin device to work with it though...)
Click to expand...

I have the exact same problem. My situation is the following: I'm using Parallels Desktop for Mac with one Windows Home Ed. ( KEY 1). The purpose of this system is to get some programs working which don't run under Mac OS X. It's working fine. On the other hand I've Boot Camp installed with another Windows Home Ed. (KEY 2). The purpose of this partition is gaming. I've bought two Windows Licenses & CD's with different keys of course, so very legal at all, since the VM and the native partition are "two" PC's on my MacBook Pro.
Now I'm being asked for re-activation (i understand this technically since the 3rd VM under Parallels is a "new" PC with "new" hardware).

But is there a way to avoid this reactivation by Windows? I mean i got already two legal copies and i don't want to buy a third one. I know mainly it's up to Microsoft with this problem and not to the Parallels team but is there any chance to get through this?

Thx in advance and keep the good work up guys! ;)
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
DaemonCollector said:
Welp....according to the beta notes for 3094 the activation issue has been resolved. Our work here is done. I wonder if they used our method...or something a little cleaner. The world may never know :)
Click to expand...

Probably it's cleaner. I guess so because those multiple windows and hardware profiles introduced in the last public beta have disappeared.

The new coherence mode is fantastic. I wonder how it will be in the final release. Bombastic, I assume!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
the new beta sounds great, but I haven't got coherence to work yet. but the VM isn't crashing and I can boot into Windows from Parallels again so I'm making progress!

I'm glad that Parallels is taking the Activation issue on, but it's still not working 100% for me. I cannot wait for the stable release coming up. This is one of the best software investments I have ever made.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm not even going to bother with it. sjs bascially fixed my activation problem and I fixed a USB problem I was having. From what I'm reading in the thread on the new beta, if I installed it I might risk getting those issues back and developing new ones! I'll just wait for beta 3.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I called Microsoft this morning and directly asked them what sort of license I need to install XP twice on the same machine, once directly on the hardware and once in a virtual machine. They stated categorically that I would need two XP licenses for this, so it doesn't look as though they are going to do much to help resolve the problem. I find their attitude a little foolish and greedy, and in the long run it will probably hurt them rather than help them... :mad:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Issue with XP Pro activation

I have successfully installed parallels and through this i installed my copy of Windows XP Pro, but during the installation process i was asked to activate my XP Pro, i did this, but as soon as i continue (after the activation step) the screen image comes up with the Windows "Logging Off" then the usual "saving your settings" once it has done this, the message titled "Windows Product Activation" pops up saying "This copy of Windows must be activated with Microsoft before you can log on. Do you want to activate Windows now?" > i click "Yes"

and then as soon as it comes into the "Windows Product Activation" screen, there is a message saying "Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit." > i click "OK"

and then it repeats this process of "logging off... saving settings" then the message "Windows Product Activation... this copy of windows must be activated... do you want to activate windows now.." the same message as before. I am stuck in this process and i have no other options that i am aware of to continue and successfully get into my Windows desktop. I activated my Windows the correct way, over the telephone, after the internet activation didn't work.

If anyone is able to help me past this activation error, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Dean
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Khoji said:
I called Microsoft this morning and directly asked them what sort of license I need to install XP twice on the same machine, once directly on the hardware and once in a virtual machine. They stated categorically that I would need two XP licenses for this, so it doesn't look as though they are going to do much to help resolve the problem. I find their attitude a little foolish and greedy, and in the long run it will probably hurt them rather than help them... :mad:
Click to expand...
That sucks.

I would have thought that an installation on the same physical computer, on the same physical hard drive qualified as a single license even if it was run (1) directly and (2) via parallels. :(
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
See the end of thread;

http://forums.parallels.com/thread12874-2.html

I belive this may be relevant. I use one copy of XP and switch seamlessly betweent BC and VM. The trick is changing the "realtek" VM interface driver to match the real "en0" MAC address.

Also; Taken from VMware Forum is seems memory thresholds can trigger it reactivation request too. I give XP 1024mb in VM.

Known Issues
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.


Tim
--
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top