Windows XP licenses with Parallels and Boot Camp

[Phasma Felis]

I've got a copy of Windows XP running under Boot Camp on my MacBook. I discovered too late that the Parallels beta feature "use a Boot Camp partition" doesn't work with more than two partitions, as discussed here. I'd like to install another copy of XP on a Parallels virtual drive, but I'm not sure how that will affect my Windows license. I got my install disc with an MSDN subscription which entitles me to install it on (I believe) five different machines. Will an installation under Parallels on the same machine count against that number? What if I wipe the existing partitions and reinstall XP with Boot Camp, then use the Boot Camp partition with Parallels?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. I never have been able to find a straight answer on exactly how Microsoft's OS licenses work. Thanks for your help!

 

[drval]

I've got a copy of Windows XP running under Boot Camp on my MacBook. I discovered too late that the Parallels beta feature "use a Boot Camp partition" doesn't work with more than two partitions, as discussed here. I'd like to install another copy of XP on a Parallels virtual drive, but I'm not sure how that will affect my Windows license. I got my install disc with an MSDN subscription which entitles me to install it on (I believe) five different machines. Will an installation under Parallels on the same machine count against that number? What if I wipe the existing partitions and reinstall XP with Boot Camp, then use the Boot Camp partition with Parallels?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. I never have been able to find a straight answer on exactly how Microsoft's OS licenses work. Thanks for your help!

I don't entirely how their licensing works either but, I just did an install of 3120 on a MacBookPro that had a Boot Camp installation. The install seemed to go fine but I was told that I had to reactivate Windows, which I did in a phone call as my internet connection to that laptop was not operational at the time. They asked if I was running a single copy of XP on a single machine and when I said yes they gave me the code.