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Windows Forum / Virtual PC / May 2008DELL Lock-in
I'm looking to replace a couple of machines for the Helpdesk / testing team, we currently have DELLs with KVM switches and/or multi-boot operating systems to support Windows 2000 / XP and various versions of Internet Explorer(I think all our customers have finally moved on from 98 now!) I'd like to replace the KVM/multiboot configurations with single machines with lots of memory/storage and Virtual PC to accomodate differnt configurations we need, probably running VISTA business. (Early copies of VISTA we had were replaced with XP downgrades) but from what I've seen the recent updates have improved things and some of the problems were DELL supplying unsupported hardware/drivers. My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win 2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions. Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC? Any advice appreciated!  SignatureJohn Franks MIScT, MIAP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDBA > Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware As you have rightly stated, Dell OEM versions of Windows will not install on non-Dell hardware, and that includes virtual machines running on Dell hosts... > is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run > under Virtual PC? Any Microsoft Partner or VAR will happily sell you these... SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net >> is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run >> under Virtual PC? > > Any Microsoft Partner or VAR will happily sell you these... Serious? I could buy, say, Win95 licenses now? Windows 2000? (If'n I had the need.) Signature.NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org I doubt that VARs would sell you a Win9x/ME license, but you can get them from places like eBay. There are dozens of Win95 there today. >>> is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run >>> under Virtual PC? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Serious? I could buy, say, Win95 licenses now? Windows 2000? (If'n I > had the need.) >>>> is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run >>>> under Virtual PC? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I doubt that VARs would sell you a Win9x/ME license, Me too, which is why I wondered about that suggestion. > but you can get them > from places like eBay. There are dozens of Win95 there today. Sure, but I was wondering about "legit" new license sources, rather than recycled ones. (Me, personally, I can get just 'em from my MSDN archive.) Signature.NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org Some of them are advertised as new upopened boxes. There is nothing unlegit with buying a "recycled" license as long as the EULA permits transfer of the license (retail upgrade and standard licenses are) and the seller provides the info that the software is not in use on any machine. I consider having been used for a previous upgrade as "in use" even though the software is not currently installed. You may not be able to get a Win95 license another way at this late date. Just use good judgment regarding the seller. >>>>> is it possible to obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to >>>>> run [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > (Me, personally, I can get just 'em from my MSDN archive.) > Some of them are advertised as new upopened boxes. There is nothing unlegit > with buying a "recycled" license as long as the EULA permits transfer of the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > currently installed. You may not be able to get a Win95 license another way > at this late date. Just use good judgment regarding the seller. Understood, on all accounts. Which, of course, is what led me to my initial response. :-) Signature.NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org >My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as >I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But >I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win >2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions. Actually you can't even do that with the DELL OEM version, it's against the EULA as a virtual machine is considered a separate machine and the BIOS is different, so those version probably wont even install in VPC. >Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to >obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC? Buying legal full versions from someone else is about it. XP is still for sale through June 30th from Microsoft I think... SignatureBob Comer >I'm looking to replace a couple of machines for the Helpdesk / testing team, >we currently have DELLs with KVM switches and/or multi-boot operating systems [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > >Any advice appreciated! Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well but this makes perfect sense! We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position - possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine? Looking at the specs for Virtual PC it seems to be the perfect answer for our needs but unless we have access to the previous versions it's actually useless to us. I guess I'll have to stick to the KVM solution. Perhaps MS should put a note in the spec that only "full" copies of previous OS's will work not OEMs. I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black market. SignatureJohn Franks MIScT, MIAP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDBA > >My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as > >I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > > >Any advice appreciated! >Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well >but this makes perfect sense! No problem, glad to help. >We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making >versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position - >possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine? That would be an interesting way to do it. Maybe you should suggest this to Microsoft. An MSDN subscription for each tech would get most of the OS's you need, but the license stipulates you can only use it for testing and development. >I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences >second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black >market. Yes and no I guess is the best answer. I'm not a lawyer, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but full retail copies can be sold second hand as they're license is transferable. OEM copies usually aren't, as well as something like education copies I think. I understand not wanting to chance it though... SignatureBob Comer >Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well >but this makes perfect sense! [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black >market. Thanks again Bob, we do have an MSDN subscription - I hadn't thought of looking in there - since the legacy systems will be used for testing new versions of our software and I think that trying to replicate customer's problems relating to their configuration could legitimately be classed as "testing" this should solve our problem and keep my conscience clear! SignatureJohn Franks MIScT, MIAP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDBA > >Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well > >but this makes perfect sense! [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > >second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black > >market. > Thanks again Bob, we do have an MSDN subscription - I hadn't thought of > looking in there - since the legacy systems will be used for testing new > versions of our software and I think that trying to replicate customer's > problems relating to their configuration could legitimately be classed as > "testing" this should solve our problem and keep my conscience clear! AFAIK, copies of Win9x and Win2000 are not available on MSDN due to the Sun Java settlement (an absurd situation, IMHO). Likewise for Visual Studio 6. SignatureDavid Wilkinson Visual C++ MVP Win9x and 2000 have been on MSDN long after the settlement with Sun. In fact Microsoft virtual machine was in XP Gold as well. It was removed with XP SP1a. >> Thanks again Bob, we do have an MSDN subscription - I hadn't thought of >> looking in there - since the legacy systems will be used for testing new [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Sun Java settlement (an absurd situation, IMHO). Likewise for Visual > Studio 6. > AFAIK, copies of Win9x and Win2000 are not available on MSDN Windows 95 isn't. Windows 98 is. Windows 2000 Professional isn't. Windows 2000 Server is. Visual Studio 6 is. SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net >> AFAIK, copies of Win9x and Win2000 are not available on MSDN > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Windows 2000 Server is. > Visual Studio 6 is. Mark: I think if you look more carefully, none of these products is in fact available, even if they appear to be listed. Some of them explicitly say they have been removed due to the Sun Settlement. I know I tried hard to get Windows 2000 and Visual C++ 6 from MSDN a couple of years ago and was not able to. SignatureDavid Wilkinson Visual C++ MVP The licenses for retail copies permit transfer so it is legal use a second hand one. The caveat is that you need assurance from the seller that the license is not in use on any computer and has not been superceded by an upgrade license. The terms of the OEM licenses themselves are sufficient to prohibit thier transfer to any device, physical or virtual, and of course that covers usage of resales. > Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as > well [quoted text clipped - 65 lines] >> > >> >Any advice appreciated! |
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