Activation problem with Vista Business, Apple MacBook Pro, Bootcam

[Guest]

I cannot figure out why my installation can't be activated properly, and I
can't find any option for contacting a person at Microsoft without paying a
$60 fee--just to activate the Windows Vista copy that I bought in August 2007.

First I got my Apple MacBook Pro and installed Bootcamp 1.4beta. I installed
Windows Vista Business 32-bit from a legit Windows Vista installation CD I
purchased. When I booted into Vista, I put in the proper product key and was
give a valid activation code.

Next I installed VMWare Fusion, the beta version available in August. (Since
then I have updated versions of VMWare Fusion as they became available).

The problem is that the first time I switched from running Windows Vista
Business under BootCamp to running it as a virtual machine under VMWare
Fusion, Windows Vista decided that I had switched hardware and that it was on
a whole new machine (which it isn't, naturally). I was able to register again.

But from that time forward, when I run Windows Vista under VMWare, it
indicates that it is properly registered. But whenever I try to switch to
Bootcamp, Vista indicates that it is not registered, will expire in 3 days,
and that I cannot use the activation code that I previously used to register
Vista under Bootcamp.

I get a Windows Activation message that says:

"The product key you typed is already in use. To activate Windows you will
need another Windows Vista Business product key. I do not have another
Windows Vista Business product key and need t obuy a new one online."

Of course it tells me I have to spend $265 to get that key.

How can I resolve this problem, and how can I contact a Windows support
person?

I have only one computer, established methods of using Vista, and as far as
i know everything is legal. How do I get out of this mess?

 

[Guest]

I want to emphasize something.

My installation is NOT Windows Vista in a Boot Camp partition and then
another copy of Windows Vista in a VMWare virtual machine.

I installed Windows Vista in Boot Camp. Then I installed VMWare Fusion in
such a way that every time I start up VMWare, it uses the installation in
Boot Camp as a quasi virtual machine. So there are NOT two installations of
Vista on my system. There is only one.

Why is it that Vista can't handle this situation, and how do I resolve it?

Thanks,

Wheat Williams
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

 

[Paul Randall]

I want to emphasize something.

My installation is NOT Windows Vista in a Boot Camp partition and then
another copy of Windows Vista in a VMWare virtual machine.

I installed Windows Vista in Boot Camp. Then I installed VMWare Fusion in
such a way that every time I start up VMWare, it uses the installation in
Boot Camp as a quasi virtual machine. So there are NOT two installations
of
Vista on my system. There is only one.

Why is it that Vista can't handle this situation, and how do I resolve it?

Thanks,

Wheat Williams
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

For what its worth, you have 90 days of free support from Microsoft:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=11734

From Vista's point of view (looking at the system it is running on at the
time), it thinks the Boot Camp host is a significantly different computer
than the VMWare host. You can do the phone activation thing each time you
boot up differently than the previous boot. It is a royal pain. Microsoft
will criple your system any time it thinks you have changed your hardware
significantly -- you are guilty until proven innocent. On PCs, some
automatic updates trigger the reactivation requirement -- you may find the
same situation on your system.

On the other hand, Microsoft never said Vista would work the way you want on
your system. Maybe the vendors of Boot Camp & VMWare did, but that's not
Microsoft's problem. It seems to me that Boot Camp & VMWare could get
together and present the identical interface to Vista so it thinks it is on
the same hardware from either system. That is the purpose of
virtualization, isn't it -- to make something seem to be something else?

-Paul Randall

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your observations. I will persist until I find out what I need to
do to resolve this.

For what its worth, you have 90 days of free support from Microsoft:

Unfortunately I don't. I got some tech support for something unrelated about
90 days ago. When I try to get the support you are referring to, I get the
"This will cost you $59per incident" message.

You can do the phone activation thing each time you
boot up differently than the previous boot. It is a royal pain.

Once again, no I can't. I have tried that, and the phone system says "We
cannot process your invalid activation code" or something like that.

Microsoft
will criple your system any time it thinks you have changed your hardware
significantly -- you are guilty until proven innocent.

This is one of the reasons that I am principally a Macintosh user and only
want to run Vista for some occasional compatibility issues. Mac OS X comes in
only one version that does everything for $129, as opposed to the six
different versions of Vista with different capabilities and widely divergent
prices. And if you buy an upgrade to the latest Mac OS X for your Mac, you
can install it any way you like and there is no copy protection and no
validation. No DRM. You can modify your system and hardware any way you want,
change anything, wipe your hard drive and get a new one, reinstall, and Apple
won't cripple your system or make you re-register anything. Provided, of
course, that it's an Apple Macintosh computer you are installing on in the
first place. If you have four Macs in your house, you can upgrade all of them
for one $180 family Mac OS X license, and again, no copy protection, no
validation, no product keys, no phoning home, no disabling anything remotely.
How do you Windows users put up with this?

On the other hand, Microsoft never said Vista would work the way you want on
your system.

I have to take issue with this. Microsoft has published the rules on which
versions of Windows Vista can be legally used in a virtualization setting
according to their EULA. I have observed that. Even though VMware would work
with Vista Home Basic, for instance, the Microsoft EULA says that is a no-no,
so I avoided that version. I'm compliant. I just can't find a way to explain
to Microsoft that I am compliant. That's what galls me.

It seems to me that Boot Camp & VMWare could get
together and present the identical interface to Vista so it thinks it is on
the same hardware from either system.

I am also posting my problem on the VMware Fusion user support forums to see
if other people have experience with the same situation I'm in. Next up is
the Apple Boot Camp support forum.

 

[Rabbit]

This is dealt with in Fusion 1.1beta and on VMware forums.

Seems like if Parallels has a way, VMware would. However, I was not pleased
with the "generic" video support drivers that Fusion Toolkit killed my
Nvidia drivers which then had to be reinstalled.

So now I run Vista 99% and only use OS X for updates to firmware and such.

(MacPro Business + Home Premium x64)