Cliff S said:

Virtually overlooked: Upgrade your Windows 10 VMs while they're still free | ZDNet

When you say clone, do you mean a straight copy of VM (as opposed to some kind of cloning tool?

I basically backup my vms just by copying the vm file directory using file explorer. I cannot (like you) see point of messing with rollback etc.

With VMWare (not sure about others), if you backup copy a copy of windows 10 with a digital licence eg version 10586, then you decide to open up backup copy at some time, you must select "I moved it" rather than "I copied it", or else the virtual hardware id changes and the install deactivates.

Of course, you are in potential EULA violation territory, using the "I moved it option", as you could theoretically run two vms from same licence. On my laptop, running two at same time is so slow as to make blatant EULA violation impractical anyway.

cereberus said:

When you say clone, do you mean a straight copy of VM (as opposed to some kind of cloning tool?

I basically backup my vms just by copying the vm file directory using file explorer. I cannot (like you) see point of messing with rollback etc.

With VMWare (not sure about others), if you backup copy a copy of windows 10 with a digital licence eg version 10586, then you decide to open up backup copy at some time, you must select "I moved it" rather than "I copied it", or else the virtual hardware id changes and the install deactivates.

Of course, you are in potential EULA violation territory, using the "I moved it option", as you could theoretically run two vms from same licence. On my laptop, running two at same time is so slow as to make blatant EULA violation impractical anyway.

From the article, I'm guessing, by clone they mean an image copy of the VM, however your hypervisor does it, ie.. VMWare-> copying, Hyper-V -> exporting, and so on.
The copy, is for, if you accidentally nuke your machine or have a harddrive failure and so on. I have my VM's on a 2nd internal SSD, but @Kari told me I should export a copy of the activated VM to a external disk for safe keeping(I use Hyper-V) according to @Brink's tutorial and Kari's video: Hyper-V Virtual Machine - Export in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

There are ways to go against EULA on a hardware machines too, so... just don't do it!

This is primarily for non windows users, that need a VM to run specific software(Mac users, or Linux User, Free BSD and so on).
Support for the older Windows versions, will eventually end as they reach end of life, and having a digital license for 10 on the VM, will be needed to keep using Windows safely, or if the 3rd party vendor, gives up support for older Windows versions.

cereberus said:

I cannot (like you) see point of messing with rollback etc..

The Checkpoint feature in Hyper-V is like a restore point on steroids which can be created and applied in seconds. There are multiple reasons to use them. It's clever virtualization, not "messing up" with anything.

A good example. Two months after first Windows 10 Tech Preview was released, I decided to test if an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to 10 was possible, keeping installed software and files. I did this on Hyper-V virtual machine, installing XP and going from there.

When XP and software were installed, I created a checkpoint and upgraded to Vista. Checking everything works I again created a checkpoint before upgrading to Windows 7, and so on. At the end my checkpoint list looked like this:

(Screenshot from In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps - Windows 10 Forums)

When ready, I could go back to XP in seconds simply applying the checkpoint, then go to Windows 8.1, back to Vista and so on.

The best part of checkpoints is they can be "forked", creating a new checkpoint subtree. Let's say I wanted to play with Vista a bit more, install loads of software just for fun of it , customize it. what ever. A new fork, subtree of checkpoints had been created from the base Vista checkpoint, allowing me to jump back to any other Windows version on my checkpoint list, then back to Vista > Installed Office checkpoint, from there jump to XP to play a game, back to Vista > Installed RailRoad Tycoon checkpoint, occasionally jump to Windows 10 to do build upgrade and new checkpoint, and so on.

cereberus said:

With VMWare (not sure about others), if you backup copy a copy of windows 10 with a digital licence eg version 10586, then you decide to open up backup copy at some time, you must select "I moved it" rather than "I copied it", or else the virtual hardware id changes and the install deactivates.

Of course, you are in potential EULA violation territory, using the "I moved it option", as you could theoretically run two vms from same licence. On my laptop, running two at same time is so slow as to make blatant EULA violation impractical anyway.

Hyper-V can only register one instance of a vm with same GUID, that would not work in Hyper-V. I accept and understand that, using same GUID / activation on two machines is clear violation of EULA.

If a vm with same GUID than an existing vm has will be imported, Hyper-V tells the machine cannot be registered because it already exists.

Cliff S said:

... I should export a copy of the activated VM to a external disk for safe keeping(I use Hyper-V) according to @Brink's tutorial and Kari's video: Hyper-V Virtual Machine - Export in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Think exporting a Hyper-V vm as system backup. You might want to wipe your VM disk, reinstall Windows, whatever, an exported VM can always be imported back to Hyper-V keeping the GUID and activation.

Kari

Kari said:

The Checkpoint feature in Hyper-V is like a restore point on steroids which can be created and applied in seconds. There are multiple reasons to use them. It's clever virtualization, not "messing up" with anything.

A good example. Two months after first Windows 10 Tech Preview was released, I decided to test if an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to 10 was possible, keeping installed software and files. I did this on Hyper-V virtual machine, installing XP and going from there.

When XP and software were installed, I created a checkpoint and upgraded to Vista. Checking everything works I again created a checkpoint before upgrading to Windows 7, and so on. At the end my checkpoint list looked like this:

(Screenshot from In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps - Windows 10 Forums)

When ready, I could go back to XP in seconds simply applying the checkpoint, then go to Windows 8.1, back to Vista and so on.

The best part of checkpoints is they can be "forked", creating a new checkpoint subtree. Let's say I wanted to play with Vista a bit more, install loads of software just for fun of it , customize it. what ever. A new fork, subtree of checkpoints had been created from the base Vista checkpoint, allowing me to jump back to any other Windows version on my checkpoint list, then back to Vista > Installed Office checkpoint, from there jump to XP to play a game, back to Vista > Installed RailRoad Tycoon checkpoint, occasionally jump to Windows 10 to do build upgrade and new checkpoint, and so on.




Hyper-V can only register one instance of a vm with same GUID, that would not work in Hyper-V. I accept and understand that, using same GUID / activation on two machines is clear violation of EULA.

If a vm with same GUID than an existing vm has will be imported, Hyper-V tells the machine cannot be registered because it already exists.




Think exporting a Hyper-V vm as system backup. You might want to wipe your VM disk, reinstall Windows, whatever, an exported VM can always be imported back to Hyper-V keeping the GUID and activation.

Kari

Thanks. I assume if I put an unactivated PRO on my pc, as an Insider build, it would never remain in existence long enough to actually expire would it?

Not really a big deal to reinstall anyway as I only want to experiment with Hyper-V before I decide to buy a licence. I accept the vm os will also be unactivated.


This does not violate any EULA terms does it?

Get a 90 day VM from Microsoft:
Windows 10 Enterprise | TechNet Evaluation Center

Free Virtual Machines from IE8 to MS Edge - Microsoft Edge Development

cereberus said:

Thanks. I assume if I put an unactivated PRO on my pc, as an Insider build, it would never remain in existence long enough to actually expire would it??

See Cliff's post:

Cliff S said:

Get a 90 day VM from Microsoft:
Windows 10 Enterprise | TechNet Evaluation Center

Free Virtual Machines from IE8 to MS Edge - Microsoft Edge Development

I show how to use those free 90 day pre-installed Windows 10 VHDs in these two tutorials for 7 and 8 users as a way to test Windows 10 on real hardware before deciding if upgrade is OK:

• Windows 10 - Test Try with No Risk, No Install - Windows 7 Forums
• Windows 10 - Test Try with No Risk, No Install - Windows 8 Forums

Notice that the process shown in Eight Forums tutorial is exactly the same you'd need to do in Windows 10 to use one of those VHDs on your system, as I tell in our video thread (see the yellow Tip box at the end of the post quote):

Kari said:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter

New video: Windows 10 - Test & Try with No Risk, No Installation needed (for Win8 users)

Video is meant to show Windows 8 / 8.1 users how to test Windows 10 risk free on their real physical hardware, without any virtualization or need to install Windows 10, using a pre-installed 90 day trial version of Windows 10 on a virtual hard disk in dual / native boot.

Very simple procedure, totally free for 90 days, lets you test & try Windows 10 in dual native VHD boot before upgrading. Time needed for the whole process (not counting download & ZIP extraction time) = one minute :)



Full video description and tutorial at EightForums.com: Windows 10 - Test Try with No Risk, No Install

This is basically the same than tut & video posted earlier for Windows 7 users, however the process is different enough in Windows 8 to justify its own tut & video.

Extra credits and kudos to our resident GFX guru @kado897 for title background and Windows 8 wallpaper.

   Tip

Are you Windows 10 Stable Release user, wanting to test latest Insider Preview builds before deciding if opting in is something for you?

Although this video is made for Windows 8 / 8.1, the process of using pre-installed Windows 10 Insider Preview on a VHD in native dual boot is exactly the same in Windows 10. This video and tutorial apply as they are to Windows 10, letting you test Insider build on your real hardware without installing it, with no risk.

cereberus said:

Not really a big deal to reinstall anyway as I only want to experiment with Hyper-V before I decide to buy a licence. I accept the vm os will also be unactivated.

This does not violate any EULA terms does it?

Even if you decided not to use the 90 day trial VHD and went with installing PRO without product key on dual boot, it would not be against EULA. You are allowed to install it and use to test before activating.

If you decide to go native VHD boot route and have any questions or issues, post in this TF tutorial thread: Hyper-V - Native Boot VHD - Windows 10 Forums

Kari