Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16215 PC + 15222 Mobile Insider

For future considerations ??

CountMike said:

For future considerations ??

May be. Think this build is packed with "placeholders" for new features. It happened before. With new features, there are always bugs...

One nice new feature is "protected folders" for Windows defender... Don't know if it's fully functional yet.

Just tried in place upgrade (thank to Kari's UUP2ISO..) and it didn't resolve Edge's problems. Kinda missing it, as FF is not nearly so fast and responsive (old machine here for Insider).

Next step is clean install, or just waiting for new build.

wen said:

I have a Dell XPS-8700 Desktop with newly purchased WD Black 1TB HDD and Samsung SSD 850PRO 512 GB. SSD is Primary drive with OS and everything else (programs) on it. It's half full. WD 1TB is completely empty.

Can I "Clone" SSD to HDD, and Dual Boot to either drive ?? I plan on using HDD for 16215 and future Insider Updates, and SSD for everyday use with NO Insider Updates. I heard I would need ANOTHER Serial Number from Microsoft for the second drive (HDD).

Is this TRUE ????

Thanks

You can clone ssd to hdd but then you would have to select which drive to use as boot drive from bios.

However, you can remove efi partition (assuming UEFI) on hdd and use bcdedit commands to dual boot pc with a menu so you do not need to use bios.

I advise that you clean instal Windows 10 on hdd, and join Insider and update to latest Insider version.

You do not need a second licence to run Windows 10 off hdd as same mobo. Technically, it would be a violation of EULA if version on hdd was a release version, but this does not apply to Insider versions as they have their own EULA.

wen said:

Can I "Clone" SSD to HDD, and Dual Boot to either drive ?? I plan on using HDD for 16215 and future Insider Updates, and SSD for everyday use with NO Insider Updates. I heard I would need ANOTHER Serial Number from Microsoft for the second drive (HDD).

cereberus said:

You do not need a second licence to run Windows 10 off hdd as same mobo. Technically, it would be a violation of EULA if version on hdd was a release version, but this does not apply to Insider versions as they have their own EULA.

As Cereberus told, you will not need another product key or license as long as both Windows installations are same edition. One digital license per PC activates all Windows installs of same edition on that machine, regardless of dual / multi boot method (boot menu / BIOS / EFI boot device selection, swappable disks),

I posted this some time ago in another thread:

Kari said:

Microsoft might be forced to rewrite W10 EULA completely. For instance, take this:

2.***** Installation and Use Rights.

a.***** License. The software is licensed, not sold. Under this agreement, we grant you the right to install and run one instance of the software on your device (the licensed device), for use by one person at a time, so long as you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Updating or upgrading from non-genuine software with software from Microsoft or authorized sources does not make your original version or the updated/upgraded version genuine, and in that situation, you do not have a license to use the software.

(https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Uset...10_English.htm)

However, they do no longer accept two product keys for same edition on one digitally licensed device. Basically, if you run two installs of same edition on dual boot system, you would need two product keys and licenses according to EULA. However, you can test this by yourself if you have spare keys to use, if you install second copy of same edition on a machine that already has Windows digitally licensed, it will be automatically activated with first install's digital license.

If you want to be honest and change product key of this second installation, then restart to first installation and check you will notice that also its product key used has been changed to the second key. All installs of same edition will always use the same, last used product key for that install.

You simply cannot anymore use more than a single product key for one edition on one PC, regardless if you have it installed two, three or even more times side by side on multiboot system. One key per machine, all additional installs of same edition on different partitions, even native boot VHDs use the same key and all will be activated.

Kari

Even more subtly, if you upgraded from Windows 8 and wanted to install that alongside Windows 10, that also works as Windows 8 key remains valid. This is a more obvious EULA violation but if you apply the EULA change suggested above, then the above is not unreasonable as you can only run one version at a time.

What is clearly illegal would be installing Windows 8 on a separate PC.

The whole EULA has so many holes in it, it resembles swiss cheese now. For example, EULA makes it clear oem licences are tied to original pc, but then MS brought out the activation troubleshooter which enables transfer of oems to other pcs albeit this can only be done a limited number of times.

So now oem licences have limited transferability, but the EULA has not been updated to reflect that. MS claim it only applies to mobo changes, but when do enough changes constitute a new pc?

Even more interestingly, it seems you can run Windows 10 indefinitely unactivated but you cannot personalise it - the EULA is very grey in this area as to its legality. A side effect of this, it reduces the incentive for pirated versions, use of dodgy volume licence keys etc.

In reality, the only conclusion one can draw is MS do not really care that much about rigidly policing the licencing and are more interested in getting/keeping people in the Windows 10 ecosphere.

As a reality check, it is only a tiny portion of domestic users who replace mobos or buy new pcs without licences. By a vast majority, most pcs come with oem preinstalled licences.

I am willing to bet it would cost more to police the EULA than the revenue loss by essentially taking a pragmatic honour based system approach.

cereberus said:

The whole EULA has so many holes in it, it resembles swiss cheese now.

I can quite honestly say that I have done my best to get Microsoft or Software Alliance (anti-piracy organisation, founded by Microsoft and other major players) to answer this question: do I break any laws or Windows 10 EULA by using several side-by-side installations of same Windows edition on multiboot system with one digital license?

In January I tweeted this, and sent email to both Microsoft and Software Allieance:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter

As I got no replies, I have emailed both. No answer.

As long as I get no answer, I consider current Windows 10 EULA being not valid, allowing me to run multiple installs of same edition on multiboot system with one digital license.

Kari

LOL testing my "solution" for failing upgrades, I now got an error message I have never seen before:



Long way to go...

Kari said:

I can quite honestly say that I have done my best to get Microsoft or Software Alliance (anti-piracy organisation, founded by Microsoft and other major players) to answer this question: do I break any laws or Windows 10 EULA by using several side-by-side installations of same Windows edition on multiboot system with one digital license?

In January I tweeted this, and sent email to both Microsoft and Software Allieance:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter

As I got no replies, I have emailed both. No answer.

As long as I get no answer, I consider current Windows 10 EULA being not valid, allowing me to run multiple installs of same edition on multiboot system with one digital license.

Kari

I take your viewpoint that the EULA does not accurately reflect the current licensing system. What is legal is to uninstall one version, reinstall another, and later reverse them.

By dual booting, you can still only use one version at any one time, but you are merely taking out the administrative hassle of swapping version by uninstalling/reinstalling.

Frankly, I do not care about a minor transgression and I think a clever lawyer could argue this is a reasonable approach to take.

Like you, I totally discourage piracy whereby a user runs multiple pcs with only one licence.

The grey area is virtual machines needing a separate licence. For release builds, I can see the argument which is basically you are enhancing productivity by running two versions at same time. This is debatable point of course.

However for Insider builds I do not really see why you need a licence to run it in a vm so long as you have a valid host licence. Insider versions hardly enhance productivity, and we are MS's unpaid testing division.