I know about the key validation for XP and every OS coming after it.  I used to work at a call center in Phoenix and caught one of my co workers writing down the XP key on the sticker stuck to the computer at one of the workstations.  Some years before that I worked at a company that wrote a couple of applications.  They had a couple of MSDN subscriptions so the developers could test the software to make sure nothing from Microsoft conflicted with anything they wrote.  They only had dialup the first six months I worked there.  They knew I took some classes at GCC at the time so every time they needed to download something that was way too big for dialup, they'd hand me a zip disc and send me to GCC to download whatever they needed.  They laid me off in December 01 but it wasn't until May 02 they changed the username and password on the company web server.  Apparently they weren't the most security conscious firm back then.

On 11/22/2011 21:43, Stephen wrote:

Microsoft does not copy protect themedia at all. It does liknk a given media to a series of keys OEM is different from retail is different from msdn etcetera.

The real thing is inthe activation to their servers. If they pick up to many they invalidate they key malling you call in and prove you really own it. Not hard but an extra step and safety catch.

This is done so you can make a backup of your media as they key is supposed to be affixed to the machine.

On Nov 22, 2011 9:05 PM, "Derek Trotter" <expat.arizonan@gmail.com> wrote:
Mark I understand you don't have the install discs for windows 7.  This has me wondering if there is some copy protection scheme that makes it difficult to copy the windows 7 install disc(s).  If so is there a linux program that will get around it?

Disclaimer:  I'm not condoning the use of pirated software in violation of any applicable laws where you live.  There is considerable expense involved in replacing a legit copy of any micro$oft OS.  So a backup would come in handy.

On 11/22/2011 18:40, Mark Phillips wrote:
I have managed to fill up my laptop's dual boot (Win 7 and Debian testing) 320 GB drive, so I have a new shiny 750 GB drive to install. I have tried to use Clonezilla, and it keeps failing because the old drive has 512 byte sectors and the new drive has 4096 byte sectors. No problem; I will just create a system image of the Windows partitions to move that to the new drive, net install Debian testing, and copy over my user files.

However, I was thinking that I could get rid of the dual boot and just virtualize the Windows partition. My questions - 

1. Can I create a virtual version of my Windows 7 Home Premium using the system recovery disk and the backup on my external usb drive? So far, it installs to the new 750 GB drive with no issues. I don't have any original media disks. 

2. Vmware or Virtualbox? Do either one support usb so I can run iTunes on my virtual Windows drive? A while ago I was able to get vmware to run off of the Windows disk partition, but it seemed to break every time I ran an upgrade on Debian, and it was a pain to get it to work each time. I don't want to fiddle with this approach again, unless I have to.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Mark





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Please protect my address like I protect yours. When sending messages to multiple recipients, always use the BCC: (Blind carbon copy) and not To: or CC:. Also remove all of the addresses from the message body before forwarding the message. These simple measures prevent spy programs from capturing the addresses shown in the recipient list and the message body.