[Answered] Cloning Windows 10 Pro to a VM - licence issue?

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by MS-BOSS, Jan 21, 2026.

  1. MS-BOSS

    MS-BOSS MDL Member

    Jun 24, 2015
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    Hi,

    I'm using Windows 10 Pro (ESU) on a business laptop (Thinkpad) and would like to image the drive and restore it in a VM, on another computer (to test some things there). But this will be a problem with Windows licencing AFAIK.

    How can I prevent my business laptop going "Windows not genuine"? Would it help if I used KMS_VL_ALL on the cloned machine in VM to (re-)activate Windows, would that solve the problem? I need to be sure, becuse I use the laptop in a business company (local account, not domain).

    Thank you for help in advance!
     
  2. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

    Oct 30, 2009
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    It should not get that message but when you linked the hwid to the MSA (online windows account) it happened in the past but since HWID on the fly and now MAS you can simply re-activate it.
     
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  3. MS-BOSS

    MS-BOSS MDL Member

    Jun 24, 2015
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    I don't use online windows account for Windows. So will I have a problem if i just clone it into VM on another computer? Will I be more sure if I (re-)activate Windows in the VM using KMS_VL_ALL, or I don't have to? (I have used KMS_VL_ALL and before and it works well, I have never used HWID yet)
     
  4. MS-BOSS

    MS-BOSS MDL Member

    Jun 24, 2015
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    PS: I'm not sure if I explained myself well. I have a legal OEM Windows 10 Pro licence on the laptop. And I want to clone the disk to a VM on another host machine. So do I have to do anything to prevent licence issues (OEM Windows on 2 different machines) and if so, what? Should I re-activate Windows in the VM with KMS_VL_ALL solution? Again, thanks.
     
  5. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

    Oct 30, 2009
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    By MSDM Bios Key (real OEM activation for 8/10) it should never show not genuine but it is now a HWID so what does it matter, MSFT can't see the difference anyway.
     
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  6. CaptainKirk1966

    CaptainKirk1966 One of the Green Guys
    Staff Member

    Oct 31, 2009
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    The original laptop will be fine. The cloned image that runs in the VM will need to be re-activated. The best way to re-activate the clone would be visit massgrave.dev, run the recommended powershell script , and use the hwid method.
     
  7. MS-BOSS

    MS-BOSS MDL Member

    Jun 24, 2015
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    Thank you guys!