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I took a .vhd of my current Windows 7 Lenovo laptop and would like to install it on my Macbook Air Oracle Virtual Box as a new virtual machine. When I import the .vhd file into VirtualBox I am prompted to activate Windows.

If I activate this, will my current Lenovo laptop stop working, and if yes, what should I do?

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    You can't activate both infancy you can't legally use both get a second key
    – Ramhound
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:20
  • I could get a second key and use it with the image I took?
    – Kevin
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:26
  • Yeh, that is fine. It's strictly one unique key per install. It doesn't matter if it's virtual or physical. Microsoft still see a VM as a physical entity when it comes to stuff like this.
    – Yass
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:28
  • Of course you can
    – Ramhound
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:29
  • Oh okay great thank you so much! So if I used the key from my Lenovo laptop, that would've disabled windows on that machine?
    – Kevin
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:31

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Kevin, I would not activate the Windows 7 OS for virtual box. I am not sure what you're using it for, but Windows 7 will work just fine without being activated. I have four machines and three Windows 7 OSs have not been activated for over a year. I have legal keys, but the issue is that each key can only be activated several times before Microsoft red flags it. Once this happens, you will have to call Microsoft and manually activate your OS over the phone. Because I am constantly reformating my drive, or loading OSs into virtual Box like you, I do not activate them until I am sure I will never uninstal and reactivate them. I hope this makes sense.

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  • I'm mainly using it for SQL and access. Thanks for your reply
    – Kevin
    Sep 5, 2013 at 20:46
  • In that case, I would not definately not activate the OS. I am going to assume you'll be using SQL Server or MYSQL and both have a hefty learning curve. I had to reformat my HDD several time when I first started learning SSRS. Sep 5, 2013 at 20:51
  • Thanks again for your help Josh. I got a license and everything works!
    – Kevin
    Sep 6, 2013 at 12:54
  • So, you went ahead and activated it anyway? Sep 6, 2013 at 13:49
  • Yes because I will be doing application development in Visual Studio and will be using SQL Server as the database. I work with them everyday so I'm past the learning curve!
    – Kevin
    Sep 6, 2013 at 15:05

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