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Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual machine?

Operating System, Common Application & ThinkPad Utilities Questions...
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Nickolai
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Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual machine?

#1 Post by Nickolai » Sat May 24, 2014 5:27 am

I'm buying a used ThinkPad with a Windows license. I will be using a computer with Linux and run Windows in a virtual machine (I'd like to try QEMU/KVM with video pass-through, to try to achieve near 100% video performance) Can I transfer my licensed Windows from bare metal to a virtual machine?
ThinkPad X61s 12.1 1024x768 | CD 1.60 LV | 4GB | 120GB Samsung SSD
sold: ThinkPad X200s (7470-A22) 12.1 1440x900 | CD 1.86 LV | 8 GB | 120GB Intel 520 SSD | BT+abg | Ubuntu
sold: ThinkPad X200 (7459W4T) 12.1 1280x800 | CD 2.26 MV | Ubuntu, IBM X60s (1702-64M) 12.1 1024x768 | CD 1.66LV | Ubuntu

theterminator93
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Re: Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual mach

#2 Post by theterminator93 » Sat May 24, 2014 6:17 am

The only thing I can think of to try would be to use imaging software (Ghost, FOG, etc) to create an image of the physical disk, then image the virtual machine from that created image.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
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Nickolai
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Re: Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual mach

#3 Post by Nickolai » Sat May 24, 2014 7:06 am

Yes, there certainly should be some imaging software involved, though I must figure out which one will support the format needed for QEMU-KVM. Maybe I'll have to use QEMU's own qemu-img, but can it read physical disks? Maybe I'll have to use another imaging software first, and then convert an image with qemu-kvm.

Unless I'll reinstall OS from scratch: it's nice to have such an option. Should I be generally able to reinstall Windows from scratch and still use the license I'm given with the laptop?
ThinkPad X61s 12.1 1024x768 | CD 1.60 LV | 4GB | 120GB Samsung SSD
sold: ThinkPad X200s (7470-A22) 12.1 1440x900 | CD 1.86 LV | 8 GB | 120GB Intel 520 SSD | BT+abg | Ubuntu
sold: ThinkPad X200 (7459W4T) 12.1 1280x800 | CD 2.26 MV | Ubuntu, IBM X60s (1702-64M) 12.1 1024x768 | CD 1.66LV | Ubuntu

rumbero
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Re: Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual mach

#4 Post by rumbero » Sat May 24, 2014 8:55 am

I'd suggest to create a standard VHD using disk2vhd and use this as a basis for further conversions or transfers. Did that once to convert an existing Windows Vista system to use it with qemu-kvm. Still works fine.
A few 14.1" and 15" T61+ Frankenpads and one T480

theterminator93
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Re: Can I transfer Windows from bare metal to a virtual mach

#5 Post by theterminator93 » Sat May 24, 2014 11:38 am

Nickolai wrote:Unless I'll reinstall OS from scratch: it's nice to have such an option. Should I be generally able to reinstall Windows from scratch and still use the license I'm given with the laptop?
In general, no - the key is matched to the hardware detected by the OS. If more than a couple key hardware components change, the key won't activate the OS. However - if the license key on the sticker on the laptop hasn't been used to activate the software before (a generic key is used on laptops shipped from the factory), you can probably do it.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
600|770Z|770|760XD|760EL|701C|755C

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