Windows 7 VM's

Has anybody tried creating a Windows 7 virtual machine lately?

I called Microsoft to see what type of license I would need to purchase to create 4 or 5 virtual machines for myself. I was told they no longer sell Windows 7 licenses and that I should try a retailer... oh, and I should be careful because a lot of those licenses are counterfeit or are used...

They then tried to upsell me to a Windows 10 license for my virtual machines. the whole point of wanting a Windows 7 license is because so much of my software doesn't play well with Windows 10.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so, how were you able to resolve it legally?

I bought a volume license from a company in NY that a person at microsoft told me about.

They said that I would have to by 5 license.

I said I only need 1

So they worked it out where they sold me 4 dummy something another's for a few bucks each and 1 license for windows 7.

I will see if I can find their info for you.

BCS

If you have the Win7 .iso or CD buy a Win10 license with downgrade rights (OEM or Volume Licensing); it is the easiest way.

Otherwise, buy the Win10 license with downgrade rights, download the Win10 .iso, install it and then downgrade to Win7.

I bought a Windows 7 Professional With Service Pack 1(OEM) 64Bit license on Amazon.

We ended up buying Windows Enterprise licenses with Windows Software Assurance. You have to buy a minimum of 5 licenses. Each license allows you to run up to 4 VM's on a host machine. With Windows Software Assurance you can install any version of Windows on a VM.

Going through the whole process of figuring out how to license VM's was extremely frustrating. Windows re-sellers don't seem to understand the rules. Even the MS guy we had a conference call with seemed unsure. I think their strategy is to make it so confusing you get so frustrated that you just say F-it and buy the most expensive one and hope it works.

The company name is "Computer Solutions East"
Phone Number 914-355-5800

They say they are a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner (for what ever that is worth)

It has been almost 2 years since I did this but I am sure they are still around.

License I got was good and had to be activated through microsoft.

You will be given an account and then you can go to the web site and download the .iso file you need

I did this because I wanted windows xp

But I was able to download and use windows xp without needing a key code.
So I used my license to get windows 7 .iso also.

One thing though.....they will want to verify that you are using a company name and address that can be looked up by phone directory or internet.

I just gave them my old employers info..... ....and paid for the license over the phone with my credit card.
(Maybe not the smartest idea for serviceability in the future, but it got me up and running on my MAC) (Then VMware went and scrapped there fusion divison .....but that's another issue entirely)

Good Luck
BCS

Old No. 7 said:

We ended up buying Windows Enterprise licenses with Windows Software Assurance. You have to buy a minimum of 5 licenses. Each license allows you to run up to 4 VM's on a host machine. With Windows Software Assurance you can install any version of Windows on a VM.

Going through the whole process of figuring out how to license VM's was extremely frustrating. Windows re-sellers don't seem to understand the rules. Even the MS guy we had a conference call with seemed unsure. I think their strategy is to make it so confusing you get so frustrated that you just say F-it and buy the most expensive one and hope it works.

Click to expand...

Yep, this is the same thing I got, but the company I list in my post made it really easy.
(Except for understanding what they were saying because of the heavy accent)

BCS

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

You've all been a huge help.