So I have Parallels 5, and I was about to do some tests but hadn’t gotten things up and running on this box before so I went, did the 500_MB download (XP SP3 not Vista!), loaded everything up, and then “eh? activation?”
IE VPC Images now with WGA :: Crisis Averted!
Just when I was on a virtualization roll using VirtualBox for testing IE on my Mac, Microsoft stopped me dead in my tracks. The latest version of Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Images now have the anti-piracy features of Windows Genuine Advantage enabled.
The hardware signature detected when a VPC image first boots in a non-VPC host is different from the signature present when the image was first created, presumably in VPC. This difference triggers WGA’s re-activation requirement to make sure you’re not a dirty pirate. Of course you’re not a dirty pirate, but if you wish to re-activate Windows you’re going to need the original Windows Product Key which isn’t provided with the VPC images. Microsoft has effectively blocked end users from hosting the VPC images with anything but Virtual PC.
Ramblings 