Is this possible

[FireChicken]

Is it possible to install one copy of Vista ultimate twice (each on a seprerate partition) on one computer using the same licence key?

A friend of mine wants two copys of Vista on his computer. One for gaming and one for his wife to use. He want to keep the gaming on clean of all the crap she downloads. So, basically a clean install each on a separate partition.

Will the Boot manager allow you to choose between two installs of vista ultimate (same license key)?

I can see how this is possible if one drive is physically disconnected at the time of the second install but he want to have 4 drives in raid and have seperate partitions with vista installled on each using the same licence key.

 

[Captante]

No idea although my guess would be not using the built in Vista boot mgr program ... he may need to find a 3rd-party boot manager capable of preventing the Vista installs from seeing each other to make it work the same way you used to have to do with Win2k & XP ... problem is that the last time I looked these were in short supply although that may have changed.

 

[Rilex]

Since the product ID is uniquely generated, you will need two keys in order to keep both copies legit.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Rilex
Since the product ID is uniquely generated, you will need two keys in order to keep both copies legit.

After doing some poking around, this is correct ... setting up one system in dual-boot mode with the same copy of Vista installed twice will violate EULA terms even if you can get it to work.

 

[Kappo]

You actually dont need to do this in Vista (or xp, for that matter - but vista makes it pretty transparent). It is pretty easy to have 2 logins to a machine that have completely separate profiles. If you can make her a power user instead of admin, she can install most things, but those things only affect her profile. She can install anything that does not require admin access to the system (most common applications do not), and you can install as an admin for her as the things that do. Im in the same boat as my GF has zero issues answering YES and installing anything that looks remotely neat to her, and I have been impressed with the very few issues I have had with having her run as a power user.

She installs AIM, Gametap, Photoshop, and all of those things, and I had to install the Cisco VPN client (which we both need anyhow - so if I install it, it is available to both of us).

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: Rilex
Since the product ID is uniquely generated, you will need two keys in order to keep both copies legit.

After doing some poking around, this is correct ... setting up one system in dual-boot mode with the same copy of Vista installed twice will violate EULA terms even if you can get it to work.

Would you please point out how you came to this conclusion?
Why is there a violation as long as at any point in time, he has only one instance of the OS booted?
He obviously never boots to both partitions at the same time.

What is the difference between a dual boot in two partitions, and having an image of each OS and switching them on the same partition?
Why is one legit and the other is not?

 

[hasu]

I had a very similar set up couple of years back. Two installations of XP Pro in two different partitions in the same machine. I used XOSL as the boot manager. Instead of "activating" the second installation, I copied the activated wpa files from the first installation. It worked just fine. I don't believe I violated EULA.

 

[Rilex]

Why is there a violation as long as at any point in time, he has only one instance of the OS booted?

Because the PID for each installation is unique and Microsoft requires a unique CD key for each PID.

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the ?licensed device.? A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.
a. Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device.

 

[FireChicken]

Thanks for all the replies. Obviously this is gonna take some trial, error, and possibly some tweaking. I don't believe that it will be a violation of the EULA as it will be on one computer. We will have to see what happens. I highly doubt Vistas boot manger will let you do this so third party boot mamger is probably gonna be the answer. But any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Rilex

Why is there a violation as long as at any point in time, he has only one instance of the OS booted?

Because the PID for each installation is unique and Microsoft requires a unique CD key for each PID.

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the ?licensed device.? A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.
a. Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device.

He is not going a to have a hardware partition.
He is only going to install on a single physical hardware system.
Where is the violation?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: FireChicken
Thanks for all the replies. Obviously this is gonna take some trial, error, and possibly some tweaking. I don't believe that it will be a violation of the EULA as it will be on one computer. We will have to see what happens. I highly doubt Vistas boot manger will let you do this so third party boot mamger is probably gonna be the answer. But any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have Vista installed on two of my primary partitions on the same hard drive.
I use Drive Image from Power Quest (taken over by Symantec) to make one active and the other hidden. When I boot, only one of them is visible so it is always Drive C regardless of which partition I boot to.

After installing the first one, I make an image (Acronis), switch the active partition, and restore to the other partition. So, I only install once and only activate once.

I have some shared programs on a third partition to avoid wasting disk space installing the same programs twice.

The only disadvantage of this is that switching from one to the other requires changing the active partition, which may not be as easy as dealing with a dual-boot menu.
The advantage is that no OS can see the other and cannot screw it up.

Edit:
The disadvantage of dual-boot is that one OS is on C and the other is on say D. Let's say the wife's OS is on D and she boots to it and wants to install a software. The default installation drive for many programs is C! If she is not careful and just clicks OK without paying attention, she may be installing her software on C (husband's partition). That is what he wants to avoid, isn't it?
But, if only one primary partition is visible at any time, that can never happen.

 

[hasu]

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the ?licensed device.? A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.

Technically a hardware partition is different from hard disk partition. IBM iSeries server has some kind of logical partitioning scheme where you can install two different versions of their OS in two partitions of the same hardware and both accessible to clients simultaneously. I don't think you can achieve that kind of configurations with windows.

 

[Rilex]

Did all of you miss this section?

a. Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device.

Looks like you did...

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Rilex
Did all of you miss this section?

a. Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device.

Looks like you did...

You are right. Thanks for pointing that out.

This is another advantage for how I do it!
I can re-install the OS on the same hardware as many times as I want.

I make an image of the OS. Then, restore the image on another partition on the same hardware, after hiding the first, which is like installing it again.

If some day Microsoft tells me that I have to delete their software from the first partition before un-hiding the other, I will! I have the image stored. The fact is that a hidden partition is effectively not there! So, it is like I have removed it anyway. It is not like someone else could be networking and using the other partition while I am using the first.

 

[Rilex]

The fact is that a hidden partition is effectively not there! So, it is like I have removed it anyway.

Except, that it is! Wow!

Look, how you want to follow the EULA is up to you, but making excuses for it...I don't think you need to. You've installed two copies, no matter what way you're trying to spin it for the rest of us (which, I have no idea why you're even bother doing).

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Rilex
You've installed two copies, no matter what way you're trying to spin it for the rest of us

It really does not concern the rest, so no need to spin! If anybody, it is between the OP and Microsoft!

(which, I have no idea why you're even bother doing).

The OP explained clearly why he wanted to do it.

 

[VooDooAddict]

You could use VirtualPC to run a separate copy within the first copy.

For a truly isolated hardware approach you could: (If you have a desktop)

Use a drive cage and two drives. One for you and one for your wife.

Activate one of the copies.
Don't enter a key and activate the other and just use it in the "Demo" mode. You will need to reinstall the second one after 120 days.
If you find it so useful to each have your own that you build a second system, then you can just pop the non-activated drive into a system with the same hardware and activate a new copy of XP.



I have to agree with some people above ... this is exactly what multi user and fast user switch is for. Maybe I'm not clear on what you think the problem will be with either your system or your wife's system that they need to be completely hidden from each other.

 

[stash]

Learn your friend on how to use a multi-user operating system.