Legal cloning question

earlwhitney

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I purchased 21 new Toshiba Satellite PCs for a local school. I have set up two of the PCs the way the school wants them and each one took a while. I'd like to clone one of them to the oher PCs but I am concerned about how Microsoft will deal with cloned PCs. Each PC has a legal Windows 8 key and I have purchased 21 copies of Microsoft Office. Can anyone tell me if I will run into problems cloning the remining 19 PCs. Thank you for your help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
You will not run into issues. If you have the keys the worst case scenario is you will be prompted for a key. Microsoft generally only cares that you own licenses for each machine. Your only possible issue is that if these are being used in a Windows AD domain cloning the machines each will have the same SID.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    All Versions Of Windows
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel I5-2500K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus IV GENV
    Memory
    DD3 1600 Crucial 8G 2x4
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia ONY XLR8 gtx460oc
    Sound Card
    onboard xFI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2x160 SATA 2 WD
    1x250 Samsung SATA 2
    PSU
    Cooler Master 650w
    Case
    Antec 300
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212 Pus
    Keyboard
    iRocks Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Internet Speed
    25Mb Down 2Mbit Up
I purchased 21 new Toshiba Satellite PCs for a local school. I have set up two of the PCs the way the school wants them and each one took a while. I'd like to clone one of them to the oher PCs but I am concerned about how Microsoft will deal with cloned PCs. Each PC has a legal Windows 8 key and I have purchased 21 copies of Microsoft Office. Can anyone tell me if I will run into problems cloning the remining 19 PCs. Thank you for your help.

Here is a problem with Windows 7 I ran into. I could not enter a new key for an OEM Windows 7 install that I cloned. I cloned from one setup system and then tried to enter the activation key from the sticker on the laptops and I couldn't enter the code. The option was greyed out.

After researching why the option was not available I found out that the license does not allow for cloning of OEM systems even though each system came with a licensed Windows 7 OEM installed. They all worked but I found out that the cloning was a violation of the license. :think:

Not sure if Win 8 has this same restriction but Win 7 required full versions (and some other version also qualified) to clone systems and re-enter license codes. It's a crappy restriction IMO as doing this with a new batch of laptops saves a lot of time.

Strangely enough, it was 21 laptops that I also cloned. :eek:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pssh. Who buys prebuilts?
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600k 3.4 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 520
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Asus 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    OCZ SSD boot drive. Spinny secondary drive.
    Case
    Diablotek
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer BlackWidow Toureny edition.
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    50 down 10 up
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. AV is for noobs.
    Other Info
    I like Macs.
All the ADK really does is allow you to create an answer file that works for Win8 when you sysprep it, which returns it to OOBE and reset the SID. Not everyone however wants to run through that process especially if you customize the desktops to have a specific look. Sysprepping wipes out all desktop customizations.

What part of Iowa Phillip? I Grew up in Des Moines.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    All Versions Of Windows
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel I5-2500K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus IV GENV
    Memory
    DD3 1600 Crucial 8G 2x4
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia ONY XLR8 gtx460oc
    Sound Card
    onboard xFI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2x160 SATA 2 WD
    1x250 Samsung SATA 2
    PSU
    Cooler Master 650w
    Case
    Antec 300
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212 Pus
    Keyboard
    iRocks Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Internet Speed
    25Mb Down 2Mbit Up
Hi there
slightly OT but with 21 equivalent PC's for a school it *Might* be worth contacting Ms for cheaper bulk licensing options.

21 PC's sounds to me a reasonable number to get volume licensing -- and once you start wanting things like EXCEL I'm sure this would be MUCH MUCH cheaper.

Not attempting to Hi-jack the thread - but in most countries Schools like everything else are coming under budget constraints - and ways of saving money IMO are always worth considering.

Speak to an Ms "Pre-Sales" rep(tile)!! --it won't cost you anything and you might get a decent discount (plus a Free Lunch too !!).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
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