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On 01/01/13 20:49, bad apple wrote:
Thanks for all the time you have spend on this already. My comment was only out of interest, and others on the list may have a more pressing need for this, so it will all be useful to them.Ok, to answer Neil and Henry: The good news is that except for Neil, who specifically bought a laptop without a Windows install, you've probably already paid for a Windows license. If your computer has a Microsoft License sticker on it anywhere, then you're good to go. Even if you inherited a second hand computer, blew the Windows install away and proceeded to put Linux on it, that license is still valid and you can grab a Windows installer, put in your license key and reactivate. If you're unlucky, you may end up having to call the dreaded Microsoft Activation Helpline but they've really streamlined that these days and it's pretty painless. 2: the how. Firstly, choose your virtualization tool wisely! If you have no prior experience here, it can be confusing, as you have VMWare (Player, Workstation, ESX), VirtualBox, KVM, Xen and a whole bunch of other hypervisors to choose from. I'm going to go ahead and presume, perhaps unwisely, that VirtualBox will be your best choice. It's free, open-source and friendly, unlike *all* of the other options. VMWare workstation is quite nice to use but has serious problems on a Linux host and is expensive - Xen and KVM are both decidedly more heavy duty tools more normally used in enterprise environments.
I have already used VBox a lot so I have a reasonable familiarity with it. And yes, I included the Guest Additions. Secondly, I have neither the need nor the wish to have anything to do with Windows. As I said, my last reply on this thread was just a comment. The last time I had anything to do with Windows was with Windows 98 when it first came out.
So, when I bought the laptop for my daughter I specifically looked for one without an OS installed. I just didn't want the hassle of trying to get a refund on the licence.
Thanks for all your help with this, Neil -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq