Can I use my Windows 7 license in a dual-boot configuration? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

Who knows. The EULA which will determine this has not yet officially been published by Microsoft.

Can I activate the same license on both installations?

Looking at the EULA for Vista, yes and no.

Technically, yes. Because the activation wizard will see that you are installing onto the same machine it should activate without question.

Legally, no. You are only permitted to have one single copy installed at any given time.

Really interesting article here for bedtime reading although it does only apply to Vista. Again, no official word on the 7 EULA yet.

How does retail licensing work in such situations?

Retail boxes will come with a single key that activates both the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavours. You simply select the 32-bit or 64-bit version during the installation process.

Solution 2:

I was once told by Microsoft support that what mattered was that Windows had a per-seat licensing model. This meant that a single copy of (consumer) Windows is only meant to be accessible to one person at a time.

So by extrapolation, I read the situation thus:

• Dual boot ought to be fine as you're not running both instances at the same time.
• VM-style situations where you can have both running at the same time is naughty

DISCLAIMERS:

• IANAL
• This conversation was held back in the early days of XP whilst setting up my parent's PC so Microsoft have had plenty of time to change the rules.
• When the feds come to arrest you for denying Uncle Bill licensing revenue I will disavow all knowledge of ever having discussed this matter ;-)

Solution 3:

I would like to add that I want to have separate partitions for work and play.

Wouldn't it make more sense just to create two seperate user accounts, install all your work software on one at the user level (so its not accessible to the other) and install all your play software on the other. Then you'd have one copy of Windows, one license, any software you need on both accounts you could install as admin and you'd be making the most of your resources.