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Hello,

We have a few PCs running Windows 7 that are used to operate machines with specific software. Recently, these PCs have started showing signs of wear, so we would like to virtualize them.

We prefer to use Hyper-V. Has anyone ever done a similar task? Could you provide me with a guide or an article that could help me with this, along with an appropriate tool (Disk2vhd or another one)?

Thank you!

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Yes, you can virtualize them, but if they are virtual on a ‘server’ and accessed remotely, you need specific, expensive licensing.

Namely, EA with SA or VDA licenses.

You’d be better buying replacement hardware as this will be cheaper.

As an aside, you want to keep this machines away from your production network if you can’y upgrade them. FYI, Windows 10 also goes EOL in October.

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I agree with Rod-IT. My company has two CNC machines that are used in the shop. Both running Windows XP as that is the last OS that can support the software. Trying to virtualize isn’t just a matter of cost of licensing. You open yourself up to security holes. Windows 7 has been out of support for years and even security software like antivirus isn’t supported for it. While you can lock down the VM. You run the problem that the VM software has to be checked for security issues regularly. It’s an extra task you have to do.

Purchasing lightly used hardware will allow you to have users keep using the software. This is only a stop gap as you will want to spearhead getting a modern solution to replace it. However this does save you the headache of using a VM, licensing, user account and access and of course security.

Good luck.

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Agreeing with Rod-IT suggestions.

Windows 7 have already gone passed the EOL support in 14th January 2020.

Having a legacy OS will impose security risks to your systems.