I have an OEM Windows 7 Professional install on my machine.
I want to install Windows 7 Professional on the same machine, on another hard disk, without removing the first install.
I do not want boot multi-loaders. I am choosing manually the boot disk via BIOS at machine start-up. (That means the installation's should not be aware of each other regarding boot priority.)
My question is: Can i legally use the same license key? Will the new installation activate?
Q) Will the new installation activate?
A) I don't see why not, since it's the same machine with (from the POV of the OS) a new hard disk, which generally doesn't require reactivation (never happened in my experience so far).
Q) Is it legal?
A) I'm not a lawyer, but perhaps not. The EULA states that only one copy is allowed, whether physical or virtual. You'd technically be having two, although if you strictly use only one at a time then the situation is less clear.
For all practical purposes though you should be fine, especially if this is not being done in an enterprise environment subject to audits and the like.
