The nuclear option: Dual-boot Windows 10 on bare metal. No VM, no error. Use WinOLS natively without any fix.
The software uses several low-level detection techniques:
When any of these tests return a positive result, WinOLS halts execution and throws the 451 error. winols 451 vmware fix
VirtualBox is harder to detect than VMware for some software. Try the following commands in the guest VM’s terminal (after installing Guest Additions):
VBoxManage setextradata "YourVMName" "VBoxInternal/CSAM/Disabled" "1"
VBoxManage setextradata "YourVMName" "VBoxInternal/PAE/Enabled" "1"
VBoxManage setextradata "YourVMName" "VBoxInternal/TM/TSCMode" "RealTSCOffset"
Then disable ACPI and set the chipset to ICH9. The nuclear option: Dual-boot Windows 10 on bare metal
If you own a legitimate WinOLS dongle, the error might persist because WinOLS checks for both the dongle and the environment.
Fix: Enable USB passthrough in VMware.
Sometimes, simply presenting the physical dongle disables the VM check. If not, combine with Method 1.
WinOLS, developed by EVC Electronic, employs a sophisticated licensing system. Version 4.51 (often distributed with hardware dongle emulation or specific cracks) contains code specifically designed to detect virtualized environments. The software uses several low-level detection techniques:
Why? Developers argue that virtual machines are often used to bypass hardware locks (dongles) by redirecting USB device calls. By detecting VMware, VirtualBox, or Hyper-V, WinOLS attempts to force the user to run the software on a physical "bare metal" machine where a hardware key (dongle) is more difficult to emulate perfectly.