Windows 7: Virtual PC seeing hosts HDD locally

Using the new Virtual PC in Windows 7 running XP is there a way to see the hosts HDD as local ones in the virtual machine?

Twas an option in Virtual PC 2007 but can't seem to find it in the new one. The nearest I've come is enabling the integrated features but that only maps network drives, no good for what I need.

This is on build 7100, is it an option in later builds?

Hi Augustud,

Virtual PC has the same options on all builds on Windows 7 and Vista since its a separate installable component, it doesnt remove features based on the build of Windows your using just depends when Microsoft will update Virtual PC to allow physical access to HDDs, until then everyone is stuck using the mapped network drives

Steven

Can you SUBST an UNC? If yes, can it done in the VM? Just a thought.

As it turns out, No and Yes.

Subst.exe is used to associate a path with a drive letter.

If you use Subst.exe to connect to a network resource using a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path, the command runs successfully, but when you try to gain access to the new drive letter you receive an error message similar to: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.



To work around this behavior, use the NET USE command to connect to network resources instead of the SUBST command. For example, the command

net use * \\fileserver\share\path1\path2
Results in the next available drive letter being mapped to the root of path2.

I do not know if you can do it in the VM, but you should try it.

Thanks for reply s all

@dmex Yeh that's what I realised after I posted as I remembered you download it separately

@Antman Don't think NET USE will work. Let me explain a little. I have to run HP digital sending software which is software for setting up and running my printer and needs to be running all the time etc etc. This only runs in a XP 32bit environment and is very very fussy. For example, when specifying which folder the printer should send scanned PDF's to it has to be a local folder on the computer. Now when I'm running it in a virtual machine you can see the problem. When I was using Vista and Virtual PC 2007 you could set it so the virtual PC could see all the hosts drives as local drives. Worked like a charm. However, as we've discussed, the new one doesn't seem to have this function and the HP software wont let me specify a network location, (mapped drives included).

So, it appears my only two options are install Virtual PC 2007 and use that instead. Or set it to copy the files to a folder in the virtual machine then set up a script that automatically moves everything in that folder across to the server.

Which version are you running, 4.0?

.

yep 4.


Your suppose to be able to specify network locations I think but i've never ever managed to get it to work with windows networking.

Hi Augustud,

Since it doesn't allow the use of a network drive, have you tried creating a symlink folder using the path for a network drive? That should be enough to trick it considering a symlink behaves and acts like a real folder

You need to specify one of these options however (Im not sure which one will trick your HP software) otherwise it will create a symbolic file instead of a folder

(you will need to put all of the names in quotation marks)

mklink /D "thelocalfolder" "\\themachinename\folder"


/D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file symbolic link.
/H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
/J Creates a Directory Junction.

Steven

In the XP mode you have ready access to the main host drive while a custom install of Vista or 7 onto a vhd on the other hand only has access to the dvd drive used for the installation. That allows softwares to be installed from disk onto the VPC itself.

The first two images here show how the actually 5 sata, two optical, and a usb flash drive appear. The third was on completion of the Vista installation where you can see only the Virtual "C" and the dvd drive, floppy are available.

(now that the 32bit 7 is on I could use the XP mode's access for sure! )