Windows 7: Windows Virtual PC fail

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone can help me, as I'm starting to get frustrated.

I wanted to setup a VPC starting with an image of my laptop but I'm having great difficultly, I'm running Windows 7 home premium x64.

I started by using Acronis true image to take an image of my PC (a .tib). I then used Acronis true image to convert that to a vhd, however when trying to create a VPC using the vhd got a message that the vhd could not be attached. After some research I found that it was because the partition I imaged was 320GB and Windows Virtual PC could not handle it. Using diskpart I reduced the vhd partition size then using Vhd resizer to reduce the size. I was able to attach the vhd and start the virtual machine but received a message from Windows Boot Manager "The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible", so I inserted the Windows home premium x64 DVD into the dvd drive but the virtual machine would not boot from it.

I could not do anything so I decided to start a new virtual machine and try and install windows from scratch. I created a fixed sized vhd using Windows Virtual PC, I inserted the Windows DVD into the drive and booted the virtual machine. This time virtual PC would allow me to boot from the DVD drive however I receive an error "Attempting to load a 64-bit application, however this CPU is not compatible with 64-bit mode" but this is the version of Windows I am running on my PC.

I have also downloaded Securable to ensure that Windows Virtual PC will work I get a maximum bit length of 64 and Yes for both hardware D.E.P and Hardware Virtualization.

Does anyone have any suggestions a to where I go from here?

Hi Metzy, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Microsoft Virtual PC can not run 64-bit guest machines, not even on 64-bit hosts as is your case. You must use 32-bit install media when installing Windows to Virtual PC guest.

Yes, go here: VirtualBox. VirtualBox can run 64-bit guests.

Kari

You will potentially run into another problem. A virtual partition is regarded like a seperate PC. You will need a seperate product key to run Windows 7 in the virtual partition. Dumping an image may not do.

Very important point!

Kari - Is it documented somewhere that Virtual PC doesn't support 64-bit guests? I found an FAQ saying that 64-bit XP was not supported as a guest but can't find anything on the MS site saying other 64-bit guests weren't supported. The requirements simply say they support XP, Vista and Win 7 as guests, no mention of 32-bit or 64-bit.

I've personally never tried a 64-bit guest in Virtual PC so I don't know either way, just curious if it's documented anywhere that you know of.

Here you go.

See Windows Virtual PC: FAQ

Edit... I see you've already seen this. From a quick search, it doesn't appear that 64-bit guests are supported. There was even a question asking if you could install VPC on a 32-bit host and then install a 64-bit guest.

I found a Wikipedia article that shows that the hardware emulated by Virtual PC is a Pentium II 32-bit processor so it follows that a 64-bit guest isn't supported. There's a table in the same article that lists what OSes are supported as hosts and which are supported as guests. I wonder why this info doesn't seem to be available on the MS site?

Edit: When I check the properties of my XP Pro Virtual PC VM, it shows the processor as the processor in the host machine so the Wikipedia info is wrong or outdated in that respect.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC

There's a fundamental difference between Microsoft Virtual PC and other virtualization platforms like VirtualBox, VMware etc. Virtual PC exists for and is made for to give Windows 7 users a possibility to use older legacy Windows apps which do not run on Seven, whereas other virtualization platforms are intended to run almost all existing OS's. In other words, Virtual PC can only run Windows XP, Vista and Seven guests with full integration. It is possible to install older Windows versions, even Linux in Virtual PC (here Linux Mint on VPC), but it is very unpractical because of missing integration components.

Vista is, or rather was, not very widely used in corporate environments, so main focus in creating the current Virtual PC was to create a platform to run XP apps. As 64-bit XP was more a curiosity than widely used OS, it was seen as unimportant to add an option to run 64-bit OS's on VPC. Check the first answer here.

The main purpose of VPC & XP Mode is to run older legacy Windows apps, and that it is doing well enough.

So, what if I want to run 64-bit guest OS, or Linux? My recommendation is to use VirtualBox, although quite a many of our members and pros alike use and recommend VMware. VirtualBox is free, VMware have both a free and a commercial versions. Both VMware and VirtualBox integration components support almost every Linux and Unix distro, as well as older Windows versions. VirtualBox integration supports Windows 2000 and later, VMware Windows 95 and later.

In a nutshell:

• Microsoft Virtual PC does not support 64-bit guest operating systems
• Microsoft Virtual PC Integration Components can be installed only on Windows XP, Vista and Seven guests
• Virtual Applications (launch guest app from host Start Menu) is only supported on XP Service Pack 3, Vista Enterprise & Ultimate and Seven Enterprise & Ultimate guests
• Microsoft Virtual PC can be installed on all editions of Seven except Starter
• Windows XP Mode can be installed on Virtual PC running on Seven Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise editions

Kari

Ok so I'll ditch Windows Virtual PC for Virtual box so I can run x64.

Will I definitely need another product key for the virtual? At work some of the guys have created virtuals from their PC however never ran the virtual on the PC that created the image from and it was not windows 7

Yes, you will need one valid product key for every installation. It's no difference if you are installing to a real, physical computer or to a virtual machine. One license, one product key, one installation.

Kari