Just a brief virtualization question

[Coke Robot]

I was recently thinking about this and I was wondering IF it's even physically possible to do with virtualization software, but is it possible to run an operating system that is installed on a hard drive, say a laptop, and run it on top of a currently running system with the other one in a virtual type mode?

I only ask this because it would be nice to work on someone's hard drive while I'm in my OS.

 

[kado897]

Hi Coke Robot. I don't see how but you don't need to. If you have network access you can use remote desktop. See this tutorial. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3922-remote-desktop-connection-rdc-network.html

 

[Coke Robot]

Hi Coke Robot. I don't see how but you don't need to. If you have network access you can use remote desktop. See this tutorial. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3922-remote-desktop-connection-rdc-network.html

I was wondering if it's even remotely possible. It would be oddles easier to drag and paste install files over to another active operating system.

I'm actually considering doing remote access with some machines that I manage...

 

[kado897]

The thing is with VMs is that you are running a copy of a system in a file. I guess that there may be a way to image a system and import it into a VM then you would have to find a way of getting it back onto the original system. I don't think it's a goer in any practical setup.

 

[severedsolo]

The thing is with VMs is that you are running a copy of a system in a file. I guess that there may be a way to image a system and import it into a VM then you would have to find a way of getting it back onto the original system. I don't think it's a goer in any practical setup.

Agree it's not practical. But it's more than possible.

Windows default imaging will create a VHD that can then be loaded into a VM, any VM program will be able to boot it AFAIK

 

[kado897]

I did wonder about that.

 

[kado897]

Would the image then be valid for restore?

 

[severedsolo]

Would the image then be valid for restore?

I honestly don't know, it depends whether the other files created are specific to the image "as is" when created. Would be an interesting experiment, I'll give it a go tomorrow, let you know.

 

[severedsolo]

Sorry for the delay on this.

I just tried mounting the image in VirtualBox, but it refused to boot. It seems that Windows images the sys reserved drive and the OS drive as 2 different images, and when I try to boot the BCD is pointing to the wrong place.

Now, I'm not saying the idea is completely bunk, I would imagine that you could probably mount the main OS drive and run a Startup Repair to get it working properly, but honestly, seems like alot more hassle than it's worth.

I also expect that restoring the image would probably create issue's too, as there would be two BCD's, but that's pure speculation.