Microsoft Virtual PC & Windows 7

[hackeravneet]

Hello everybody

I need to install 32 bit windows 2003 R2 Standard edition on my laptop. However i have heard that Virtual PC software requires a Virtualization Technology to be enabled in the Processor. Currently i am using windows 7 x64 ultimate on my laptop. My processor is Intel C2Duo T6500. Will it be possible to install windows server 2003 without erasing my root partition. Is there any other way i can install windows server 2003 on my current configuration without making any changes to windows 7??:huh:

 

[DeaconFrost]

I don't believe that processor supports VT, so you won't be able to run XP Mode. However, you can still download the regular Virtual PC 2007 app, and run Server 2003 R2 in that.

Nope, a quick search to Intel.com shows that your processor doesn't support VT, so XP Mode is out, but regular Virtual PC 2007 is in.

 

[pparks1]

Or you could use Sun virtualBox or VMWare Server 2.0 both of which are free and don't require virtualization support on your processor.

 

[whs]

I found SunvBox to be the easiest and friendliest. Even made a little tutorial about it and MS Virtual PC: Tutorial: How to install Windows7 in a Virtual Partition « How-To Geek Forums

 

[DeaconFrost]

I've used VirtualBox and Virtual PC extensively, and my conclusions are this. If you are only going to virtualize windows, Virtual PC is easier, especially for the networking configuration. If you plan to virtualize Linux, or other non-Microsoft OSes, VirtualBox is king.

 

[whs]

I had 2 problems with Virtual PC.

1. The specs say that it requires Vista Ultimate, but I only have Home Premium. It did work "somewhat", but I always had the feeling that something was missing.
2. I was unable to install Win7 from the .iso. Only the CD worked and that took a long time (5 hours on a quad core).

vBox does everything I want for my testing environment.

 

[DeaconFrost]

VirtualBox is nice, once you get the networking to plaay nice. On some of my Vista boxes, VirtualBox's networking played havoc on my existing networking, and I couldn't connect at all. Only uninstalling VirtualBox fixed the issues. In past versions, I had it working fine, just like VirtualPC, where it would grab an IP from my router. I use this so I can maintain an XP domain system like my users. If you aren't having any networking issues with VirtualBox, it runs and acts just about identical to Virtual PC 2007.

 

[hackeravneet]

does this virtual pc 2007 supports windows 7 as the host os.. i read that it supports vista & xp only

 

[whs]

In their update of June 2009, Win7 is not mentioned. Only XP and Vista. But it may work anyhow. Matter of trying.

 

[DeaconFrost]

does this virtual pc 2007 supports windows 7 as the host os.. i read that it supports vista & xp only

Yep, it works fine. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 as the host OS, and Windows 7 Basic/Starter x86 as a guest OS.

 

[mckillwashere]

I recommend vmware server 2. I know it works with x64 flawlessly unlike vista x64.
The vmware tools make it easy to network.
just install your favorite vnc program for easy access.

 

[rlincolnh]

Hi DeaconFrost,

Just a tip, if you haven't already tried this:

'On some of my Vista boxes, VirtualBox's networking played havoc on my existing networking, and I couldn't connect at all.'

I had the same problem when I installed VBox on my W7 RC1 system. Prior to installing VBox everything could see everything else, all shares worked between all machines, etc etc. After doing a W2k install on Vbox the W7 system wouldn't recognize any of the other systems as members of my workgroup, and the others wouldn't recognize the W7 system, although they would each see the rest of 'the others'. There are/were a couple of other weird ramifications, but some of it has been cleared up by changing the setup of the network adapter in the W2k VM by changing from NAT to Bridged (I'm not at the system at the moment, and I can't remember the exact wording, but you'll see it easily enough in the VM 'settings'.) After changing that the VM now gets a 'normal' IP from my Linksys router (like 192.168.1.104) instead of the previous 192.168.56.x. The W7 system now recognizes the VM and the other attached systems, although *they* still don't list the W7 (or its VM) in their 'My Network Places'. On them I can, however, Search for Computer and immediately find and explore the W7 shares.

I'm sure there's a lot to be learned from all this, but I'm only a network dabbler, so ...

Roger

 

[DeaconFrost]

I know on any of my Vista systems, I had to make the switch to Bridged as well. It would temporarily disconnect my network connection, and then I'd be up and running just fine. Each VM would grab an IP right from my router. However, under W7, anytime I've enabled the bridged adapter, I lose my network connection completely. I have to reboot, and then remove VitualBox to get it back. I could duplicate this on three systems. I'm hoping it was an early glitch with VirtualBox, and that it's been resolved, because it is a great product. For now, I'll use Virtual PC 2007, but when I get some free time, I'll play around with VirtualBox again.

 

[pawan]

Windows 7 working fine(very well) on Virtual PC, tested 2/3 times....

 

[rlincolnh]

DeaconFrost,

'However, under W7, anytime I've enabled the bridged adapter, I lose my network connection completely. I have to reboot, and then remove VitualBox to get it back'

I don't see any problems like that at all. I can stop and start VMs as much as I like, and the network (both inside the VM and on the W7 host) keeps working witthout a hiccup. I don't remember the exact version of VBox that I'm using, but I only downloaded it (the binary for x86/amd64) from the virtualbox website about 7 or 8 days ago.

Roger