Windows 7 and Virtual PC Networking

[ddynamix]

Hi Guys,

I am quite disappointed to see the lack of support for Microsoft's Virtual PC networking configurations. If there is anyone that can help me with this, I will greatly appreciate it.

I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 as primary OS installed. I have also installed Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (not Windows XP Mode). Inside this virtual machine, I have installed Windows XP Professional (x86). I need to have the Windows XP connect to Windows 7 via networking.

According to most threads, I need to install Microsoft Loopback Adapter in Win 7 to be able to connect the VM to Win 7. Done.

I have configured the loopback adapter (on Win 7) to use IP 192.168.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0, no default gateway and DNS server addresses. On the virtual machine, I have set the LAN connection to use IP 192.168.1.2, subnet 255.255.255.0, no default gateway and DNS server addresses. No connection.

I then set the default gateway on the VM to 192.168.1.1 but still no connection. I have tried all available adapters, all the advice given on MSDN, Technet and other forums but no luck.

Is is actually possible to connect to the host OS from within the VM Guest? If so, how do you get the guest OS to connect to the host OS?

Inside the VM, I need to connect to the SQL Server instance on the host OS for testing purposes.

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[brady]

I've never had to install a loopback driver. I simply choose the computer's NIC (intel in my case) via the drop down menu on Adapter 1. This will then initialize the NIC and DHCP will take over. Once you share the same default gateway, you can see the 2 machines.

 

[murmatron]

I simply choose the computer's NIC

That only works if your NIC has a connection. It makes working between the host and a VM impossible if there isn't one.

As for the OP, your network is flawed. There is pretty much only one way to satisfy all of the following...

1. All VMs can talk to each other.
2. All VMs can talk to the host.
3. The host can talk to all VMs.
4. All VMs have internet access if it is available.
5. It doesn't all fall apart when the host has no wired or wireless connection.

If you are already using Internet Connection Sharing, do not proceed. You're out of luck with this method.

Install loopback adapter (you've done that already). Do not under any circumstances set a default gateway on this adapter.

In the sharing tab of your real adapter properties, enable sharing for the loopback that you created.

The loopback will now have the IP 192.168.137.1 (Note that you can change the default ICS settings in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\SharedAccess\Parameters)

Use the loopback IP as gateway and DNS for VMs

Bridge the VM to the loopback adapter.

Configure VMs with static IPs in range 192.168.137.2...

For complex VM nets, I'd recommend running a local dns server but you can scrape by with C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.ics

Access the host from the VMs by the loopback IP.