Windows Virtual PC - Create Virtual Machine

How to Create a Virtual Machine in Windows Virtual PC​

   Information

This will show you how to create a new virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC, and install the 32-bit guest operating system that you want to run in the virtual machine on your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 as the host.

   Note

Windows Virtual PC is the latest Microsoft virtualization technology for Windows 7. It is the runtime engine for Windows XP Mode to provide a virtual Windows environment for Windows 7. With Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP mode applications can be seen and accessed from a Windows 7-based PC.

You will need to download and install the 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) version of Windows Virtual PC for your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7.

   Warning

Windows Virtual PC: Minimum Requirements

• 1 GHz 32-bit / 64-bit processor that supports Intel® Virtualization Technology or AMD Virtualization.
• Memory (RAM)
  • 1.25 GB required, 2 GB memory recommended
• Recommended 15 GB hard disk space per virtual Windows environment
• Supported host (your computer) operating systems:
  • Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit)
    NOTE: Windows XP Mode can only be installed on Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise.
• Supported "guest" (virtual machine) 32-bit only operating systems:
  • Windows XP 32-bit only
    • Virtual Applications feature is supported only on Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Professional
  • Windows Vista 32-bit only
    • Virtual Applications feature is supported only on Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate
  • Windows 7 32-bit only
    • Virtual Applications feature is supported only on Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate

   Tip

UPDATE: Windows XP Mode now accessible to more PCs - Windows 7 Team Blog - The Windows Blog

EXAMPLE: Create Virtual Machine
NOTE: For example, create a Vista virtual machine.
Here's How:1. If you have not already, then you will need to first download and install Windows Virtual PC. If you did, then go to step 2 below.A) At the Windows Virtual PC webpage, select your language, and click on the Continue button. (see screenshot below)
B) If you have not already, you will need to validate your Windows 7 first. Click on Install to install the Genuine Windows Validation Component, or follow on screen instructions. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You will need to have Windows 7 activated and cookies enabled to be able to do this.
C) Select your language, and click on the Download button for either the Windows6.1-KB958559-x86-RefreshPkg.msu (32-bit) or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64-RefreshPkg.msu (64-bit) file for your same 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 version you have installed.
D) Save the Windows6.1-KB958559-x86-RefreshPkg.msu or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64-RefreshPkg.msu file to your desktop.

E) Double click on the downloaded Windows6.1-KB958559-x86-RefreshPkg.msu or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64-RefreshPkg.msu file to start installing it.

F) If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

G) Click on Yes.

H) Click on the I Accept button.

I) When it is finished, click on the Restart Now button.
WARNING: This will restart your computer immediately. Be sure to save and close anything that you have open first.

J) When the computer is finished restarting, continue on to step 2 below.
2. Do step 3 or 4 below for what you would like to do.

3. Open the Start Menu, type vpcwizard.exe in the search box, press Enter, and go to step 5 below.
4. Open the Start Menu. Click on All Programs, expand Windows Virtual PC folder, double click on the Virtual Machines shortcut, and go to step 5 below. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You can also open the Virtual Machines folder at C:\Users\(User Name)\Virtual Machines.
5. Click on the Create Virtual Machine button on the toolbar. (See screenshot below)
6. Type in a name (ex: Vista) you want for the new virtual machine, then select a location where you want the .vmcx and .vhd files saved at. Click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You can save them anywhere you like, but the default location is the hidden
C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines folder or the C:\Users\(user name)\Virtual Machines folder.
7. Enter how much of your RAM (1 GB = 1024 MB) you want to be used by the virtual machine. (See screenshot below)
8. Check the Use computer on network connections box if you would like the virtual machine to have network or internet access, then click on the Next button. (See screenshot above)

9. To Create a Dynamically Expanding VHD
NOTE: This is the usual default option.A) Select (dot) Create a dynamically expanding virtual hard disk. (See screenshot below)
B) Verify that the name and location is correct (from step 5), then click on the Create button. (See screenshot above)

C) Go to step 12.
10. To Use an Existing VHD FileA) Select (dot) Use an existing virtual hard disk. (See screenshot below)
B) Click on the Browse button and navigate to and select the VHD file that you want to use to create a virtual machine (VM) with, then click on the Create button. (See screenshot above)
WARNING: Windows Virtual PC only supports using a VHD up to 127 GB (130,048 MB) for a dynamic VHD, and up to 41 GB (42,023) for a fixed VHD. Any larger and you will not be able access the VM from within Windows Virtual PC.

C) Right click on this new virtual machine (Ex: Vista.vmcx file), and click on Open. (See screenshot below)
D) Go to step 17.
11. To Create a VHD with Advanced OptionsA) Select (dot) Create a virtual hard disk using advanced options, then click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
B) Select the type of VHD to create. (See screenshot below)
C) Verify that the name and location is correct (from step 5), then click on the Next button. (See screenshot above)
12. Right click on this new virtual machine (Ex: Vista.vmcx file), and click on Settings.
13. To Use a ISO File to Create the Virtual Machine FromA) In the left pane select DVD Drive, then select (dot) Open an ISO image in the right pane. (See screenshot below)
B) Click on the Browse button and navigate to the location of the .ISO file of the operating system (ex: Vista) that you want to install in the VM, then select the ISO file and double click on it. Click on OK. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: If you do not have a ISO file of the operating system, then you can use a free program like ImgBurn to create a ISO file from the operating system's installation DVD.

C) Go to step 15.
14. To Use a DVD or Bootable USB to Create the Virtual Machine FromA) In the left pane select DVD Drive, select (dot) Access a physical drive in the right pane, then select the drive letter of the installation DVD or bootable USB. (See screenshot below step 13A)
15. Right click on this new virtual machine (Ex: Vista.vmcx file), and click on Open.
16. Install the OS (Ex: Vista) in the virtual machine.
WARNING: Be sure to give the user account a password. Blank passwords are not supported, and can cause you to have problems with logging on to the VM. If you did leave the password field blank, then you should get a option after trying to log on without a password to continue to login without the password for now. You can then create a password for the user account in the VM.

17. To Install Integration ComponentsA) For how, see: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...egration-features-install-enable-disable.html
18. Close or shutdown the new virtual machine.
NOTE: See yellow TIP box below for how to close the virtual machine.

19. Open the Windows 7 Start Menu in your computer (host).

20. Click on All Programs, expand Windows Virtual PC folder, then right click on this new virtual machine (Ex: Vista.vmcx file), and click on Settings.
21. In the left pane select DVD Drive, then select (dot) Access a physical drive in the right pane. Select the DVD drive letter from the drop down menu that you would like to use in the virtual machine, and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If you do not want to use a DVD drive in the virtual machine, then select (dot) None instead.
22. You now have a newly created virtual machine.

   Tip

• You can close the virtual machine by shutting down the virtual machine from the Start menu inside the virtual machine, or by clicking on the close X at the top right corner of the virtual machine window. Afterwards, select the Turn Off option and click on OK. (See screenshot beow)

• You can open the virtual maching by opening the Start Menu, click on All Programs, expand Windows Virtual PC folder, and double click on the virtual maching shortcut.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Install and Setup Virtual Windows XP Mode in Windows 7
• How to Enable the Built-in Administrator Account in Windows XP Mode
• How to Change Virtual Machine Settings in Windows Virtual PC
• How to Create Differencing Disks in Windows Virtual PC
• How to Delete a Virtual Machine Created with Windows Virtual PC
• How to Copy a Virtual XP Machine in Windows 7
• How to Add Limited User Accounts to Windows Virtual PC XP Mode
• How to Extract Files from Windows 7 System Image using Virtual PC
• How to Boot from a CD or DVD in a Windows Virtual PC
• How to Connect Windows Virtual PC to the Network
• How to Install, Enable, and Disable Windows Virtual PC Integration Features
• How to Select Host Devices to Share with Virtual Machines in Windows Virtual PC
• How to Slipstream Windows 7 SP1 and Updates to Create a Bootable USB, Installation DVD, or ISO File
• How to Speed Up Performance of a Virtual Machine

 

[Brink]

Will the RTM version support 64-bit guests? Or does Windows Virtual PC not support this? (Like VPC 2007)

Hello the KingNL, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Windows Virtual PC does not support 64-bit guests, only 32-bit ones for now. I would not expect the RTM to either. Maybe in the future, but time will tell I suppose.

This is what I get when I attempt to create a virtual machine with any 64-bit OS.

 

[TheKingNL]

One other question: when I resize the Virtual PC window with the VM it seems to login again. It prompts me for the credentials again. This is somewhat anoying..

So, when I go to full screen or when I just increase the size of the window a little bit. I have only tested this with XPM, it might not be the case with another OS in Virtual PC Beta.

Have you guys got the same?

 

[Brink]

See if restarting the computer may help with that. After I had restarted, my Vista VM had changed the way it shutdown to what is in the tutorial now.

 

[TheKingNL]

See if restarting the computer may help with that. After I had restarted, my Vista VM had changed the way it shutdown to what is in the tutorial now.

I have rebooted the XPM more then once and it does not seem to change this behaviour. I will create another VM from scratch and see what happens. Maybe it's only tied to this XPM version of Windows XP.

It's also annoying that there's no shutdown option in the start menu of the VM.

 

[Throwman]

Is it possible to run a virtual machine created with VPC 2007 in this new beta? The vmc file extension is not associated with the new version and I can't find any other way to try to open it aside from changing the file extension to vmcx. When I do that and double-click the file, it says:

"Could not register the virtual machine. The virtual machine could not be registered because the configuration file does not exist. You should create a new configuration file for the virtual machine."

The new VPC beta forced me to uninstall VPC 2007 so why would it take away the ability to open VMs created with VPC 2007?

 

[Brink]

Hello Throwman, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I have not tested it yet, but you should be able to use any VHD file. When you get to step 6 of this tutorial, select (dot) Use an existing virtual hard disk instead and browse to and select the VHD file.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Throwman]

Thanks Brink, that did the trick. Much appreciated!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Throwman.

 

[RileyRandom]

i cant find the vpcwizard :/ idk what build im running i disabled the water mark and cant remember how to check

 

[darkassain]

i cant find the vpcwizard :/ idk what build im running i disabled the water mark and cant remember how to check

that usually means that the update wasnt succefull...
if you check here
%windir%\system32\vpcwizard.exe
if you type this in the the start menu and still dont see anything, try to install the VPC beta again...

 

[Night Hawk]

When you type in the command darkassain points out there you should immediately see the initial prompt appear like this. Once the XP mode is up and running you then see the second image shown here.

 

[Brink]

i cant find the vpcwizard :/ idk what build im running i disabled the water mark and cant remember how to check

Hello Riley,

Have you already installed Windows Virtual PC and descibed in the NOTE box at the top of the tutorial?

 

[whosebrian]

Is it possible to use my vintage xp install disc as it is when using VPC 2007?

 

[Brink]

Hello Brian, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Yes, but you will be best to create a ISO file of the XP install disc using a program like Ultra ISO first, then you can can use that ISO to create a VM in VPC.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Dwarf]

It's a fair while since I used VPC2007, but, if I remember correctly, I installed Win98SE on there straight from the installation disk.

 

[Night Hawk]

Vista and later the 7 upgrade by custom install on the vhd was from dvd. When already having the vhd created for a custom installation like this you start the VPC with the intended bootable disk in the drive to see that start loading instead of the XP mode if on.

Live cds for GParted as well as live distros will boot this way just as if you were booting from the optical drive while still being in Windows. 98 would be a bit touchy there however due to the 512mb memory limitation for seeing a direct install. For that an iso might work better.

 

[alanmara]

XP Mode

hi, I've installed XP Mode, now I'm wondering what to do if I would like to install another VM, lets say with windows 2003 standard. Can't do it? Have to use Vmware client?

 

[Brink]

Hello Alan, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Sorry, but yes you would have to use another VM program like Vmware if it supports Windows 2003 Standard (Server??). Windows Virtual PC only supports the guest (virtual machines) in the warning box at the of the tutorial.

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello alanmara Welcome to SF!

I have to agree with the caution there having been able to get the 32bit Vista and 32bit 7 Release Candidate running on the Virtual PC with a custom option of creating a new separate VHD(virtual hard disk) in order to custom install Windows on those. For previous versions VM ware and other programs can be run even at the same time the XP Mode is up provided you have the hardware resources like memory available.

VM ware, VM Player, and even the SUN Virtual Box are alternate wares for the older versions there.

 

[Tawa]

Hey, nice tutorial,

I have a problem, right when I click on Create Virtual Machine,

Any way to fix this?

It's a Toshiba A305 Laptop
Core2Duo 1.83GHz
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family - VGA
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit