Virtual XP Machine - Copy

After creating a copy of the Virtual XP machine, I suggest you change the computername! Only changing the mac-address is not good enough.

rfeague said:

I've been through the steps a few times with care, and I see the same strange behavior JackStockton mentioned where the .vmcx disappears as soon as I click on it. I will post a solution if I figure it out, but I just wanted to reinforce that JackStockton is not imagining things, and as near as I can tell, not failing to follow the directions with care.

For those of you who have experienced this problem, I did find a simple solution:

1. Copy the .vhd file (this is the virtual disk image), which is found in C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines. Let's say my source VM is old.vhd, and I copy it to new.vhd.
2. Create a new VM that references that .vhd file. Go to the Virtual Machine folder at C:\Users\yourusername\Virtual Machines and click Create Virtual Machine. Set up your desired settings on the first two pages of the wizard, and on the third page, click the "use an existing virtual hard disk" option, and browse to c:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\new.vhd. Finish the wizard, and it creates a new VM based on the hard disk image.

For my needs, just copying the virtual disk file and making a new VM that references it is very simple and satisfactory. One possible caveat: I don't know what will happen if you don't specify the same settings for the VM (e.g. RAM and networking) as you used when the original VM was created. My guess is it won't matter, but I haven't tried it.

Good luck to all,
-Roy

I've been recently having major problems with multiple VM's but I found out a little trick to getting around it. it's simple but it seems to work very well. this is what I did

once XP mode is installed, copy it into a safe folder. this will serve as a backup set of files.
run regular logon on xp machine
change account name
shut down the VM
change VHD image name
redirect settings to new VHD
change configuration file name to match (makes it easier to differentiate between them if you have a lot
log back on

the VM should then log on as "XPMuser" but the title bar, start menu name, and all files should be completely different. Whenever you want to make more VM's, just copy the files from your backup to the main folder, and repeat the steps. The parent disk stays the same so you don't have to deal with that headache, but you get all the benefits of having multiple VM's

Hi Kari,

Thanks for your great tutorial.

In my case however, I don't want multiple English copies, but copies in different languages (Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).

When I tried to install the Japanese version of Windows XP Mode, I received an error stating that Windows XP Mode was already installed. So I did the following:

1. Created a copy of XP Mode, named "Windows XP Mode - English", and modified VHD, VMC, and VMCX files accordingly.
2. Unistalled Windows XP Mode via Control Panel > Remove Programs.
3. Installed Japanese version of Windows XP Mode.

Now I can run the newly installed Japanese version, but when I try to run the copied English version I get the error: "One of the parent hard disks of 'Windows XP Mode - English' is missing."

What have I done wrong?

Hi Kari,

Thank you.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. I have not seen this information anywhere else. XP mode had been a curious tool and now becomes a very useful sandbox that I know I can restore, should I blow it up.

Mark

I followed these instructions carefully several times and it was not working for me (although I have no doubt it worked for others).

Here is what did work:
1) follow instructions 1-5
2) Go to manage your virtual machines and choose Create Virtual Machine
3) Give it a name and click next
4) set your ram and networking options and click next
5) Check "use existing virtual hard disk" and then browse to and choose Windows XP Mode - Copy.vhd
6) click "Create" and you are good to go

I now have 3 running side by side (to run IE6, IE7, and IE8 for web testing purposes).

It is also worth noting that I can change the resolution in these copies but not in the original "Windows XP Mode" virtual machine although I have no idea why.