Solved XP VM can't see drives

I've burned several hours trying to track this one down. No joy.

Installed MS virtual machine and XP VM into W7 (64-bit). Though a few
drive letters are displayed, no internal or USB or optical device is available...

In the SETTINGS boxes for XP, all items are grayed out.
Trying to map to a network returns: WORKGROUP isn't accessible.

Clues?

Check to see if Integration is turned off.

Shut down XP VM.
Start Windows Virtual PC.
Right click on the XP machine, click on Settings.
Go down the list and click on Integration Features.
On the right pane, Click "Enable at Startup" check box and select the hardware you want to integrate, click OK.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8253-windows-virtual-pc-change-virtual-machine-settings.html

carwiz said:

Check to see if Integration is turned off.

Shut down XP VM.
Start Windows Virtual PC.
Right click on the XP machine, click on Settings.
Go down the list and click on Integration Features.
On the right pane, Click "Enable at Startup" check box and select the hardware you want to integrate, click OK.

Click to expand...

There's a bit more to this. The drives are recognized in the XP VM now, thanks to your pointer. But after installing an old copy of Quicken on C: IT doesn't see the hard drives.

Three are listed. In addition to c:, there's a:, which does not exist and d:, a CD that isn't appropriate for this usage.

A limitation of the legacy program no doubt. Still, it did see all drives when run under regular XP, 32-bit Vista and Windows 7.

I do see a somewhat tedious workaround: copying the data files using Virtual XP and not from within Quicken. Tested a BAT file, but it would not work in the VM. Further thoughts welcomed.

Did you create a C: drive for your VM?

How did you install Quicken without the CD?

Open Windows Explorer in your XP VM and see if it looks similar to the snap below. You'll notice that there is actually two C: drives. One on the XP machine (expanded in the right pane) and one on Win7 that I have integrated on the VM machine.

View attachment 177342

carwiz said:

Did you create a C: drive for your VM?

How did you install Quicken without the CD?

Open Windows Explorer in your XP VM and see if it looks similar to the snap below. You'll notice that there is actually two C: drives. One on the XP machine (expanded in the right pane) and one on Win7 that I have integrated on the VM machine.

Click to expand...

Greetings once again.

Quicken's old floppies had been put on a thumb drive, and installed to virtual C from there. But the issue isn't with Quicken...

The layout here almost precisely matches your own, as you'll note. No doubt XP assigned the CD ROM to the next drive letter - D. I changed that to H, to match the host CD ROM drive letter. (The A floppy is long gone.)

Administrative tools|computer management|storage|disk management lists only virtual C and the H CD ROM - same as what Quicken has available.

So the question is how the virtual machine might integrate F (external removable), J, and K hard drives. Not possible, perhaps?

How are they connected? Apparently, they're integrated--They show up on your list of drives. I can understand why you changed the CD-ROM but remember you are working with two "different" computers. The integrated drives look like networked drives to XP-VM. They become shared resources. On my XP-VM everything after "F" on the 7-pc are the card reader and USB ports. All of which are usable in XP-VM.

Floppy for Quicken? Wow, that is old. I thought my Quickbooks Pro 99 was old.

carwiz said:

How are they connected? Apparently, they're integrated--They show up on your list of drives. <snip> On my XP-VM everything after "F" on the 7-pc are the card reader and USB ports. All of which are usable in XP-VM

Click to expand...

I believe it's the same here. The drives are integrated to the extent that files can be drag/dropped between virtual C and the host.

Please glance at administrative tools|computer management|storage|disk management to see what drives are shown. If your box shows more than C (virtual) and D (CD ROM), share with us how you managed that. ^_^

I looked. All that's on the VM is C and D.

carwiz said:

I looked. All that's on the VM is C and D.

Click to expand...

This seems to confirm a limitation of virtual machine architecture. And, along the way, as mentioned earlier, I also found that BAT files won't function in the XP virtual world. Leave that world... and virtual C is no longer in the game. No drag/drop.

For my purposes VM will still be handy in that I don't have to tie up another drive or dual boot to XP - for programs that its successor operating systems cannot run.
One day I may just have to plunk down a few coins to buy the latest Quicken.

Thanks for your lively input.