Give VPC internet access without being able to access host's drives?

Install vmware player or virtual box. You would see they do not access the hosts file system by default.
These are true VM's.

Xp mode is a virtual machine, yes. Its runs a virtual copy of xp pro in a virtual environment. Yet by default, it connects the vm to the hosts files and drives. That is the whole point of xp mode, to install programs in it, and then have them linked to seven, so that when you launch the program, it launches it in xp mode but shows it on sevens desktop.
Using xp mode, you could use it entirely without ever seeing the virtual machine.

Real VM programs are separated (isolated) from the host OS unless you tell it to do so otherwise.
This is a real virtual environment. XP mode is not a real complete virtual environment.

This is exactly why I linked to vmware player in my first response, as I do not consider xp mode to be a true VM. The sole reason for xp modes purpose and existence is so that Microsoft could get Businesses to upgrade to Windows 7 and yet still use older applications until they had time to move over. It was not designed with security in mind, nor was it designed to be technical. Its supposed to be easy to install, and use so that deploying it on a company network is easy and less frustrating. This is also the reason it was xp pro that was included so that Group policy was supported as well, setting those to the company standards and GPOs.

I am sure you know all of this.
I feel like we are butting heads here. For that I am sorry. I mean no harm or disrespect. I am just trying to get my point across that respected virtual machine programs and solutions are much diffrent then Microsoft's solutions. They have completely different goals.
Microsoft's is for backwards compatibility, vmware and virtual box are about security in business environments as well as isoloation and easy rollback snapshots. They are for testing beds, running virtual servers (pro versions), etc.

This is also why you notice that xp mode runs a lot slower in performance too compared to a real VM program like virtual box or vmware player. Its because those programs have accelerated graphics, and thus better performance. They can even run AERO and games. Try doing that on Microsoft's virtual PC or Xp mode.

I agreed with the sources you linked me to. They are not wrong. This information I already know.

Kari said:

As the Windows XP Mode can easily be ported for instance to VMware, I am really wondering what you think would be the difference if let's say you have an XP vm installed from your own install media on VMware and that's according to you a "standard" vm, then you import the XP Mode to the same VMware and it's not standard?

Nope its not. Because Virtual PC is not designed with security in mind. And it by default shares with the host. (That's what it was made to do.)
Virtual box and vmware do not do this unless told to.
In fact, I have done just that. I converted xp mode to vmware, and it now could not access my host files or drives. If desired, I could set that up. But its not the default. They do share the same network connection, no disagreeing with you there.


http://arstechnica.com/information-t...ndows-xp-mode/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18127...t_xp_mode.html

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/why-a...er-xp-mode/896

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-...it/ta-p/234893

You really do not get it?

The OP asked about how to do something on a specific virtualization platform, Microsoft's Virtual PC. You told her "no worries, VMware Player does that for you". It's like if the OP would have asked how to run a batch of commands on Windows command line and you had told her how easy it is to do on Linux terminal. Apples and oranges.

Running a vm using a Guest account both on host and guest is IMO not a good answer to OP's issue as long as we are not using hypervisor virtualization. Both in VirtualBox and VMware the restrictions are too easy to work around. More important, the OP was asking about Virtual PC, not VirtualBox or VMware.

Kari

Yes. They stated virtual pc. Yes. Its possible to run Microsoft's Virtual PC without allowing it to access the host drives.
Yes it can browse the internet.

She said Clients. Clients want good speed in what they are doing. Microsofts virtual pc lacks gpu acceleration.
Doing anything in there is going to be slow, especially browsing the web.

This is why I stated what I suggested. In no way did I tell them to NOT use Microsoft's virtual PC. I offered my advice. They can certainly use it, and they can also use vmware player. If they really wanted to use virtual pc they would have stated that again. They just said virtual pc as well. Not Microsofts virtual PC. I have seen users just say virtual pc when talking about vmware player or virtual box. To me that is not specifically saying hey I want to use xp mode or something.


I also said "most vms" not all. I did not say all vms by default not touch drives or files.
I offered an example of a vm program that by default, does what they wanted.

Ether way the user got helped. And thats what we do. They will get updates to this thread. If the user was not happy with my answer, I think they would specify what about Microsoft virtual pc?

I apologize for any frustration I caused you.