HI drobie, I'm not sure this is what you want but here is something I saved from an earlier post I found. Give it a read. Good Luck
Ted
P.S. Sorry about the way it is presented this is the only way I could figure
how to post it here from the file I have it in.
( If I knew who wrote this I would give him credit for it, but I don't.)
What is a virtual machine Basically it is a ‘pretend computer’ within a real, physical, computer. It will run and perform just like a real computer but it really does not exist except through the software that enables it. Virtual PC 2007 is software, just like Internet Explorer or Word, which allows this to be done. Its purpose is to allow you to start up your computer and then to be able to run such a pretend computer without ever leaving the normal monitor screen that you are used to.
Why would I want to do this? Since I do like to play a game or two, let’s use a game as an example. I have a game that will not run in Windows Vista or XP. It will run in Windows 2000 and 98. I can set up a virtual PC running Windows 2000 or 98 and enjoy playing the game on it. It does not have to be a game. You will see the same advantage with most software that will run on an earlier version of Windows. Notice that I say ‘most’ software. There are exceptions but, in general, it will allow you to keep using software that you like that may not run on your more recent version of Windows. This is also a good method to try operating systems such as Linux. This sounds nice but I am limited on time. How long is this going to take? To download Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and install it… a little over 5 minutes if you have a high speed internet connection. Turning it into something useful takes a bit longer. A virtual PC has to be treated just like a real machine. You will have to install an operating system on it, do updates and apply security just like on a real PC.
Running a virtual PC will put an extra load on your computer. The two most important aspects are the amount of memory and the processor. I would recommend a minimum of 1gig of memory and, at least, a 1.5GHz. AMD Athalon or Pentium 4 processor if Windows XP and/or Windows Vista are involved. Of course more memory and a faster processor will perform better. It should also be noted that USB will not be available in the virtual PC.
A virtual PC is a software driven computer that operates within another operating system. This allows you to run two or more operating systems at the same time. Host Operating System Your main operating system. This is the operating system that first comes up when you start your computer. Guest Operating System The operating system that you have running in the virtual PC. Virtual machine hard drive. This is a file stored on your physical hard drive that acts as a hard drive for the guest operating system. Shared folder. This would be a folder on your hard drive that is set up to be accessed by both, the host operating system and the guest operating system. Virtual Machine Additions
Virtual Machine Additions is an install that will be done once the virtual PC is set up. It will give better graphics and mouse control along with other improvements. This is actually a little different than an install that you may be used to but will act and look like a normal install. Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is a file management program that, in our case, allows us to create a new folder. It can be found in ‘All Programs’ under ‘Accessories’. ‘My Computer’ can be used instead.
Time to install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007™
Microsoft™ has made Virtual PC™ available for free. It can be downloaded here. OK, now that we have the Virtual PC™ downloaded, just double click on the downloaded file and follow the instructions. Unless you have your system set up other than normal it will be best to just follow the defaults.
Now that the software is installed let us set up where our virtual PC will reside on our hard drive so that it is a little neater. If you open Windows Explorer you will see a new folder in the Documents folder named My Virtual Machines. It is best to create a separate folder within this folder for each virtual PC that will be installed. Also create a folder named ‘VPC Shared’. The purpose of this folder will be explained later in this article. We will be installing Windows XP Professional™ as our virtual PC so the folder layout should look like figure 1. If more virtual PCs are to be added we would create a different folder for each. This will prevent confusion as to which files go with each virtual PC.
Time to make it useful
As it is, the software is useless. We have to go ahead and install an operating system. In this case it will be Windows XP Professional. It must be remembered that a virtual PC is to be treated just like a real computer so you must have the installation disk for the operating system that is to be installed. Also, if that operating system disk has been used on another actual computer that is up and running, it would not be legal to use the same disk to install to a virtual PC unless you have a multiple machine license.
When you first start Virtual PC 2007™ it will bring up a wizard automatically to set up our first virtual PC. Just click ‘Next’ on the first window of the wizard. On the second screen we would select ‘Create a virtual machine’. It should already be selected by default, click ‘Next’.
On the next window we can give the virtual machine a specific name. I suggest that the name of the operating system be used. To the right of the text box to enter a name will be a button to ‘Browse’. Use the browse button to direct it to the folder we created within ‘My virtual machines’ named ‘Windows XP’. Now, in the text entry box we see that it says ‘New Virtual Machine.vmc’ to the right. Just to keep things organized we will change this to read ‘Windows XP.vmc’. The pertinent area of this window should look like figure 2. ‘D: \’ is likely to actually read as ‘C: \’. Click ‘Next’. Since we named our virtual PC ‘Windows XP’, the software automatically knows to set things up for Windows XP™. Just click ‘Next’ again. The next window is where we really start changing things to make this all work better. I am going to base the settings I recommend according to a physical computer with a 2GHz. Processor with 1gig of memory running Windows Vista™ as the host operating system and Windows XP Professional™ as the guest operating system. If your computer is more powerful you can experiment with these settings after it is all set up. They can be changed at any time. Once you are comfortable with the set up I do recommend that these settings be experimented with to achieve the best performance on your computer. On this window select ‘Adjusting the RAM’. You will see a slide bar to adjust the size of RAM (memory) to use. Set this to 384MB and click ‘Next’. Now we are going to set up our virtual PC hard drive. In this window select ‘A new virtual hard disk’ and click ‘Next’. On the following screen, where it says ‘Virtual hard drive size:’ change 65536 to 20480 unless you are going to be installing a LOT of software on the virtual PC. This will give you, approximately, a 20gig drive for the virtual PC. Click ‘Next’. All done, the virtual PC is all set up and ready to go… well, we still need to install Windows XP Professional, but the machine itself is ready. Click ‘Finish’. WOW! We now have a console that lists Windows XP and says that it is not running. See figure 3. Our virtual PC is set up but there is more to do. Next we will set a setting and then we will have to actually install Windows XP Professional™. If you wish, you can tell the virtual PC to start but it will not do anything except tell you that there isn’t anything to boot from. It will take a bit of time to reach this point as the virtual PC will spend a lot of time looking for a network. Close the virtual PC window by clicking the ‘X’ at the upper right. In the pull down menu tell it to ‘Shut off’. Looked a lot like a real computer with nothing installed, didn’t it? We will fix that but first we are going to change a setting.
With ‘Windows XP’ highlighted click on the ‘Settings’ button as shown in figure 3a. Click on ‘Networking’ in the left hand pane. If your actual network card shows under ‘Adapter 1:’ click OK. If your actual network card does not show, use the pull down menu to select ‘Shared networking’ (NAT) and click ‘OK’. Go ahead and click ‘Start’ and let it go through to where it, again, says that it needs a proper boot device.
Time to install Windows XP Professional™
Place your Windows install CD in your CD or DVD drive. If the install window comes up on your real machine, just exit out of it. If you look at the top of the virtual PC window you will see a menu with options such as ‘Action’, ‘Edit’, ‘CD’, ‘Floppy’ and ‘Help’. Select ‘CD’ and then select to use the drive that the windows disk is in. Now go to ‘Action’ in the menu and select ‘Ctrl+Alt+Del’. Looks just like you were installing windows on a real, physical, machine. Treat it that way. Follow through with the windows install and then do all updates available. Finish by installing all security software such as antivirus, anti spyware, etc. Please remember to treat your new virtual PC just like you would a real, physical, machine.
Now to install Virtual Machine Additions
We will now install the Virtual Machine Additions to enhance performance. One of the biggest improvements is the mouse integration. As it is at this point you must press the right ‘Alt’ key to release the mouse pointer from the virtual PC. After this installation that will no longer be necessary.
Under the ‘Action’ tab for the virtual PC, click on Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions. Click on ‘Continue’ within the popup window. The install wizard will start up and run automatically. After the install is complete you will need to restart the virtual PC.
