Vista - SmartVDK 1.0 is out

10-23-2008

Long-time reader, first-time poster. And a big fan of Microsoft's
virtualization stuff!

So, I wanted to share the release of SmartVDK 1.0.
<http://prowesscorp.com/products/smartdeploy/virtualdisk.html> It's a tool I
helped write for mounting Virtual PC and Virtual Server disks as drives. Much
like VHDMount, but faster and much more stable. Specifically, I had problems
with VHDMount being stable enough for capturing and applying with ImageX.
SmartVDK also handles VMDK (VMWare disks), VDI (VirtualBox disks) and HDD
(Parallels disks.) So it's an all-around virtual disk swiss army knife,
basically.

SmartVDK can be used to create blank VHDs and change the disk IDs and volume
serials, if you're trying to modify a disk to match a physical disk, perhaps.

There's a new feature called "copy disk layout" that'll create a blank VHD
matching the disk ID, partition table, boot sector and volume serials of an
existing VHD.

SmartVDK is an ActiveX/COM control that can be scripted from VBScript,
JScript and .NET. But it comes with a commandline script as well for doing
this sort of stuff from a prompt. It's free for personal use and $39 for
businesses.

10-24-2008

Does SmartVDK 1.0 require an installation, or can it just be run from the
downloaded files without making changes to the operating system? In other
words, can I use it without ever needing an administrative account?

"rroot" wrote:

Quote:

> Long-time reader, first-time poster. And a big fan of Microsoft's
> virtualization stuff!
>
> So, I wanted to share the release of SmartVDK 1.0.
> <http://prowesscorp.com/products/smartdeploy/virtualdisk.html> It's a tool I
> helped write for mounting Virtual PC and Virtual Server disks as drives. Much
> like VHDMount, but faster and much more stable. Specifically, I had problems
> with VHDMount being stable enough for capturing and applying with ImageX.
> SmartVDK also handles VMDK (VMWare disks), VDI (VirtualBox disks) and HDD
> (Parallels disks.) So it's an all-around virtual disk swiss army knife,
> basically.
>
> SmartVDK can be used to create blank VHDs and change the disk IDs and volume
> serials, if you're trying to modify a disk to match a physical disk, perhaps.
>
> There's a new feature called "copy disk layout" that'll create a blank VHD
> matching the disk ID, partition table, boot sector and volume serials of an
> existing VHD.
>
> SmartVDK is an ActiveX/COM control that can be scripted from VBScript,
> JScript and .NET. But it comes with a commandline script as well for doing
> this sort of stuff from a prompt. It's free for personal use and $39 for
> businesses.

10-24-2008

Yeah, you've got it, SmartVDK requires installation of a service from an
administrative account. Basically, the first time you connect to a drive,
the service is installed.

We have another product called VM Express that lets you apply images to a
virtual disk without needing administrative privileges but it's not a free
component. It's primarily used to apply WIM images to offline VHDs.

Anyway, thanks for your question!

"Zephyr" wrote:

Quote:

> Does SmartVDK 1.0 require an installation, or can it just be run from the
> downloaded files without making changes to the operating system? In other
> words, can I use it without ever needing an administrative account?

10-23-2008	#1 (permalink)
rroot n/a posts	SmartVDK 1.0 is out Long-time reader, first-time poster. And a big fan of Microsoft's virtualization stuff! So, I wanted to share the release of SmartVDK 1.0. <http://prowesscorp.com/products/smartdeploy/virtualdisk.html> It's a tool I helped write for mounting Virtual PC and Virtual Server disks as drives. Much like VHDMount, but faster and much more stable. Specifically, I had problems with VHDMount being stable enough for capturing and applying with ImageX. SmartVDK also handles VMDK (VMWare disks), VDI (VirtualBox disks) and HDD (Parallels disks.) So it's an all-around virtual disk swiss army knife, basically. SmartVDK can be used to create blank VHDs and change the disk IDs and volume serials, if you're trying to modify a disk to match a physical disk, perhaps. There's a new feature called "copy disk layout" that'll create a blank VHD matching the disk ID, partition table, boot sector and volume serials of an existing VHD. SmartVDK is an ActiveX/COM control that can be scripted from VBScript, JScript and .NET. But it comes with a commandline script as well for doing this sort of stuff from a prompt. It's free for personal use and $39 for businesses.
My System Specs

10-24-2008	#2 (permalink)
Zephyr n/a posts	RE: SmartVDK 1.0 is out Does SmartVDK 1.0 require an installation, or can it just be run from the downloaded files without making changes to the operating system? In other words, can I use it without ever needing an administrative account? "rroot" wrote: Quote: > Long-time reader, first-time poster. And a big fan of Microsoft's > virtualization stuff! > > So, I wanted to share the release of SmartVDK 1.0. > <http://prowesscorp.com/products/smartdeploy/virtualdisk.html> It's a tool I > helped write for mounting Virtual PC and Virtual Server disks as drives. Much > like VHDMount, but faster and much more stable. Specifically, I had problems > with VHDMount being stable enough for capturing and applying with ImageX. > SmartVDK also handles VMDK (VMWare disks), VDI (VirtualBox disks) and HDD > (Parallels disks.) So it's an all-around virtual disk swiss army knife, > basically. > > SmartVDK can be used to create blank VHDs and change the disk IDs and volume > serials, if you're trying to modify a disk to match a physical disk, perhaps. > > There's a new feature called "copy disk layout" that'll create a blank VHD > matching the disk ID, partition table, boot sector and volume serials of an > existing VHD. > > SmartVDK is an ActiveX/COM control that can be scripted from VBScript, > JScript and .NET. But it comes with a commandline script as well for doing > this sort of stuff from a prompt. It's free for personal use and $39 for > businesses.
My System Specs

10-24-2008	#3 (permalink)
rroot n/a posts	RE: SmartVDK 1.0 is out Yeah, you've got it, SmartVDK requires installation of a service from an administrative account. Basically, the first time you connect to a drive, the service is installed. We have another product called VM Express that lets you apply images to a virtual disk without needing administrative privileges but it's not a free component. It's primarily used to apply WIM images to offline VHDs. Anyway, thanks for your question! "Zephyr" wrote: Quote: > Does SmartVDK 1.0 require an installation, or can it just be run from the > downloaded files without making changes to the operating system? In other > words, can I use it without ever needing an administrative account?
My System Specs