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How to Install Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode for Windows 7

Steven Warren — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:00:08 +0000

Windows Virtual PC is an optional download for Windows 7. It currently works on the following Windows 7 editions: Ultimate, Professional, and Enterprise.

Windows XP Mode is simply a repackaged Virtual PC designed for Windows 7.

In order to activate Windows Virtual PC, you must have hardware-assisted virtualization (INTEL VT) or (AMD-V) available and enabled in the bios. Microsoft has a tool available for download to check your PC for compatibility.

Installing Windows Virtual PC

In order to configure Windows Virtual PC, you must download two files. One file enables Windows Virtual PC and the other file installs a licensed copy of Windows XP SP3 for you to use for legacy applications (Windows XP Mode).

Browse to the Windows XP Mode configuration page. You should have already performed Step 1 and Step 2 on this page, which involve checking your PC for compatibility.

Select your Operating System (OS) in Step 3 and your language. Download Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode to your desktop and install.

Once you have installed the application, reboot your computer.

Configuring Windows XP Mode

Click Start | All Programs | Windows XP Mode. Alternatively, you can also click the Start Orb and type “xp mode” in the instant search field. Windows XP Mode appears in the list for you to select.

Tick the “I accept the license terms” checkbox (Figure 1) and click Next.

Figure 1: Windows XP Mode License Agreement

Accept the default location (Figure 2) of the installation of your virtual machine or choose a custom path.

Next, create a password for your user account “XPMUser” and click Next. If you select to save the password, your credentials are saved and you do not have to login to the virtual machine every time you reboot the box.

Note: Next, you can select “Help protect my computer by turning on Automatic Updates now. (recommended).”

Figure 2: Assigning a Password to the Windows XP Virtual Machine

Click Start Setup (Figure 3) and your Windows XP VM is automatically configured in 5 minutes for you to work with legacy applications.

Figure 3: Creating a Windows XP Virtual Machine (VM)

Launching Windows XP Mode

Click Start | All Programs | Windows XP Mode (Figure 4). As I mentioned before, you can also click the Start Orb and type “xp mode” in the instant search field. Windows XP Mode appears in the list for you to select.

Windows Virtual PC launches with a preconfigured copy of Windows XP. At this point, you can install software and use it as if it was a physical PC.

If you want to view the virtual machine (VM) in full-screen, click Action | View Full Screen. When you are finished using the VM, simply select Action | Close and the VM hibernates. Additionally, you can pause and resume the virtual machine by choosing Action | Sleep and Action | Wake Up.

Figure 4: Windows XP Mode

In my next post, I will explore Windows Virtual PC deeper and provide you with an in depth tutorial on how to configure and install virtual machines using Windows Virtual PC.

VMware Server: Creating a Virtual Machine

Roman Rafacz — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:00:03 +0000

If you’ve ever had the need to run multiple Operating Systems on your computer, needed to test out new programs, or wanted to maximize your security — then creating a virtual machine might be the answer for you!

What is a Virtual Machine?

Let’s start with what a virtual computer is.

In short, a virtual machine is basically a computer on a computer. Meaning, I can run Windows XP on my computer and have a different OS on it inside my virtual machine at the same time. This is good for more reasons than you may think.

First off it’s convenient. Rather than having 3 different physical machines and having to install operating systems on each one, you can use VMware Server to create and manage all of your different OS’s.

You can also conserve energy and space by having just one machine with three different computers on it.

How about the ease of sharing — you can create a virtual machine and send it to a friend/coworker without having to deal with installation, CD’s, serial codes, etc.

Also backup purposes — you don’t have to worry about messing up your main operating system when you can screw up the virtual one, throw it away and create another one.

Let me give you my practical use of VMware Server.

My company does various types of training on a weekly basis ranging in all different types of programs and operating systems. Rather than sending individual cd’s, serial number, instructions, etc., each location is sent a virtual machine with all the necessary components and they can run that machine using VMware player. It makes life so much easier.

Whatever the reason, VMware Server is a helpful tool and it is easy to configure and use.

Getting VMware Server for Free

The first thing you want to do is get VMware server. It’s a free download; all you have to do is go to www.VMware.com, click on the Downloads link on the right and find VMware Server.

After you click on the Free Download link you will have to register with an email and they will send you a link to download the server. Once the download has finished you will want to make sure you don’t have any other VMware tools installed on your computer, specifically VMware player.

VMware player is what is used to play virtual machines. When you create a virtual machine on the server and send it to another computer/person, that machine will need VMware player to play the virtual machine.

VMware Server Installation

The installation is fairly straightforward.

You may get a message depending on whether or not you have IIS (Internet Information Services ) installed. You can continue with the installation and set it up later or install VMware Server after IIS is installed.

Note: It is not essential that you install IIS for what we’re doing here.

To install IIS go to Control Panel → Add Remove Programs → Add Remove Windows Components and make sure IIS is checked. You will also need your Windows installation disk.

Follow the setup guide and it will walk you through the installation. It will ask you for a serial at the end.

The download is free and so is the serial code. You can find it here and all you have to do is register your info (Phony McRingRing will do) and they will email you a serial code.

Creating a Virtual Machine

Once you start your VMware Sever you will be asked to choose between Local and Remote connect — select Local.

Next, choose the option for New Virtual Machine — this is the first step to creating your virtual computer.

Your next choice will be Typical or Custom Setup, go ahead and select Typical.

What Type of Operating System Are You Creating?

In the next step you will be asked to specify which OS you will be creating. You can create any type you want — Windows, Linux, Other. And don’t worry, you can always change this later on.

For this example I will select Linux/Mandriva.

Name & Network Type?

Your next choice will be the name and location of your Virtual Machine. And after that there will be the network type. Basically, how will your virtual machine connect to the Internet?

Go ahead and use Bridge Networking — it’s the best option and it will allow the guest operating system to have its own IP address and connect to the Internet.

Almost Done!

Next what you have to do is allocate the disk space for your new virtual machine. This really depends on how much space you want and what you intend to do with it. Just select enough space for the OS and some extra for programs you will be installing.

After a few minutes you will have your new virtual machine.

On the left it will list the Virtual machines you’ve created (for me it just says Mandriva). You can create as many as need and the tools at the top will allow you to start, shutdown, restart, maximize window, etc.

FYI — you can also click on the edit button on top to make changes to the operating system, disk space, etc.

Installing the OS on Your Virtual Machine

Remember you’ve only just allocated space for the virtual machine; you still have to install the Operating System.

Installing the OS on the virtual machine is as simple as putting the boot disk into the CD drive and starting your virtual machine. Once you start the virtual machine the installation process will begin.

You’ll have to go through the normal steps as you would be installing the OS on a new computer. You can install any operating system on your virtual machine, just make sure that you allocated enough disk space to do so.

You double click into the virtual machine to take control and to get out just enter Control – Alt – Delete.

Remember that you can always put your virtual machine on a CD and send it to another machine/friend/etc. Just make sure you power down the virtual machine beforehand. It’s like making sure you shut down your computer before you unplug it.

Also, you must have VMware player installed to use a virtual machine on a CD, which is another free download from our friends at VMware.

Lastly, if your virtual machine is running sluggish you will want to allocate some more RAM. You can do this in the Server by clicking on Edit Virtual Machine and upping the RAM.

That’s about it. Good Luck!

Virtual Computing: Prepare for Your Exams with Virtualization

R. Louis Costley III — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:09:21 +0000

We’ve been discussing the use of Microsoft Virtualization applications to assist us in preparing for our certification exams.

Specifically, these applications are Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

We explored the use of Virtual PC 2007 in my last article, and will be putting the emphasis on Virtual Server 2005 in this article.

I feel it’s important to state, once again, the focus of these articles. The objective here is to raise awareness that these applications exist, and can be used as effective and resourceful tools to prepare us for certification exams.

I am going to be staying strictly within the boundaries of that scope. As I was preparing this article, I had to be diligent in this, because it was too easy for me to wonder down a path of detail that lost the focus. Believe me … that was a challenge.

My inclination is to teach as much as I can, and often I digress to the point of over-saturation. Therefore, I want to strongly recommend the video training by Train Signal on Microsoft Virtualization.

This CBT is very thorough and complete in its detail and training. If I were to attempt to cover all the important points that are taught in that training, it would take, probably, 25 different articles.

My focus is, specifically, how to use these applications in a practical manner to assist in preparation for your certification exams. Therefore, it’s likely that you may have questions that won’t be answered. I‘ve used the Train Signal virtualization training
on this subject, and assure you that any of those unanswered questions are most likely dealt with in the CBT. I continue to use it today.

If you haven’t already read the previous two articles that focused on an introduction to Virtualization and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, please select the following links to read them first:

Virtually a Reality — Virtualization in the IT World

Virtual Computing: Best Tools for Certification Preparation

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005

For those of you that have read the first two parts, let’s move onto the next phase of this discussion — Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

If you’re ready and comfortable, then you can download a free version of this application from the Microsoft TechNet site: Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

The perspective that we’re looking at this application from is how to set up a closed, isolated Virtual Network, complete with its own Domain Controller, DHCP Server and DNS Server, as well as any number of workstations.

As discussed in the last article, always remember that the resources available to these Virtual Machines (VMs) are entirely dependent upon the resources that are on your Host PC. This was discussed in more detail in the last article, so I won’t repeat myself here.

Suffice it to say, if you only have 2GB of RAM on your host PC, then you’re probably limited to 2 VMs running simultaneously on your host PC. But, in addition to the guidelines that were used for Virtual PC 2007, we also need to be aware of the demands on the host PC’s CPU while running Virtual Server 2005. If you have a Virtual Network (VN) running on your host PC, with 5 different VM’s … you need to take steps to ensure your host PC doesn’t crash because the CPU is over-burdened.

In my own experience with this process, that was probably the trickiest point to get my hands around. Again, this subject is covered in more detail in the video training I’ve already referenced above, so I won’t get bogged down on this point. Please, just be aware of it.

Utilizing Virtual Server 2005 in the Real World

While our attention is toward certification, let me give you a real-world scenario that may find it practical to use Virtual Server 2005.

Suppose you are a business owner, with 8 employees on staff. Your company is into internet marketing. Rather than paying a monthly fee to a web hosting company, and relying on their servers, you want to make an investment into maintaining more control over your own web site. Unfortunately, your current budget only allows you to buy one server, while maintaining a dedicated T1 line into your building.

A practical application of Virtual Server 2005 would be to install it on a buffed-out workstation that has multiple processors running a 64-bit Operating System (thus allowing for the utilization of more than 4GB of RAM on that machine). You could then install a dedicated Web Server within your Virtual Server 2005, isolating your website from the rest of your network, and protecting the rest of your resources from potential hacking.

This is a very simplified description, but it gives you an idea of the potential of this application.

Virtual Server 2005 is just that … an application designed for the purpose of running Virtual Servers on a machine. The merits of making such a decision are best discussed elsewhere, but I just wanted to give you an idea, or reference point to think about this from.

The Virtual Server in Action

Let’s take a look at what the application looks like once it is installed on your PC. Below is a picture of the Virtual Server 2005 Console as it will appear when you open the application.

By default, it will open up to the Master Status, as listed under the Navigation heading on the left side of the console.

You can see the additional subheadings of Virtual Machines, Virtual Disks, Virtual Networks and Virtual Server.

The right side of the console is similar to the Virtual PC 2007 Console, as depicted in the last article, and lists the various VM’s that have been created within Virtual Server.

You can see if they’re running, how long they’ve been running, as well as the CPU Usage of each respective VM. Also, the right side of the console will change as you select one of the respective options on the left side.

These VM’s and Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs) are created in pretty much the same manner as in Virtual PC 2007.

As first discussed in the article on Virtual PC 2007, this process creates two separate files with the same name base name, which you define at the time of creation. The VM file has an extension of .vmc, and the VHD has an extension of .vhd.

A major difference is the listing of the CPU Usage. This can be important if you find your Virtual Network (VN) bogging down, or more significantly, if you find your host PC getting bogged down.

Creating a Virtual Network

In order to use this application in preparation for some of the certifications like MCSA and MCSE, you’ll want to create a VN.

This is done by selecting the Create option under Virtual Networks, as depicted in the picture below.

When you select the Create option, the "New Virtual Network" Network Properties box appears to the right.

Here, you’ll assign the Virtual Network Name at the top. Just below that is an important designation I want to spend a few minutes on … Network adapter on physical computer.

By default, the "None (Guests Only)" option fills the selection box. For our purposes in setting up a VN to use in preparation for certification, this is exactly what we want.

But, considering that scenario described earlier, if you were actually setting up a Web Server in a Virtual Server environment, you would want to associate the Network Adapter to your actual physical adapter installed on your host PC. This will allow contact with the outside world.

As the "None (Guests Only)" implies, it is a closed, isolated network that is accessible by only the Guest systems, or the VM’s within Virtual Server.

Also, note the Disconnected Virtual Network Adapters. Any VM’s that have been created, but not yet joined to a VN, you can check the "connected" hot box and essentially join them all to that VN at the time you create it.

I would like to point out another important factor as it applies to your closed, isolated VN. When you roll your mouse over the Configure option, under Virtual Networks, you’ll see a listing of all the networks within Virtual Servers, as shown in the screenshot below.

In this picture, you can see two External Networks, one Internal Network (created by Virtual Server 2005) and another called Trip Enterprises (which I created for my own studies and preparation).

It’s the last two I want to take a look at. The following two screenshots are of the Internal Network, and Trip Enterprises, respectively.

The point I want to highlight will be defined by the settings listed at the bottom right side of each network, designated by DHCP Server.

Please note that Internal Network in the above image indicates, to the right of DHCP Server, that "the virtual DHCP server is enabled."

This is because Virtual Server 2005 installs a Virtual DHCP server by default, associated with this internal network. This allows you to set up a network without actually having to install a DHCP server in a VM.

Now if you look at the DHCP Server description for Trip Enterprises above, it shows that "the virtual DHCP server is disabled."

I’m including this picture to demonstrate that you have the ability to turn off the Virtual DHCP server that is installed with Virtual Server 2005, which is what I did.

Because if you go back up to the first picture I included, which shows the Master Status of the Virtual Server Console, you’ll see that one of the VMs in my network is specifically a DHCP server. I did this explicitly for the purpose of learning how to set up a DHCP Server.

Keeping in mind that we are focusing on preparing for certifications, part of the objectives for MCSE is the set up and management of DHCP servers. Therefore, I used this application to do just that.

Practical Application for Certification

Let us now explore the more practical application to our studies and preparations for MCSA and MCSE certifications, as well as gaining excellent real-time and real world practice and experience in a network environment.

To demonstrate that, let’s look a little deeper at what I did myself. Looking back at the Virtual Server Console picture below, you see that I have a network that includes two servers, and 4 workstations.

One workstation is Vista Ultimate and the others are Windows XP Pro. In reality, I seldom run them all simultaneously. This is because the demand on my RAM and CPU resources actually does bog down my host PC as well as the guest VMs.

I do run both the servers, because one is a Domain Controller and DNS Server, while the other is my DHCP server. When I was setting up the DHCP server, I had to designate the scope of internal IP address that it assigns to the respective workstations as they authenticate and log onto the domain that I created.

Now … here is my point.

Just reading through the description above … you can see how "real world" this gets.

Although the network is closed and isolated, it is a real, living, dynamic Domain. I had to set up Active Directory on the Domain Controller, and in a real-time network experience I manage User and Computer accounts, Group Policy Objects which I apply at the Domain and Group levels.

With some users that I created, I was able to push out a controlled, mandatory profile. With others, I am able to log onto the different workstations with their Roaming profiles, and get the changes to the desktop made on a different machine … just like in a real world environment.

And when I forgot a password, and locked one of the users out of the Domain, I used Active Directory to reset the password. These are just some of the experiences I’ve had in this Virtual Network.

As I went through the Test Preparation software and CBT’s that I’ve used, I was able to isolate the test objectives for the respective exams, and focus on the areas that I needed better understanding of.

This Virtual Computing is truly amazing, especially when we apply the technology to our studies toward certification.

I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it.

Virtual Computing: Best Tools for Certification Preparation

R. Louis Costley III — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:30:34 +0000

To install, or not to install? That is the question!

We need to get that all important experience playing with the ins-and-outs of some OS, such as Linux or Windows Server 2003, but all we have available to us is our own single PC.

No Way! I’m not about to attempt a dual-boot scenario, and put my own system at risk.

Back in the day, as they say, that would have been our only option. Or, we could buy another PC, and install the OS on that system. Better yet, we could do a complete back-up of our system and data, then wipe out our Hard Drive, reformat, and reinstall the new OS.

When we’re done, we just restore the image of our original system, and we’re good to go. Seems like a lot of work, eh?

Welcome to the Virtualized Future

Well, those days are long gone, believe me.

As a matter of fact, you can run a single PC with just 1GB of RAM, and using the various options available to us in the Virtual Computing world of software, install almost every conceivable OS on your computer in its own Virtual PC.

That’s right. One virtual PC for every — and all — versions of Windows, multiple different versions of Linux, Beta versions of any application you would like … the list goes on and on.

You want to try IE8 Beta2? Put it on a Virtual PC. To be even more efficient, create a base-line "template" Virtual Hard Drive, copy it, and go nuts pushing the limits of any application, knowing that, if it crashes your "Virtual Computer," all you have to do is hit the delete button and that computer no longer exists.

Then, copy your template hard drive, and start all over. And NONE of that will ever impact your "Host," or main, computer what-so-ever.

Microsoft Virtual Computing

As I discussed in my last article, today we’ll be focusing on two specific offerings from Microsoft as we explore this virtual horizon — Virtual PC 2007 and Virtual Server 2005 – and how to apply them to our studies and preparations for our certification exams.

And, because this is our focus on the two applications, I won’t be spending time on the details of how to install or configure them. The installation of each program is actually simple and straightforward, and each application has a thorough and in-depth help file included.

I want to encourage you, though, to Train Signal’s CBT on Microsoft Virtualization. I’ve gone through the training, and it’s an excellent step-by-step on the theory, installation and use of both applications.

The product is a great learning tool. The section dealing with Virtual PC 2007 is actually at the end, so you’ll want to go through that first.

It should be understood that while these applications are free to download and use, the actual installation of any OS or application in a Virtual PC is still subject to the laws of copyright, and we should always have the proper licensing rights for each respective "Virtual Computer" that is installed.

This is particularly important if we intend to apply the most current security patches or updates. We also must ensure that our computer, itself, meets all the respective hardware compatibility requirements for each respective OS or application.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

To begin with, we’ll be discussing Virtual PC 2007, and move onto Virtual Server 2005 in the next article. You’ll want to download the free version of Virtual PC 2007 here.

Below is a picture of the Virtual PC Console, which is what you see once it is installed on your computer, and you’re running the program …

As you can see, I have personally installed 6 different Virtual PC’s (or Virtual Machines – VM, for this article – as they are referred to in the application) listed in the large box to the left, under the Menu Bar.

Initially, this space is blank, and as you select the New button and create a new VM, they’ll be listed like they are in the screenshot above.

The grayed-out thumbnails indicate that the VM isn’t running. When a machine is running, you’ll see a thumbnail of the actual desktop as it is configured on the VM itself. Once installed, all you have to do is double click the respective thumbnail, and the VM starts up like any normal cold boot.

To summarize the process, when you create a VM, you’re actually creating two files. Both have the same name that you designate, but one has an extension of .vmc (for Virtual Machine Console), and the other is .vhd (for Virtual Hard Drive).

Once again, I’m not going to focus on the details of the setup here, but wanted to give you a reference point to work from.

Please keep in mind that the extent to which you can use these VMs depends entirely upon your own PC’s hardware configuration. When you create these VMs and their associated virtual hard drives (VHD), you’ll need to assign how much RAM will be dedicated to that VM, as well as the amount of space you want to assign to the VHD.

Whatever RAM you allocate to the VM is effectively NOT available to your own host PC. Personally, I have 4GB of RAM on my PC, which means that I have 3.5GB available to my OS while my computer is running.

I’ve assigned 5 of the VMs 384MB RAM, and the one Vista Ultimate VM 512 MB. What this means is that if I’m running the two VMs as shown in the picture, with a total of 896MB RAM allocated to the two combined, my own host computer now only has approximately 2.5 GB RAM available for its own processes.

As you use this application to install VMs, you’ll need to keep that in mind, to ensure you don’t cause your own PC to become overburdened by lack of available resources.

Again, for purposes of a reference point, I am including a picture of the Settings dialogue below …

As you can see, the settings I selected were for my Vista Ultimate VM. As you look down the left side at the various settings, you’ll note the amount of the Memory I allocated, and the name of Hard Disk 1 has the .vhd extension I discussed above.

I want to reference a couple of other settings here, because they’re important to keep in mind.

The CD/DVD Drive is usually associated with your first physical Optical Drive on your own machine, by default. You also have the ability to "capture" an image file (such as .ISO files). Either way, you’ll need to install the OS, or respective application, onto the VM just as you normally would on any stand-alone PC.

In order to be able to connect to the outside world, you’ll want to associate the Networking with NAT (Network Address Translation). Again, this is better explained in a more thorough and detailed training product.

Lastly, the Shared Folders is also important. If you want to have access to files on your host PC, then you’ll need to configure a shared folder for each respective VM. In my case, I just made my own My Documents folder a shared folder, and you do this from within this Settings dialogue. You’re not actually making that folder a shared folder on your host PC.

The next picture is of my own host PC’s desktop. You can see the two VMs I initialized running in their own console window …

There are a couple of things to note on this picture. First, you’ll see that my host PC desktop is in the background, and each VM is in its own window.

Each respective window has icons showing … a hard drive, a CD/DVD, a floppy disk, a folder, and a network icon. If you right click on any of these, you’re presented with options that typically open the Settings Dialogue for that respective VM.

Right clicking on the CD/DVD gives you an option to capture an image or use the physical optical drive on your host PC. This will allow you to install the OS at first, and then any applications into the VM environment.

If you look closely at the lower right Task Bar of the Vista Ultimate window, the icon to the right of the "Desktop" toolbar shows an arrow in a half-circle. While I took the screenshot, this VM was actually updating the McAfee signature files in real time. I point this out to emphasize that these VMs function exactly like our own PC’s.

From this last picture, you can see I am running two separate VMs concurrently, all within the boundaries of my host PC. I’ve chosen to allow them to have a connection to the outside world, and anytime they run they’ll download and install updates as normal.

We can choose to keep them specifically isolated and closed, as well, with no contact to the outside. This allows for a completely controlled environment.

Practical Application for Certification Preparation

Now, with all of that said, how do we use this application to assist us in preparing for our certifications?

It’s actually a simple process. For example, suppose you were preparing to take your MCP exam for Windows XP or Vista. After installing Virtual PC 2007 on your host computer, you’ll create a new VM for the respective OS.

If you look back at the last picture, you’ll see that I name my VMs for the OS I’ve installed. If your only intention is to install the OS, without any other applications, my recommendation is to create the VHD to be 3x’s the requirements.

So, for Vista, I would create a .vhd of at least 45GB. Keep in mind that it won’t take up all that space, and you can later configure the drive to occupy only the space it actually needs. In reality, my .vhd for the Vista Ultimate VM occupies only 15GB of space on my physical hard drive.

While I designated 15GB for each of the three Windows XP Pro VMs, the actual size of the .vhd is a little over 3GB. To put it all in perspective, I installed McAfee, Spybot, Ad-Aware 2008 and a few other minor free utilities onto each VM.

This should give you a good idea of what kind of hard drive resources you need to have available.

You can also run each WinXP VM comfortably with 256MB RAM allocated to them. I’m running my Vista Ultimate VM with 512MB RAM. I also installed Office 2K7 on this VM, and wrote my last article on it. I noticed some sluggishness, but not much.

Always remember what I discussed above. You only have so much RAM available to your own PC, and each respective VM will reduce the available RAM to your own PC by the amount you’ve allocated to that VM.

So, once you’ve installed the OS onto the VM, you can then play with the OS without any risk to your own host PC. If you’re studying for the CompTIA Linux+ exam, install a free version of Fedora Linux from this link: http://fedoraproject.org/en/index.

You can also gain further insight into the Fedora project here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_Core.

My personal approach is to create a blank VM and VHD that will meet the requirements of all respective Operating Systems, and save that as a template. Then, when you’re ready to install a new OS, copy the VHD and rename it for the respective OS, and you’re free to start all over (this is covered in good detail in the Virtualization video training that I referenced earlier).

You can get practice installing the different OS’s by repeating this process. Once installed, you can follow your training materials or Test Preparation questions (running on your host PC) to the exact points, and get valuable practical — and visual — experience, allowing you to focus on specific test objectives in a real-world and real-time environment.

As you can see, the practical applications of this software are boundless. If you want to see how beta versions of software function in the different environments — install them on a Virtual Machine.

When you’re satisfied, delete that VM and VHD. It’s as simple as that.

When we pick up next time, I’ll be focusing on how to use Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 to prepare for MCSA or MCSE. Don’t miss it!

Virtually a Reality — Virtualization in the IT World

R. Louis Costley III — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:00:16 +0000

Virtual Reality: Total Recall

Do any of you recall the sci-fi flick, "Total Recall," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Back in 1990, I thought it was one of the most awesome movies of the day, and was enraptured by the concept that one could have memories implanted into their mind. As the movie progressed, you never knew if he was actually living the "vacation as a spy," or just having memories of it.

Today, my son partakes in online games where about half-a-dozen of his friends are playing the same game as a team, separated by dozens of miles and speaking to each other by headset, as they take on other teams from across the country. Amazing!

If you’re willing to part with 400 bucks, you can own a wrap-around set of eye glasses that will purportedly plunge you into the depths of games like Quake 4, Halo 3, Final Fantasy XI, multiple versions of Call of Duty … and the list goes on.

Testimony of some who’ve used it state that all you see from east to west is this gaming world. Amazing!

Virtual Computing

The beauty of all this technology, as it applies to us in the IT world, is that we can also partake in the Virtual experience. And, it doesn’t have to cost us much money at all.

Virtual Computing is the buzz, and it’s taking over so many facets of our industry. Virtual Storage, Virtual Desktops, Virtual Servers … it’s almost as if we’re coming full circle.

Remember when we had those "dumb terminals" hooked up to large, proprietary main-frame computers. Well, the enterprise community is moving in that direction, with virtual "desktop environments" becoming the trend.

Have you heard the term "Cloud Computing?" (Dave Lawlor talks about it in his article Backups Using Cloud Resources) That’s where all the applications are hosted on servers, and pushed out to the workstations, rather than installing the software directly on the PC’s.

Personally, I don’t like that, but it’s the direction vendors like Microsoft want to move in, where we’ll rent or lease the use of the applications.

Getting back on point, I’m actually writing this article to you from within Microsoft Word, on a Vista Ultimate "guest" system residing within the confines of my WinXP Pro "host" main system. As a matter of fact, I have a network comprised of 2 Windows 2003 servers and 4 workstations — all residing inside of my single home computer with 4 GB of memory.

It’s a closed, isolated, private network, and is what I use to get the "admin" experience I need to prepare me for my MCSA/MCSE certification. I’ll get into more details on this set up in a later article, as I discuss how to apply this technology to your own certification goals.

While the potential for all of this is astounding, and most of the articles online and in print deal with this from an Enterprise perspective, there exists a tremendous amount of opportunities for individuals and Small Businesses, alike.

Before we get into the potential benefits and applications, let’s delve into some basics about Virtual Computing. I’m not going to get into detailed descriptions of the variations that come into play, but a good place to start if you want to dig deeper would be here:

Virtual Machine — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine
Virtualization — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization

Virtual Memory

Any of you that run Windows would probably be familiar with the term "Virtual Memory." This is the process by which the operating system utilizes a designated portion of your system’s hard drive to store some the information that is held in it’s RAM.

This area is called the Swap File, or Paging File. By default, Windows will allocate a space equal to 1.5x’s the amount of your RAM. So, if you have 2 GB of RAM, your swap file would be 3 GB, thus your total available "Virtual Memory" is equal to 5 GB.

Should your system require more RAM than the 2 GB available, Windows will swap some of that RAM to your hard drive — or, rather, the information held in RAM — and make that RAM available for immediate use by whatever is requiring it. Often times, if your system appears to be bogged down, we’ll check to see how much "swapping" is taking place, and if it’s too high we may determine that you need more RAM on your system.

Let’s Host a Party

For our purposes, again, we will be focusing on the type of Virtual Computing that refers to a Host System and a Guest System.

As that logically implies, the Guest system resides on, or within, the Host system. It is Isolated, and for all intents and purposes, immunizes the Host system from any failures that might otherwise cause a computer to lock up, crash, or possibly burn.

For example, one can be running a Vista "PC" within the environment of an XP system. That Vista PC could become infested with a system-killing virus, and the XP computer that is "hosting" it will be completely clean.

Think of a submarine out in the ocean. Hundreds of human beings live inside that machine, with their own ventilation, electronic and plumbing systems built in. All that separates — or isolates — that system from the ocean that surrounds it is the skin of the submarine. The sealed walls keep the water out, and hold the electronic and human world within.

This is exactly how Virtual Computing works, in the context of Hosts and Guests. In this case, though, the walls that are erected to separate the two worlds are usually in the form of a software application, such as Microsoft’s Virtual PC or products developed by VMware.

I would like to draw a line of separation, here. For the most part, VMware products are developed and marketed with the corporate and enterprise community in mind. As this technology pertains to this series of articles, and our focus, I will be referring to the Microsoft applications Virtual PC and Virtual Server.

These are the applications I use, personally. Mainly, because they are both free to download and use. You can get these products here:

My purpose is to help you utilize this technology to achieve your certification and personal goals. I want to highly recommend the products that Train Signal sells on Microsoft Virtualization and VMware. I’ve used them, and they’re quite excellent. The instructor does an awesome job walking you through the specifics of each vendor’s offering.

Next week, we’ll cover the more practical benefits and applications to us as individuals. I’ll share my own experiences in setting up both Virtual PC and Virtual Server, and how I’ve used them in my own certification endeavors.

Until then, my best advice to parents of gaming teenagers — acknowledge from the start that they rule. Maybe, then, they’ll have mercy on you. Otherwise, don’t expect to get out of that "Virtual Reality" alive. EVER!