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Virtual OS


BillD

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I keep reading about virtual OS's; e.g., running Win XP as a virtual OS on top of Win 7.I have done considerable searching of the Web, and I still don't understand it. Is "virtual" sort of like running a live Linux distro where it only exists in memory while you are running it, or is some part of it actually installed? I get the impression one can boot into the virtual OS at bootup just like the base OS, so I assume some part of it must be installed, but where and what is installed?Any clarification (direct input, links that explain it so I can understand it, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.Thank you,Bill

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In Windows 7 this is called XP Mode. What is a tuned-for-Windows 7 version of Microsoft Virtual PC. This site should provide the files and instructions you need: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspxYou download Microsoft VPC, a .vhd file of a Windows XP installation, and as of last week, a patch to enable you to run this on computers with CPUs that don't have hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD-V). The main difference between this version and the normal Virtual PC is the ability to run programs installed in the virtual XP right from the Windows 7 Start menu. Basically, the virtual machine runs seamlessly in the background and your application appears to be running in Windows 7. You can still revert back to the standard behaviour of having a virtual XP desktop, too.If you don't want to use XP Mode you can run third-party virtualization software called a hypervisor. The most popular ones are VMware Workstation and Sun VirtualBox. Both these products have Windows, Linux and Mac OSX versions. With these products you will need an operating system install CD/DVD or ISO image file to install the virtual guest computer. I've tried all these products myself and prefer VirtualBox but VMware is the most mature of these products.Another type of hypervisor is one that runs as a specialized operating system. These "bare metal" hypervisors perform better than the desktop hypervisors when you want to run virtual server operating systems because you don't need to worry about tying up your desktop system. See products such as VMware ESXi, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V.Here is some background info:http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/...ion-guide-1.arshttp://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Virtualizationhttp://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubunt.../virtualizationhttp://techthrob.com/2009/03/02/virtualiza...ftware-choices/http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=w...GxVE4FzunrwRrIw

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Thank you for the links. I have gone thru them, bookmarked them in a "virtualization" folder, etc.But, it seems to me that somewhere, there has got to be some space taken up with the fixed stuff related to the virtual OS. Suppose one over simplifies things and imagines a computer where there is only one partition; the C partition with Windows 7 on it. Now then, where is/are the specifics of the virtualized stuff stored that must be kept permanently? Does this just take up some additional space on the C partition, or is another small partition actually created to hold this stuff?Thank you,Bill

Edited by BillD
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Sayeth VirtualBox Manual:

Disk image files reside on the host system and are seen by the guest systems as harddisks of a certain geometry. When a guest operating system reads from or writes to ahard disk, VirtualBox redirects the request to the image file.
So: what is a [virtual] hard disk to the guest OS is "just" a file – albeit a biggish one – to the ["real"] host OS. VirtualBox saves the disk images by default – I'm thinking in Linux terms here – in user's home directory (a hidden folder is created for the job). So... in your W7 example, C is correct.But. They can be saved elsewhere as well. I have a dedicated external HD for that. Or they can be in another partition... user's choice. The important think is that the "main program" knows where they are. ;)
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Indeed, the standard virtual hard drive image is a file stored in your home directory. Now, your storage is not limited to local disks. You can create the images on network shares or even iSCSI targets.

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Got it, finally! Thank you people,Bill
The most important thing about virtualization is that it allows us Penquins to escape the MS trap. I'm one of those poor souls who is obligated to maintain software I wrote several year ago using VB6. Up until recently, even with XP running in a VBox session, I still had to boot to Windows once in awhile. Then came a freebie from Pagagon. (Give-away-of-the-Day) It allowed me to convert my old XP partition to a .vdi file and boot it in VBox!!!! All 50gb's of it!! I bought and paid for the Pro edition of Omnipage several year ago. I've asked to uninstall and move the software to another machine but Nuance, the current owners of Omnipage won't let me do it. (Not so much won;t let me as can't tell me how.) I've tried so many pdf to text packages that I've lost count. And the only one that works on fed govt appraisal forms, that indicates which check boxes are checked, is my old Omnipage version. (I've even tried the newer versions from Nuance)I have to convert hundreds of these forms every month to import the information to a database program that I provide to appraisers and Real Estate brokers. Now I can do it in the background running my old XP in a VBox session while I go my merry Penguin way doing everything else in Linux!!!! :whistling: :w00t: :thumbsup:Three cheers for virtualization!!! :hysterical: Edited by lewmur
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lewmur, didn't Microsoft Genuine Software check, or whatever its called, complain when you converted your windows partition to run virtual? I've always heard that Windows would detect that as a new system; or did you have an off-the-shelf version and not an OEM, I guess that would work.Acadia

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lewmur, didn't Microsoft Genuine Software check, or whatever its called, complain when you converted your windows partition to run virtual? I've always heard that Windows would detect that as a new system; or did you have an off-the-shelf version and not an OEM, I guess that would work.Acadia
I don't know exactly how MS's "genuine" works. But the HD I converted was "genuine" so I guess the .vdi version was "accepted." I know that if you change hardware XP is supposed to detect it and make you re-verify. But a "virtual" session doesn't identify the "hardware" so maybe "Genuine" doesn't know it's changed. All I know is that it works.Paragon allowed me to make a .vdi file from an existing XP partition and then boot that partition in a VBox session hosted in Ubuntu 9.10. Needless to say, I LOVE IT!!!!!!
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