Installing Virtual PC 2007 on Vista Home Basic

chico

Can someone who has installed Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Vista Home Basic please give me some advice.

I installed Virtual PC 2007 on Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1, created a new virtual machine and installed the Windows 7 release candidate. I then installed the Virtual Machine Additions but there was an error on some file with a name like vsrec. Now the VM goes into a permanent repair mode when starting up, so I will have to remove the VM and create a new one.

Has anyone encountered a similar error on installing VM Additions or have any thoughts on what the problem may be? I simply used the menu option to install the VM Additions, and do not think there were any options or anything I could have done differently.

Alternatively, is there a better way than Virtual PC to run Windows 7 on a Vista Home Basic machine?

[Deleted User]

To be honest I've never used Virtual PC for more than an hour or two. I can highly recommend VMware workstation (assuming you can get a license key...) or what about something like http://www.virtualbox.org/

gaming_guy

personally, i use vmware server & workstation but virtualbox is much better than MS virtual PC anyway.

as for installing Win 7 in virtualbox, just set the VM up as a Windows Vista machine. when you come to install the tools just open up my computer > right click the cd drive > explore > right click VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86.exe (it may not have the .exe on the end of the name) > properties > compatibility tab > select windows vista from the dropdown list > apply > ok and double click the VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86.exe file to start the installation

chico

Thanks for your advice.

I've seen that there is a free VMware Server, but I am not keen on completing the details required in their registration procedure, so I've just downloaded and will try VirtualBox as you suggest.

gaming_guy

chico wrote: »

I've seen that there is a free VMware Server, but I am not keen on completing the details required in their registration procedure, so I've just downloaded and will try VirtualBox as you suggest.

VMware server 2 is crap as it has less features than server 1.0. its also quite a bit slower than v1 as v2 uses a web interface.

prowla

Is VirtualPC supported on Vista Basic?
(Basically M$ have Vista Ultimate, and then cripple components to release the cut-down versions.)

You could also look at Sun's VmBox, which is free.

Knub

VMWare > All

Don't use the MS equivalent.

stuartk

hi there

tested my windows 7 VM on vista with Virtual PC and the additions work fine

Is the problem with the VM or the OS on the VM?

If it is the OS on the VM try booting your VM with the Windows 7 .ISO or CD inserted and do a start up repair of the 7 OS

also how much RAM are u allocating for the VM?

hope that helps

chico

I've installed Windows 7 in Virtual Box, and checked Internet Explorer can access the internet, and confirmed the Windows firewall is on. Windows Media Player works to play one of the few sample pieces of music. (Who the hell is Bob Acri?)

However, as on Virtual PC yesterday, it's very slow and very dificult to control (or even find) the mouse. The danged mouse just won't move to where I want it to go! Also I cannot share a folder to transfer files between the VM and my host PC.

These problems may be due to the major difficulty with installing the Windows Guest Additions. I have used the Devices>Mount CD/DVD to find and select the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file from C:\Program files\Sun\xVM VirtualBox, but the installation does not proceed. How do I check whether or not the Autostart feature is disabled in the guest, and can I start it?

I have also tried selecting Devices> Install Guest Additions, but nothing happens.

The Virtual Box user manual suggests an alternative of using VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe, which I see is inside the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file, from the Guest, but windows explorer inside the Guest cannot see the c drive on the Host.

I've tried creating a Homegroup to share a folder, but it seems only Windows 7 machines can join the group.

I had been hoping that the VM would appear in Network in Windows Explorer on the Host.

Help!

(StuartK - I had allocated 1 GB ram for the VM from the 3GB on my pc, and allowed 16 GB drive space. I believe the problem was due to the VM, as there was an error on a vsrec file.

Knub - I agree, but VMWare is not free, and I am informed that the free VMWare server is quite limited.

prowla - I did check the Virtual PC list of supported hosts, and Vista Home Basic is not in the list, but Wikipedia does include Home Basic in the list on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Virtual_PC, so I thought I'd give it a try.)

gaming_guy

chico wrote: »

These problems may be due to the major difficulty with installing the Windows Guest Additions. I have used the Devices>Mount CD/DVD to find and select the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file from C:\Program files\Sun\xVM VirtualBox, but the installation does not proceed. How do I check whether or not the Autostart feature is disabled in the guest, and can I start it?

what happens if you do what i suggested in my 1st post in the thread?

I've tried creating a Homegroup to share a folder, but it seems only Windows 7 machines can join the group.

I had been hoping that the VM would appear in Network in Windows Explorer on the Host.

Help!

does this help?

(i know its for Win 7 & XP, but it should be similar for vista)

BikerEd

Sun Microsystems' VirtualBox - http://virtualbox.org - is excellent and free for personal use (even for personal use within a company which is slightly bizarre). Give it a go, it's a great alternative and gives you full portability of virtual machines between different operating systems - something that Microsoft's software won't do.