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Setting up and
Working with Virtual PC 2004 |
Index
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Key Features
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Product Specifications
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The Virtual PC
2004 Console
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Creating a new
virtual machine
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Changing the
MAC Address on a preconfigured Virtual Machine
Key
Features
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Feature |
Advantages |
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Configurability |
After
installing Virtual PC, you can configure it to suit your requirements.
Virtual PC has a number of settings that control how the product interacts
with the physical computer, allocates resources, and so on. |
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Easy Installation |
Virtual
PC is simple to install. Any administrator can run the Virtual PC guided
setup program, and installation doesn’t require a reboot. The first
time Virtual PC starts, it guides you through the process of creating the
first virtual machine. |
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Standardization |
Configure
and test upgrades and installations on virtual machines, and then you can
deploy throughout your company a standard configuration that avoids problems
caused by minor differences between hardware platforms. |
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Convenience |
Users
switch between operating systems as easily as they switch between
applications. They simply click the window containing the virtual machine.
They can pause individual virtual machines so they stop
using CPU cycles on the physical computer. They can also save virtual
machines to disk and restore them at a later time. The restoration process
normally takes a few seconds—much faster than restarting the guest
operating system. |
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Host
Integration |
Users
can copy, paste, drag, and drop between guest and host. Virtual PC provides
additions that you install in a guest operating system to enable this
functionality. |
Product
Specifications
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The real requirements for running Virtual PC are those necessary to support the guest operating systems that you will run. Add the disk requirements for every guest OS you’ll install and add the memory requirements for every guest OS you will run simultaneously, plus memory for the host OS. Below are the requirements for some of the operating systems that can be run as a guest operating system. Virtual PC can run most x86 operating systems, not just the operating systems listed below, in a virtual machine environment. |
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The Virtual PC 2004 Console is very simple. All the Virtual Machines are displayed in the list box on the left. The “New…” button runs the New Virtual Machine Wizard. The “Settings” button is used to manage Virtual Machine Settings. The “Start” button will start a highlighted Virtual Machine. |
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Options for the Virtual PC Console can be accessed through the File Menu by selecting File > Options. Most of the options offered in this dialog are pretty standard and easy to understand. The Keyboard option is very important! This option allows the user to specify what key combination to press when trying to release his or her mouse and keyboard from the virtual machine. |
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Note: Further information about the Virtual PC Console can be found by accessing Help > Virtual PC Help on the application menu bar. |
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Creating a New Virtual Machine
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This is the intro screen to the New Virtual Machine Wizard. Simply click the “Next” button to continue. |
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To create a new
Virtual Machine:
To add an existing
Virtual Machine:
Note: This continues on with how to create a new virtual machine. To finish adding an existing virtual machine, simply continue the wizard and locate the existing virtual machine. |
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The next step is to enter a Name for the new virtual machine.
Note: You do not need to specify a location unless you are creating this virtual machine in some location other than the default location. |
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This step dictates the default amount of memory to be allocated to the new virtual machine. a) Use the recommended RAM [Recommended] b) Adjust the RAM by setting a different amount. You cannot exceed the amount of RAM installed in the system you are working at and it is generally not suggested to allocate more than half of the available RAM. |
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This step sets up a virtual hard disk for the new virtual machine to use.
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Finally, a location must be chosen for placement of the virtual hard disk. Note: You do not need to change this unless you wish to place the virtual hard disk in a location separate from the virtual machine files. Simply click “Next” and “Finish”. |
Configuring Settings on a Virtual Machine
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This is a screenshot from a virtual machine named “test” Here you can:
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Changing the MAC Address on a preconfigured Virtual Machine
[ You should do this! ]
Problem: If you create an image of a host operating system that includes Virtual PC and virtual machines configuration files (.vmc files) and copy that image to another computer, each virtual machine configuration file included in the image contains a MAC address. The MAC address will not be reset automatically when you place the image on a new physical computer. As a result, the virtual machines that are copied onto the new computer will have the same MAC addresses as the virtual machines on the computer that was used to create the image.
Solution:
1. Edit
the .vmc file to remove the MAC address. Find the following line:
2. <ethernet_card_address type="bytes">0003FFxxxxxx</ethernet_card_address>
3. Remove
the number so the line appears as follows:
<ethernet_card_address
type="bytes"></ethernet_card_address>
4. After you remove the number, Virtual PC will create a new MAC address the next time you start the virtual machine.