Win7 supports mounting VHD files, yes? What about multi-partition ones?

[VirtualLarry]

Just wondering. I have an older rig with a triple-boot, Win98se, W2K SP4, and XP SP2. I would like to virtualize it. Thinking of using Win7 Pro's VPC7. But would also need access to the files on the virtual HD. So I would like to mount the VHD file as a drive letter in Win7.

Does anyone know if you can create VHD files with multiple partitions? Can you mount them? Will they should up with multiple drive letters?

Edit: It appears that Win7 HP knows how to work with VHD files, so I'm testing this.

Ok. I opened Disk Management, and I selected "Create VHD", created one that was 16GB in size, fixed size. It took some time to create the VHD file (must have been zeroing the contents).
It then showed up as a disk in Disk Management, but I couldn't create any partitions, until I clicked on the disk on the left and selected "Initialize". Then I could click on the free space, and select "Create simple volume". There didn't appear to be a way to create extended partitions, which may be a problem for me.

The machine I want to virtualize, has a single primary partition, an extended partition, and two logical volumes in the extended partition.

Can anyone help me figure out how to create an extended partition in a VHD file?

 

[yinan]

This does not seem to be a good way to go about this. Why not just create a virtual machine for each older OS you want to run?

 

[stlcardinals]

This does not seem to be a good way to go about this. Why not just create a virtual machine for each older OS you want to run?

+1

Create a separate virtual machine for each OS. I would look for an imaging tool that works with each older OS, make image of each individual OS and restore image to a separate VHD.

 

[VirtualLarry]

+1

Create a separate virtual machine for each OS. I would look for an imaging tool that works with each older OS, make image of each individual OS and restore image to a separate VHD.

Nope. No can do. Some of the stuff is multi-installed, and the later OSes depend on files and data that are on the same drive as the older OSes.

So it needs to be virtualized as a whole unit.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Btw, I thought I read somewhere that you COULD install VPC7 on Win7 HP (not Pro), and you could use it, but you just couldn't run "XP Mode", which is the seamless integration of XP apps with Win7, using RDP and TS.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...s/thread/269ebcb5-5b28-4d87-8b5b-392ab797235c

Virtual PC will work with Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Professional, and Ultimate.
XP Mode will only work with Enterprise, Professional, and Ultimate.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/requirements.aspx

I wondered the same thing because I preordered Windows 7 Home Premium.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...9005YuX5oSBW1YNi85KsXdw0xC9yqA5E7NQWnNngbTQ==

 

[JackMDS]

While it is Not supported, you can install VPC2007 on any version of Win 7 and run VPCs on it in the same way that it is done on Vista.


The XP-Mode integration is nice, but if you run the VPC as standalone Networked computers you can map its folders through the network.

The major difference is that XP-Mode comes with free lic. for the XP-Mode VPC, while if you are using the Old VPC you need lic. for the VPC XPs that you are using.


😎

 

[RebateMonger]

The major difference is that XP-Mode comes with free lic. for the XP-Mode VPC, while if you are using the Old VPC you need lic. for the VPC XPs that you are using.

Yeah, while homeowners may be able to ignore this and transfer old OEM licenses, it's a pretty big advantage in businesses, that could be audited for licensing compliance. It's becoming a bigger deal now that it's getting near-impossible to BUY a "legal" XP Professional license.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ok, I got Virtual PC installed on my Win7 HP dual-core laptop.

VIRTUAL PC IS USELESS!

So-called USB support isn't supported. They don't support floppy drives/disk images, they don't support USB flash drives, totally useless. And it looks like you have to shut down the virtual machine, in order to change the ISO disc image. All of which makes it impossible to boot DOS Ghost 2003 and restore from my disc images onto the VHD.

Why does MS make such useless, utterly crippled software? VMWare seems like the next choice, I'll experiment with that later. But for certain, Virtual PC is a bust.

 

[stargazr]

Ok, I got Virtual PC installed on my Win7 HP dual-core laptop. VIRTUAL PC IS USELESS! So-called USB support isn't supported. They don't support floppy drives/disk images, they don't support USB flash drives, totally useless. And it looks like you have to shut down the virtual machine, in order to change the ISO disc image. All of which makes it impossible to boot DOS Ghost 2003 and restore from my disc images onto the VHD. Why does MS make such useless, utterly crippled software? VMWare seems like the next choice, I'll experiment with that later. But for certain, Virtual PC is a bust.

I agree about Virtual PC. VMWare Workstation is excellent software. I recommend trying their latest version as a trial for free.

 

[RebateMonger]

So-called USB support isn't supported. They don't support floppy drives/disk images, they don't support USB flash drives, totally useless. And it looks like you have to shut down the virtual machine, in order to change the ISO disc image. All of which makes it impossible to boot DOS Ghost 2003 and restore from my disc images onto the VHD.

I don't know all the differences between Virtual PC 2007 and "Windows Virtual PC" (XP Mode) in Win7 Business/Ultimate. But I can say that USB flash drives are supported fine in Win7/Virtual PC.

I run both the built-in XP virtual machine and a Win7 Home Premium virtual machine on my Win7 Ultimate box and flash drives work fine.

Also, looking at my Win7 HP install virtualized on my Win7 Ultimate box, I can change the ISO image mounted as the DVD drive at will.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I don't know all the differences between Virtual PC 2007 and "Windows Virtual PC" (XP Mode) in Win7 Business/Ultimate. But I can say that USB flash drives are supported fine in Win7/Virtual PC.

I run both the built-in XP virtual machine and a Win7 Home Premium virtual machine on my Win7 Ultimate box and flash drives work fine.

Also, looking at my Win7 HP install virtualized on my Win7 Ultimate box, I can change the ISO image mounted as the DVD drive at will.

Can you create a fresh new VM and VHD (blank), and then boot it, and then plug in a USB flash drive, and see if you get a USB menu? I don't have any sort of USB menu, even though the docs mention it.

My menu items when I right-click my virtual machine file and click "Settings", are:
name
memory
hard disk 1
hard disk 2
hard disk 3
undo disks
dvd drive
com1
com2
networking
integration features ("not available")
keyboard
logon credentials
auto publish ("not available")
close



Windows Virtual PC supports the use of USB 2.0 devices by sharing the device or by redirecting it to the virtual machine. The method to use depends on the type of USB device. When the Integration Components package is installed in the guest operating system, printers, storage devices, and smart card readers that are attached to the host are automatically shared with virtual machines. When drivers are installed in both the host and guest, no additional steps are required to use these types of USB devices, except for printers. For more information about configuring and sharing printers, see the Windows Virtual PC content (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158831).

For other types of devices, you can use them by redirecting them to the virtual machine. For example, you can redirect the following types of USB devices:

Digital cameras


MP3 players


Phone/PDA/mobile device


USB CD writer/reader


Portable media players


Wireless network adapters


Webcam/video camera


Note
A redirected USB device can be used by only one operating system at a time, as mentioned in the following steps.

To redirect a USB device to a virtual machine

Attach the device to the physical computer and turn on the device.

From the virtual machine window, click USB and then click Attach device name. Windows looks for and tries to install the device driver in the guest operating system. You also can install the driver from the Internet or from a CD.

After the driver is installed, you can use the USB device from within the virtual machine the same way as you would on a physical computer. However, USB devices that are connected using these steps are not shared, so they must be released from one operating system to be available for use on the other operating system.

To make the USB device available on the host operating system, release it from the virtual machine. From the virtual machine window, click USB and then click Release device name.

Note
To redirect a USB device to a virtual application, attach the device and turn it on, right-click the virtual application icon in the task bar of the host, and then click Manage USB devices. Then, choose the device.



There is no USB menu, anywhere.

Edit: This is where I downloaded it from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...9005YuX5oSBW1YNi85KsXdw0xC9yqA5E7NQWnNngbTQ==



USB devices
Any USB devices that are attached to a virtual machine will be automatically removed from the virtual machine if the device restarts or reconfigures itself, such as when drivers are installed upon attaching the device.

If this occurs, when the USB device is detached, use the USB menu to attach the device to the virtual machine. In the virtual machine window, the USB menu is on the toolbar. In a virtual application, right-click the taskbar icon for the virtual application, and then choose Manage USB Devices.

Edit: I found this info about VPC7 and USB devices:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/windows_...4/usb-architecture-in-windows-virtual-pc.aspx

Note that there is NO "USB" menu item on my virtual machine, unlike the picture in that article.

 

[JackMDS]

VPC 2007 does not support USB. The XP-Mode uses a newer version of VPC that can use USB.

VirtualLarry you are trying to do things with Virtual computer that it did not meant to do.

Virtual computer rides on a Host, it is not an independent computer for hardware purposes.

In matter of fact it emulates the old Intel BX chipset, with S3 video, old Creative audio, and Intel. 10/100 NIC. through an interface that rides on whatever hardware the host is running with.

If you want a little more flexibility use Hyper-V .

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...d2-1c3d-4506-ae0a-232d0314ccf6&displaylang=en


😎

 

[VirtualLarry]

VPC 2007 does not support USB. The XP-Mode uses a newer version of VPC that can use USB.

Yes, I'm using the newer VPC for Win7, not VPC 2007.