Tag: virtual pc
January 01, 2010 by
Jason
Microsoft is offering free downloads of all its supported Windows clients, including Windows 7 RTM, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Starting with the advent of Vista, customers, partners, IT professionals and developers have been able to take advantage of a variety of offerings involving free releases of Windows from the Redmond company. Furthermore, the software giant has made somewhat of a tradition from making sure that XP, Vista and now Windows 7 are available as free downloads in order to streamline various testing, training, planning and adoption programs.
Various releases of Windows, packaged both as ISO and VHD images can be grabbed from the company, and installed into testing environments immediately. In this regard, it is critical to note that one downside of the free Windows OS downloads is the fact that the bits cannot be deployed into production.
On December 29th, 2009, Microsoft has updated the virtual hard disk images of Windows Vista and Windows XP. Initially delivered following the release of Internet Explorer 7, the VPC Hard Disk Images of XP and Vista are designed for testing websites in accordance with multiple Internet Explorer versions. There are three copies of XP SP3 and two of Vista available at no charge via the Microsoft Download Center. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP | 2 Comments »
December 01, 2009 by
Jason Windows XP Mode is an optional download for the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. It provides a licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3, saved in Virtual Machine Hard Drive Image (.vhd) format. When run in Windows Virtual PC, or another compatible program, this virtualized installation of Windows XP lets you run applications that might not run well in Windows 7. Windows XP Mode is also handy if you have an older device with a proprietary driver that hasn’t been updated for Windows Vista or Windows 7. If it worked great in Windows XP but doesn’t work in Windows 7, give it a try in Windows XP Mode.
NOTE: Windows Virtual PC requires a computer with hardware-assisted virtualization. That means the CPU has to support either Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) or AMD Virtualization (AMD-V). In addition, hardware virtualization must be enabled in the BIOS. Both Intel and AMD offer an array of processor options, some that support hardware virtualization and some that do not. If you’re buying a system expressly for the purpose of running Windows XP Mode, be sure it meets these requirements. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
October 08, 2009 by
Jason Windows 7 may be Microsoft’s most anticipated product ever. It builds on Windows Vista’s positives, and eliminates many of that OS’s negatives. It adds new functionality, too all in a package that is less resource-hungry than its predecessor. And whether or not you’re upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows XP, you’ll need to know how to make the most of it in your environment.
1. Pick Your Edition. Most business users do not need the more expensive Ultimate Edition; stick with Professional unless you specifically need BitLocker.
2. Upgrading? Go 64-bit. As the second major Windows release to fully support 64-bit, the x64 architecture has definitely arrived on the desktop. Don’t buy new 32-bit hardware unless it’s a netbook.
3. Use Windows XP Mode. Yes, it’s only an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of WinXP but it’s an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of Windows XP! This is the first profoundly intelligent use of desktop virtualization we’ve seen and a great way to move to Windows 7 without giving up full Windows XP compatibility.
4. Use Windows PowerShell v2. More than just a shell, this is the administration tool you’ve always wanted: Parallel, distributed processing for administrative tasks! Manage 100 machines literally as easily as you manage one with the new Remoting feature. Windows PowerShell v2 ships for the first time in Windows 7, and within six months will be available for older versions of Windows. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 4 Comments »
October 05, 2009 by
Jason Redmond-based software company Microsoft released several months ago its own solution aimed at offering Windows 7 RC users the possibility to enjoy compatibility with the older Windows XP operating system, the Windows XP Mode. Available for download initially in a beta flavor, the RC iteration of Windows XP Mode is currently up for grabs for those who installed the RC version of Windows 7, and is bound to become final in the near future.
A recent post on the Windows 7 Team Blog states that Windows XP Mode was released to manufacturing on October 1 and that the final version of the solution is expected to become available for download as soon as Windows 7 hits the market, on October 22, to be more precise. The RTM version of this solution is meant to offer OEMs the possibility to include the XP Mode within the PCs they will bring to the market, the post also notes.
“Windows XP Mode is designed to provide small business and mid-sized businesses running Windows 7 Professional (or higher) the ability to run Windows XP productivity applications that may not be natively compatible with Windows 7. We expect many Windows XP applications to be compatible [with] Windows 7 however Windows XP Mode is meant to serve as an added safety net so small and mid-sized businesses can migrate and run Windows 7 without any road blocks. Windows 7 Professional is designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses,” Brandon LeBlanc describes the software solution. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
September 02, 2009 by
Jason
Customers testing the virtualization extensions of Windows 7, namely Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode have been experiencing performance problems in scenarios in which sharing folders are enabled. Ben Armstrong, Program manager on the core virtualization team at Microsoft, revealed that the issues reported are connected with the latest development milestone of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, namely the Release Candidate Builds. Fortunately enough, a hotfix is already available from the software giant.
“A number of users have seen performance issues using shared folders / having shared folders enabled with Windows XP Mode on the RC release of Windows Virtual PC. This can be addressed by installing this hotfix inside the virtual machine. Please note – this hotfix is for Windows XP and is installed inside the virtual machine, not in the host operating system,” Armstrong noted.
Knowledge Base Article 972435 doesn’t mention Windows XP Mode, a Windows 7 feature, which is available as a standalone download. However, the resources designed to help customers resolve “slow performance when you try to open a redirected drive on a remote computer through a Terminal Services session” applies to Windows XP Professional. And Windows XP Mode is indeed based on a free and pre-activated copy of Windows XP that is available for Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 3 Comments »
Redmond-based software giant Microsoft made available the release candidate flavor of Windows 7’s XP Mode add-on on Tuesday. The beta iteration of XP Mode was released on May 6, along with the beta variant of Windows Virtual PC, and the RC version comes as another step the company is taking towards launching the final iteration of the add-on. The new flavor has been designed to work both on the Windows 7 Release Candidate and on final Windows 7 RTM variants.
When available, starting October 22, Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate will run the final version of XP Mode, as Microsoft plans on releasing it around the same time. The new RC iteration includes a copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3, 450 MB in size, along with a Windows Virtual PC file of 5 MB. The XP Mode enables Windows 7 users to run Windows XP applications on Windows 7, and has been designed mainly for small/mid-size business users.
Scott Woodgate, director of Windows Enterprise and Virtualization Strategy, ZDNet reports, showed the tweaks Microsoft included in the new RC flavor of the add-on, such as an easier way to access devices from XP Mode, including USB drives or printers. The process now features fewer steps, and clicking on the Windows 7 icon will enable users to add devices. At the same time, there is a better integration with Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | 4 Comments »
Windows Virtual PC is one of the features that Microsoft has been holding back from end users throughout the development of Windows 7, only to release it into Beta concomitantly with the Release Candidate of the next iteration of the Windows client. As the Windows 7 RC bits went to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, Microsoft’s communities of developers and IT professionals also got access to Windows Virtual PC. The installation process of this virtualization feature is rather simple, because Windows Virtual PC is essentially an update for Windows 7. It is important to note that Microsoft has restricted Windows Virtual PC only to Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise.
“To install Windows Virtual PC, install the update package: double-click the file, Windows6.1-KB958559-plaftform.msu, where platform is either x86 or x64. Review the end-user license agreement and accept it to install the update. To complete the installation, restart the computer. After the installation is finished, Windows Virtual PC is available from the Start menu,” Microsoft revealed in the Windows Virtual PC Evaluation Guide. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | No Comments »
Following the availability of Windows Vista in 2007, Microsoft started allowing users to access free copies of the operating system via the Download Center. Windows Vista Enterprise is just such an example. Even with Windows 7 on the horizon, and with Vista SP1 available for approximately a year, the Redmond company continued to serve the original Vista Enterprise bits. Windows Vista 30-Day Eval VHD now features a new published date on the Microsoft Download Center: March 19, 2009. However, the software giant is mute on details related to a potential update, if any.
Windows Vista 30-Day Eval VHD offers users a pre-configured virtual hard disk image containing the Enterprise SKU of the operating system. The Enterprise edition of Vista is normally served only to businesses, namely Software Assurance customers, via Volume Licensing. This is of course an exception, as it has been so far.
Packaged as a VHD, the copy of Vista is designed to run as a guest operating system in a Virtual PC 2007 virtual machine. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
January 12, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft went live with the public release of Windows 7 Beta on January 9, 2009, just to discontinue downloads by the end of the very same day, citing server overload due to the high volume of traffic and the need to beef up its infrastructure. However, fact is that, while all the official sources of Windows 7 Beta have stopped offering the operating system, the bits continue to be available via direct download links. In this context, Windows 7 Beta is available for download right here on Pctipsbox, both the 32-bit version 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD, and the 64-bit flavor 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.
Initially, the company planned to deliver Win 7 Beta to up to 2.5 million users starting January 9. Windows 7 Server (Windows Server 2008 R2) was indeed released to the general public ahead of the weekend, with the public Beta program of the server edition of Win 7 offering a smooth experience. Not the same could be said about Windows 7 client Beta, with Microsoft.com servers incapable of dealing with the huge traffic numbers, a scenario which prompted the Redmond company to announce that the availability of the public Beta was postponed. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
December 08, 2008 by
Jason
In this post we are going to share with you the experience we had while trying to Install Windows XP on new laptop which has Windows Vista and how we achieved it virtually.
I bought a HP Pavallion notebook which had Windows Vista, and first thing I wanted was to make it dual boot with Windows Vista and Windows XP. I studied a lot of articles on Internet for installing Windows XP on new laptop. So I did a spilt-streaming of SATA drivers and Windows XP onto a same CD using nLite tool. The CD was able to start the setup, but as soon as the system restarted between, all was gone, it neither booted again with XP setup nor it had Vista on boot-loader anymore.
Finally I was back to face this reality that these new pieces of hardware are not happy to run Windows XP because of driver issues and other compatibility problems. I was disappointed with this for a week or so, after which I realized that we can do a Virtual Install with a tool from Microsoft. This tool is called Virtual PC, so I will tell you how I Installed Windows XP on Windows Vista without any trouble. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
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