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DATE: 19 August-2008
Filed Under: Virtual Machines, Freeware

Virtual Machines allow you to run an operating system from within an operating system. For instance, using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 you can run Server 2003 inside Windows XP. Although there are many benefits for using virtual machines Virtual PC 2007 does have a few particularities that you should be aware of.

Virtual Machines Require Large Amounts of System Resources

Through the process of creating a virtual machine Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 will prompt you to create a virtual hard drive and choose the amount of memory for the virtual machine you are creating. Typically Virtual PC 2007 will recommend the recommended amount of RAM for the Microsoft operating system you are using.  If you decide to increase the amount of RAM keep in mind that the amount of RAM chosen for the virtual machine cannot exceed the amount of memory you physically have installed on your system. A rule of thumb is to have at least 256MB of RAM for each Virtual Machine that is running and at least 256MB for Windows XP. Additional memory will be required if you plan on multitask on either the host system or the virtual machine.

Regardless of the amount of memory you choose for your virtual machine it will be a drain on your physical system. This being said and if you only plan on running one virtual machine at a time  it is recommended that you have at least 1GB of RAM installed on the host system.

Another thing about Virtual Machines that you should be aware of is that virtual machines do take up considerable hard drive space. It is possible, depending on the operating system chosen, to take up several GB’s of hard drive space for each virtual machine that you create.

Special Keyboard Combinations

Once the virtual machine is created and you are in the process of installing the operating system you will be prompted to choose between several options and you will need to click the dialog box in the virtual machine to make your choices. The first time you click in a virtual machines dialog box you will need to click twice in order to access the options being offered. To release the mouse from the virtual machine and go back to the host’s desktop click the right Alt key.

Some operating systems like Server 2003 require that you click the Ctrl+ Alt + DEL combination to login, but Windows will spawn the Task Manager when you choose these keys. To access the Ctrl+ Alt + DEL command you will have to click on PC 2007's Action menu.

Sharing Files

Sharing files between your desktop computer and the virtual machine will require some additional software. In order for you to share files you must install virtual machine additions. Go to the virtual machines Action menu and choose Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions, click Continue, Next, Finish, and Yes when prompted to restart. You will need to install these additions for each virtual machine you want to create a share for.

The next step is to create shared folder on your host computer. Once you have created the shared folder start the virtual machine. Windows will not allow you to create a shared folder on your desktop so I created my folder in the Windows shared folder. Click my on Settings button or if the virtual machine is running click on Edit and Settings. Click on Shared Folders, the Shared Folders button, and then the browse button. Navigate to the shared folder you created and click OK. Close the setting dialog box.  Now you should have access to the shared desktop folder from your virtual machine and vice versa.

Additional Information

If you are running Windows 2000 you should download Virtual PC 2004 while it is still available. Which Operating Systems Work in Virtual PC 2004 is an interesting article that will keep from becoming frustrated be letting you know what operating systems can and can not be created by using Virtual PC 2004.