just bought

Discussion in 'Virtual and Cloud Computing' started by cazzam35, Feb 26, 2005.

  1. cazzam35

    cazzam35 Kilobyte Poster

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    just bought "connectix virtual pc 5.1" from a mate who doesn't
    require it anymore, to play with.

    Installed it tonight and about to spend a few hours playing
    before i go to bed, so expect lots of "what have i done" and
    "why won't my pc work anymore" questions as from tomorrow...

    Initial views look really good, but I feel judging by the packaging
    i've got and the fact it cost me two pints, its a really old version
    that probably doesn't work anymore?

    Just before I cause major damage, I'd like any warnings you may
    be aware of, before I start really playing!

    Cheers Guys :eek:
     
    Certifications: currently doing A+/MCSE
    WIP: Curr/Supervisor/Duty Mgr/Retail DIY
  2. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    Backup !!!!
     
    Certifications: MCP, A+, Network+
    WIP: Clarity
  3. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I thought I'd never heard of the product until I realized (and if I'm wrong, Phoenix will correct me) this was the product recently purchased by Microsoft and now sold under the MS brand.

    Frankly, just because it's older software, I don't see why it wouldn't work. If you load Windows 95 on a PC, barring some hardware incompatibilities, there's no reason why it wouldn't work either. This just won't be the latest, greatest version and won't have all the bells and whistles the current MS version has.

    I did a Google search and found a product review for your software:

    http://www.tiemdesign.com/tabindex-2/tabId-57/itemid-1149/DesktopDefault.aspx

    It might help to describe what this version can and can't do. BTW, did you get the user's manual for the software? That might help, too...and I'm sure your mate can answer any questions if he's previously used the product. Nice thing about hosing a virtual machine is that you can simply delete the files on your host and start over again. If it hoses your host PC, you have the option of uninstalling the virtual software. Also, if you are using Windows XP as the host, it would have created a restore point before the software installed so if worse comes to worse, you can restore your host to a point before you installed Virtual PC (tho, I don't think it'll come to that).

    Happy Virtual Computing. :D
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  4. cazzam35

    cazzam35 Kilobyte Poster

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    Done that, backed up 5 dvd's up to now, of all my digital art,
    cd's n vids, outlook stuff and doc's.

    Yes, i've learnt the hard way before Gav lol.

    This machine is a :

    AMD Athlon XP 2400+
    1Gb DDR Ram, 160 Gb Hard Drive.
    Got dvd+cdr and the other basics.

    Running XP Pro 2002/service pack 2

    I'm presuming this spec will be ok to run this, i'm just reading all
    the crap i normally leave in the box. and trying to make sence of it.

    Just exactly which versions can i run and how many.

    I have windows NT/95/98/ME/2000 and 2003 server all proper
    licenced software that i've picked up and collected over the
    past year in line with my A+/MCSE.

    Am i right in thinking i can load some of these in and swap my
    "operating " system around for revision purposes?

    I can put in another 160 Gb hard drive if need be, got one just sat here, will I need it?

    My other pc is a Pentium 4, 2.2 with 1Gb ram, 120Gb hard drive,
    would it be better to put it on that pc as this is my main user,
    and the other one is the one i use to load up and reformat etc
    to get more experience with stuff.

    I've also got a third pc, which is pen 3, 80Gb drive, I use for
    playing around with the hardwear side.

    I'd prefer it on my main pc, as i'm sat here most times, the
    others are upstairs networked with this one so my daughter can
    use the net, or can i run it on one of them and pull it through
    the network and use downstairs???

    See, not got it loaded yet, and i'm already confused ( but i am blonde i suppose lol)
     
    Certifications: currently doing A+/MCSE
    WIP: Curr/Supervisor/Duty Mgr/Retail DIY
  5. cazzam35

    cazzam35 Kilobyte Poster

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    Hi Trip,

    I got the box and the manual with it, he's also given me some
    PDF manuals on cd, cos the books very tatty.

    It looks very interesting, but can't help thinking i'm maybe just
    wasting my time. I'm due up for my A+ soon and somehow
    thought if i could load a few different versions on one pc then
    it would save me having to re-install each time I get a section
    where i'm stuck, am i right in thinking this?

    Sorry to be a pain in the **s mate
     
    Certifications: currently doing A+/MCSE
    WIP: Curr/Supervisor/Duty Mgr/Retail DIY
  6. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    No worries, Callum. As far as the HDD size, my lab machine running VMware has a 200 GB HDD and I have plenty of room. I usually give each VM a 10 GB virtual HDD and have never have needed more. After all, at least for my purposes, all I really need my VMs to do is run the operating system and the various services I plan on playing with. I'm not planning on storing data files on the VMs.

    I usually worry more about RAM allotment. 1 GB of RAM sounds fine. Just keep in mind that the more VMs you run at one time, the more RAM you will need, plus your host machine needs some memory as well. I start paging if I try to run more than 3 VMs at the same time and I have 1.25 GB of RAM on board.

    The other thing you need to consider is that Windows Server 2003 wasn't out when your current version of Virtual PC was released. It probably will be possible to load 2003 as a virtual machine but it's not 100% guarenteed. All you can do is try.

    If I understand your last question right, you want to install all of the different OS software in Virtual PC and have them all available to you. So, for example, you'd have an NT vm, a 95, vm, a 98 vm, an ME vm, a 2000 vm, and a 2003 vm installed all at one. I don't see why that wouldn't work, assuming you have the hard drive space for them all. If we are talking about 6 VMs, you could give each one a 10 GB HDD totaling 60 GB for the lot and have plenty of room left over. You probably wouldn't need to ever uninstall any of your VMs unless they got hosed for some reason. Also, assuming Virtual PC creates your VMs in ordinary file folders the way VMware does, if you ever want to blow away a VM, just delete its files. No muss; no fuss.

    Hope that answers your questions. If I've missed anything, just reply to this thread and we'll take it from there.

    You are not being a *pain*. The place is called "CertForums" for a reason. Questions are encouraged. Glad to be able to give you a hand. :)
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  7. cazzam35

    cazzam35 Kilobyte Poster

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    Cheers Trip.

    Yeah I origionally got interested in VM through this forum, and
    think it would be a good chance to have a go at it.

    As doing my A+ exam soon, I need to know the in's and out's
    of all the systems, so having them on one pc would be a great
    asset without having to bring my other pc downstairs all the
    time and sit waiting to load stuff up, just to see how the menu
    is set out? As your aware its a bit of a waste of time really.

    Gavs advised me to complete back up, which i do wkly anyway,
    and i'm actually looking forward to learning something new.

    So if i'm not back on later then i've blown my pc up, or logged
    onto a different set up or just had enough lol

    Maybe another daft question, but will the "virtual" operating
    systems be able to use the net connection?

    or have network capability? or is it basically a ghosted system on top of my independant one?
     
    Certifications: currently doing A+/MCSE
    WIP: Curr/Supervisor/Duty Mgr/Retail DIY
  8. Phil
    Honorary Member

    Phil Gigabyte Poster

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    I'm pretty sure you shouldnt have any problems, my machine is similar to yours and it ran fine on that with XP Pro. It should be perfect for studying the different Operating Systems for the A+.

    HDD space shouldn't be an issue either, I think it was like VMware in that you could tell a VM it had a 20gb drive but it would only use as much real drive space as you installed in the VM.

    As far as I remember Connectix also installs it's own virtual network devices, you should be able to set up virtual networks that will talk to each other as well as the rest of the world over the internet if you want them to.
     
    Certifications: MCSE:M & S MCSA:M CCNA CNA
    WIP: 2003 Upgrade, CCNA Upgrade
  9. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I'm not familiar with Virtual PC but if it's at all like VMware, you should be able to connect one VM with others in a "virtual" network, connect to your host machine and any other machine on your "real" network plus connect to the Internet.

    In VMware, this is accomplished by a bridged network. The virtual NIC in the VM connects to a virtual switch created in VMware which then connects to the NIC of the host. I found an explanation of how this works here:

    http://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/network_bridged_ws.html

    My guess is that the documentation you have for your program has similar information on how to set up bridged networking. It's really very cool. You can set up quite a little LAN by combining your virtual and real networks if you are so inclined.

    VMs have been a tough concept for me to understand as well. You need to get used to the idea that they really do function as separate computers that share the resources of your host PC. The server editions of VMware are used in the corporate networking environment sometimes when space or hardware is limited and it is necessary to have multiple virtual servers one on one (or just a few) actual hardware servers.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  10. cazzam35

    cazzam35 Kilobyte Poster

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    Well got windows 2000 and 98 loaded in, and got to say i'm
    very impressed with the software so far, Very impressed!

    No problems as yet, but give me time lol
     
    Certifications: currently doing A+/MCSE
    WIP: Curr/Supervisor/Duty Mgr/Retail DIY

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