Running Win Server 2008 on a Windows 7 Laptop

Discussion in 'Windows Server 2003 / 2008 / 2012 / 2016' started by ickle97116084, Jun 10, 2011.

  1. ickle97116084

    ickle97116084 Bit Poster

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    Hi all, this is my first post on this forum. I would like to ask if its possible to run Windows Server 2008 (virtually?) on a laptop with Windows 7 installed.

    I can see two possible options:
    1) Dual booting, Windows 7 main install with a choice to boot Windows server 2008.
    2) Running a virtual machine (in Windows 7) with a Windows Server 2008 image.

    The reason for trying this out is I would like to get to grips with Windows Server 2008 however I have no frame of reference to test on. As I progress through the self learn material I can test what I learn.

    If anyone has any experience of this or knows of an alternative I would be very grateful.

    Kind regards,

    Richard.
     
    Certifications: Bsc (Hons), Prince2 Foundation, Network+
  2. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    You would be better off running it virtual TBH with virtual pc/virtualbox or vmware server would work perfectly well. You just need to ensure that you have enough ram for the job. You can get away with a perfectly usable 2k8 vm if you give it as little as 1GB of vRam to play with so you should not have too much trouble. Its when you want to build out your lab domain that you'll run into problems ;P
     
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  3. DryPlate

    DryPlate Nibble Poster

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    Run it virtually, although installing is not comparable to installing a desktop OS. Which study material are you looking at?
     
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  4. SimonD
    Honorary Member

    SimonD Terabyte Poster

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    Have a look around for dual booting with a VHD file instead, that way the server OS boots using all your hardware but via the VHD file instead of virtually from the Window 7 OS.
     
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  5. ickle97116084

    ickle97116084 Bit Poster

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    Thank you all for your response. To answer some of your questions I am using to begin with: "SAMS Teach Yourself Windows Server 2008 in 24 Hours" and will look for some more study material. I think having a virtual install will be fine, I have virtualised win XP on Win 7 before using virtual PC for Windows server 2008 may not be as stable as VM Player so I may go down that route plus it will give me valuable VM experience for the CV.

    Thanks all for your response.

    Richard.
     
    Certifications: Bsc (Hons), Prince2 Foundation, Network+
  6. SimonD
    Honorary Member

    SimonD Terabyte Poster

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    I hate to be the bearer of bad news but unless it's done in a commercial environment I wouldn't bother sticking it in a CV because they will be vastly different and you don't want people asking you about something that they think is commercial but you have only done at the home lab and be caught out (nothing worse than being dropped from an interview because you lied on your cv).
     
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  7. sheepluv

    sheepluv Byte Poster

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    Surely depends how you word it. Id put I have experience with VirtualPC but if the job asks specifically for VPC experience then id spend time getting better with it and just say you have used it and setup xyz.

    I Setup a mini lab using Virtual PC on my main PC (has 2gb, Phenomon quad core) and to be honest I found the servers to be slow and annoying.
    I also had another spare machine lying around and found this to be more useable.

    Depends what you can afford, or have around.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2011
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