-=PCTechTalk=- Re: VMs
- From: Disastar <disastar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:18:52 -0500
Damn! You keep on beating me.
-----Original Message-----
From: pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gman
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:31 PM
To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: VMs
See below
Peace,
Gman
http://www.bornagainamerican.org
"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lilian" <lilian.oswaldocruz@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:26 PM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: VMs
...
> "Then, you install an operating system within it (on the
> virtual hard drive space you dedicated when you set it up) and treat it
> just
> like any other operating system."
>
> How does this work? If you have 2 OSs you install one on the Virtual
> Drive?
> And the other stays where it is? But how do you access the OS in the VM?
> Is the "main" computer´s OS (for instance, XP x32) the "gateway"?
The problem you're having is that you're trying to imagine something far
more complicated than it actually is. You install the VM software in your
main system just like any other program. You then run the program and
create a virtual 'space' that you will use for whatever OS you decide to run
inside it (more on this later). Once that is set up, you can go ahead and
install the virtual OS inside that space and have a second system at your
disposal that you can use for nearly whatever you want (trying out different
software without affecting your main OS, testing different tweaks to see how
the OS will react/respond, running a web server without having to install it
on your main system or even testing different operating systems without
dealing with a multi-boot menu).
Once it's all set up, you just start the Virtual PC program, select the VM
you wish to run and click a button. The VM will start up in its own window
and act just like the 'host' OS (except for the limitations of the
'hardware' the virtual software is emulating, as described well by Disastar
in a previous reply). In other words, you use it just like any other piece
of software.
> I´ve been
> looking at space, and found I may not have enough space the way it is at
> the
> moment. I have 2 X 250GB, but are both partitioned. I have 2 empty
> partitions which could be put together and would give me 150GB. What
> about
> the partition where XP x64 is at the moment (80GB). I don´t quite grasp
> this bit... I would have to remove (uninstall) one OS, create the virtual
> environment in the space allocated for it then install the second OS
> inside
> this. Is that it???
The program itself resides in your Program Files folder, just like any other
app you install. The VM's you create are stored in your My Documents folder
by default, but I moved mine to their own dedicated area on another
partition (I'll teach you how to do that, if you'd like). As I mentioned
before, I have 3 VM setups. My WinXP Pro currently takes up just under 20GB
of real hard drive space when it's not running. You can add another 3 -4 GB
to that during the times when I have it running. Similarly, my Vista VM
takes up just under 15GB when not in use and close to 20GB when I'm running
it. I also have an empty VM (no OS installed) that only takes up 115KB of
actual hard drive space. This last one grows to the size of whatever OS I
choose to install on it, but that size is given right back to the real drive
once I close out the program and tell it to delete the changes. My XP Pro
setup is used primarily for testing shareware and currently has a bunch of
installation files stored within it that I have yet to try out. As I test
them, I'll be removing the install files and saving those changes. The loss
of these files will allow the overall size of that VM to shrink over time
(well, until I load it up with more files to test, of course).
Since each VM requires a certain amount of my system's RAM for its own use
and my system has only 2GB of memory, I only run one at a time so it doesn't
bog down my 'host' system noticeably. That means the most hard drive space
I will use is about 20G +15G + maybe 5G more during any given use. 40GB of
hard drive space in order to run multiple operating system environments is
not a bad trade at all and there's no rebooting required since it all
happens within my main system. To be on the safe side, I tend to always
leave an extra 20GB of free space on that partition.
> Another question, is it possible to do all the above and knock 2 or 3
> partitions together without formatting the other partitions? Just being
> lazy here <bg> I haven´t the time and inclination at the moment to go
> through all the bother of reinstalling... XP x64 is still fairly empty
> but
> not XP X32!!!
From your description of your current setup, there is no need for ANY
repartitioning. Install the program, create an empty VM and then I'll show
you how to move it to one of your more open partitions. Then you can
install whatever you' like inside it and it'll grow on that wide open space
you already have.
> So, with a VM, when you fire it up it will use up RAM in addition to the
> RAM
> used by the host, instead of just one OS like in a dual boot. I will
> deffinitely have to get more RAM... I only have 1.5 GB.
Since you're running XP, I would suggest a minimum of 2GB of RAM, more if
your system can handle it. I have all 3 of my VMs set to 'borrow' 736MB of
the 2GB I have installed. Since I only run one at a time, my main system
loses the use of that amount only during the times when I have one of the
VM's running. If I had 3GB or more of RAM (impossible with my current
motherboard), I'd be more inclined to either give my VMs a full gig or
perhaps keep it as is, but run more than one VM at a time.
> Anyway its a start :o)) Will catch up tomorrow!
I'm sure you're aware that there's more to all of this than what we've
discussed, but I'm trying to not overload you with too much info at once.
Digest what I've added here and come back for more when you're ready. After
my next reply, I'll be expecting you to actually install one of these
virtual PC apps so you can learn the rest by actually doing it instead of
just reading about it. ;)
> Lil
G
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