Virtual PC using WinXP for Win98SE - help

[Bill in Co.]

I've been messing with this for a couple of days and getting nowhere, and
thought someone here might spot what I am missing.

Installed Virtual PC 2004 (and also tried VPC2007 at one point) on XP, with
the intention of setting up a virtual machine for DOS and/or Win98SE, but I
can't even get to install the Win98SE operating system using my CD/DVD drive
(which otherwise works fine).

The CD/DVD drive letter shows up ok, but if I can't access it from within
VPC (after setting up the virtual machine). I had thought that after
setting up the virtual machine one would naturally be able to install the
operating system. Or maybe the standard Win98SE CD isn't bootable? But I
also booted on a MSDOS bootable floppy, and still get nowhere with accessing
the CD (or an iso image I made of the Win98SE CD to see if that would work).
Help, what am I missing here?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

See
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...l+boot+winxp+win98+mvp&qt_g=Search+this+group

 

[Paul]

I've been messing with this for a couple of days and getting nowhere, and
thought someone here might spot what I am missing.

Installed Virtual PC 2004 (and also tried VPC2007 at one point) on XP, with
the intention of setting up a virtual machine for DOS and/or Win98SE, but I
can't even get to install the Win98SE operating system using my CD/DVD drive
(which otherwise works fine).

The CD/DVD drive letter shows up ok, but if I can't access it from within
VPC (after setting up the virtual machine). I had thought that after
setting up the virtual machine one would naturally be able to install the
operating system. Or maybe the standard Win98SE CD isn't bootable? But I
also booted on a MSDOS bootable floppy, and still get nowhere with accessing
the CD (or an iso image I made of the Win98SE CD to see if that would work).
Help, what am I missing here?

I've installed Win98SE on VPC2007. My original Win98 CD is bootable.
My Win98SE Upgrade CD is not bootable. So VPC2007 switches to PXE
booting, if the Win98SE CD is present (meaning it can't see anything
to boot from).

So just like the original PC, I start by installing Win98, then
after, use the Win98SE upgrade CD, while the system is already running.

It works fine in VPC2007, just remember to set the virtual
memory to 512MB for a trouble free installation. Otherwise,
there are a couple tricks involving Vcache and preventing win98
from seeing too much memory (maxphys?).

I've even installed Win98SE natively on my PC. It has a Core2
Duo processor, and an Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 motherboard.
I installed Win98SE on a 4GB IDE drive I still had. It was
mainly done to see whether it would work or not. Since I
have plenty of crusty old AGP video cards here, it wasn't
a problem finding a video driver for them. A more modern video
card would have spelled trouble. Win98SE only sees one core of
the processor, but it still runs pretty fast. I did the install,
just to see if it would work, and was shocked at how straight
forward it all went. I was expecting more resistance. I use
a PCI sound card, because the onboard HDaudio means nothing
to Win98.

Paul

 

[Bill in Co.]

I've installed Win98SE on VPC2007. My original Win98 CD is bootable.
My Win98SE Upgrade CD is not bootable. So VPC2007 switches to PXE booting,
if the Win98SE CD is present (meaning it can't see anything
to boot from).

When I tried using VPC2007, I saw that PXE booting thing, but after a couple
of minutes, it just repeats its cycling, again and again, as if it can't
find what it needs. So I assume it can't access the CD/DVD combo drive on
my Dell desktop, and I haven't yet been able to find a driver file that I
can use with it that will allow access to the drive under DOS. More on that
below.

So just like the original PC, I start by installing Win98, then
after, use the Win98SE upgrade CD, while the system is already running.

It works fine in VPC2007, just remember to set the virtual
memory to 512MB for a trouble free installation. Otherwise,
there are a couple tricks involving Vcache and preventing win98
from seeing too much memory (maxphys?).

I've even installed Win98SE natively on my PC. It has a Core2
Duo processor, and an Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 motherboard.
I installed Win98SE on a 4GB IDE drive I still had. It was
mainly done to see whether it would work or not. Since I
have plenty of crusty old AGP video cards here, it wasn't
a problem finding a video driver for them. A more modern video
card would have spelled trouble. Win98SE only sees one core of
the processor, but it still runs pretty fast. I did the install,
just to see if it would work, and was shocked at how straight
forward it all went. I was expecting more resistance. I use
a PCI sound card, because the onboard HDaudio means nothing
to Win98.

Paul

Thanks Paul. I think I've possibly narrowed my issues down to the
following, unless I am still misunderstanding this, which is quite possible.
Can you clarify these two questions for me?

1. I can never get the CD/DVD combo drive to be recognized in Virtual PC,
although at least its drive letter shows up there. I assume that is
because it's a newer CD/DVD combo unit, and I have no driver for it that
will work in DOS (tried Oaksys once, for example, and that didn't work).

The combo drive is a "PBDS +-RW DH-16W1S" CD/DVD drive.

So I gave up and went back to VPC2004 (which seems simpler), but I still
can't access the drive. But here is probably the critical point: I don't
have, nor can I find, any DOS driver files for it. So that may be the
issue.

So I made an ISO image file of the Win98SE CD, to hopefully get around not
being able to access the CD/DVD drive in VPC. (named Win98SE.iso)

But when I drag the Win98SE.iso file into the VPC cd icon, it grays out as
expected, and is apparently recognized, but there is no drive letter
associated with it, so I can never ever access it in DOS. So it's pretty
useless. (that virtual CD apparently isn't accessible) Is that correct?


2. I am running WinXP Home and am logged in as Bill, but have
administrative privileges since I am the sole user and set it up that way.
However, it seems that unless you are logged in as Administrator, per se,
you can't ever run the Virtual Machine Additions Wizard (I can never get it
to run or even show up). And I can't "readily" log in as Administrator,
since this is Windows XP Home Edition, unless I run in Safe Mode and log in
Safe Mode, which is useless.

Unless, perhaps, I could somehow get the prompt at bootup to allow me to
choose log in as Adminstrator or Bill at bootup each time, but then I would
always have to choose which way to log in - ugh. As it is now, after
turning on the computer, it boots up automatically (logging me in as Bill).
So is all that correct in my understanding?

Thanks for your patience.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

I've been messing with this for a couple of days and getting nowhere, and
thought someone here might spot what I am missing.

Installed Virtual PC 2004 (and also tried VPC2007 at one point) on XP, with
the intention of setting up a virtual machine for DOS and/or Win98SE, but I
can't even get to install the Win98SE operating system using my CD/DVD drive
(which otherwise works fine).

The CD/DVD drive letter shows up ok, but if I can't access it from within
VPC (after setting up the virtual machine). I had thought that after
setting up the virtual machine one would naturally be able to install the
operating system. Or maybe the standard Win98SE CD isn't bootable? But I
also booted on a MSDOS bootable floppy, and still get nowhere with accessing
the CD (or an iso image I made of the Win98SE CD to see if that would work).
Help, what am I missing here?

Hi Bill,

The problem is that MS-DOS did not natively recognize CDROM drives.

The easiest thing to do is load the driver in your config.sys file. Then
in the autoexec.bat file do a call to mscdex.exe (the interface between
MS-DOS and the CDROM drive.

If you need the specifics for what should go in config.sys and
autoexec.bat e-mail me off group.

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.site90.net/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)90.net

 

[Bill in Co.]

Thanks for reminding me of something I forgot about, including mscdex.
I'll give it a shot now, and see how it goes. If no go, I'll report back.
Thanks!

 

[Bill in Co.]

OK, thanks, at least I got the mouse recognized in dos, next step will be in
VPC, which should work. Thanks again for that part.

 

[Paul]

When I tried using VPC2007, I saw that PXE booting thing, but after a couple
of minutes, it just repeats its cycling, again and again, as if it can't
find what it needs. So I assume it can't access the CD/DVD combo drive on
my Dell desktop, and I haven't yet been able to find a driver file that I
can use with it that will allow access to the drive under DOS. More on that
below.


Thanks Paul. I think I've possibly narrowed my issues down to the
following, unless I am still misunderstanding this, which is quite possible.
Can you clarify these two questions for me?

1. I can never get the CD/DVD combo drive to be recognized in Virtual PC,
although at least its drive letter shows up there. I assume that is
because it's a newer CD/DVD combo unit, and I have no driver for it that
will work in DOS (tried Oaksys once, for example, and that didn't work).

The combo drive is a "PBDS +-RW DH-16W1S" CD/DVD drive.

So I gave up and went back to VPC2004 (which seems simpler), but I still
can't access the drive. But here is probably the critical point: I don't
have, nor can I find, any DOS driver files for it. So that may be the
issue.

So I made an ISO image file of the Win98SE CD, to hopefully get around not
being able to access the CD/DVD drive in VPC. (named Win98SE.iso)

But when I drag the Win98SE.iso file into the VPC cd icon, it grays out as
expected, and is apparently recognized, but there is no drive letter
associated with it, so I can never ever access it in DOS. So it's pretty
useless. (that virtual CD apparently isn't accessible) Is that correct?


2. I am running WinXP Home and am logged in as Bill, but have
administrative privileges since I am the sole user and set it up that way.
However, it seems that unless you are logged in as Administrator, per se,
you can't ever run the Virtual Machine Additions Wizard (I can never get it
to run or even show up). And I can't "readily" log in as Administrator,
since this is Windows XP Home Edition, unless I run in Safe Mode and log in
Safe Mode, which is useless.

Unless, perhaps, I could somehow get the prompt at bootup to allow me to
choose log in as Adminstrator or Bill at bootup each time, but then I would
always have to choose which way to log in - ugh. As it is now, after
turning on the computer, it boots up automatically (logging me in as Bill).
So is all that correct in my understanding?

Thanks for your patience.

The first point, is that all hardware is "virtualized" in VirtualPC.
When a guest OS runs in the virtual environment, it isn't supposed to
access host OS hardware directly. There have been very few exceptions
to this rule (such as back in the Macintosh version of VirtualPC by
Connectix, where the 3DFX video card could be accessed directly).

My CD drive is an MSI CR52 drive. When my Win98 guest OS is booted,
the Device Manager in there calls the CD drive "MS", so the
branding doesn't match the real physical drive. In other words,
my Win98 talks to a piece of Virtual PC code, and it in turn
talks to E: on the host system. Virtual PC's "pretend CD" has
a brand name of "MS".

I booted my favorite MSDOS floppy in VirtualPC. It has MSCDEX on it,
as well as XCDROM. It sees the virtual CD and handles it properly.
I changed drive letters, to the virtual CD, did a "dir" and it
works and displays the file names.

So what is unclear to me, is why VirtualPC is not able to read
your optical drive. If it can see the drive letter, like E: or
whatever, then it should be able to use the services of the
host OS to read the drive. And that would be a standard WinXP
driver, that would be reading the CDROM drive. VirtualPC would
use the data from those read operations, and present them via
its "pretend CD" emulation.

The "ISO9660 capture" feature, should also present itself as
a CD drive emulation. Now, what I did as a test, is while MSDOS
was running in Virtual PC (just after it had read a CD I installed
in the drive tray), I went to the menu above the Virtual PC window
and did a "capture ISO9660". That replaces the connection to the
physical CD drive, so "E:" in MSDOS is no longer looking at the
CD drive tray. Instead, at that instant, "E:" is looking at
the contents of the CD represented by the ISO9660 file I captured.
I was able to type the contents of a text file contained in the
ISO9660 file, to prove I was actually accessing the ISO9660.

So the two options, of "Use Physical Drive E:" or "Capture ISO Image",
are exclusive. You can use one of the other, and it becomes the
single virtual CD drive inside the guest environment.

One other thing I've noticed, a bit of trivia. If you use the floppy
while in VirtualPC, it has a permanent side effect on your OS. The
"hook" used, appears to exist even when VirtualPC is not running.
It causes the formatting of a floppy, in WinXP, to behave goofy.
If you start the VPC application (but don't start any guess OSes),
the goofiness stops. And then formatting a floppy in WinXP
runs at the normal speed. So VPC does something with respect to
the floppy, which causes the behavior to be different later.

Paul

 

[Al]

Virtual PC requires installation of additional components to provide for
proper mouse, CD drive, and other functions - the name of the "Package"
escapes me at the moment it is referred to as "Integrated components" for
Windows Virtual PC 2007. Check the documentation/help or the Virtual PC
site.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

Virtual PC requires installation of additional components to provide for
proper mouse, CD drive, and other functions - the name of the "Package"
escapes me at the moment it is referred to as "Integrated components"
for Windows Virtual PC 2007. Check the documentation/help or the Virtual
PC site.

Hi Al,

What you are referring to is an ISO in the VPC 'Program Files\<VPC
Directory>' called VMAdditions. Once Windows98 is successfully installed
in a VM you can than choose the install VMAdditions option from the VMs
menu.

Note that if you are using VPC2007, you preferably want to use the
VMAdditions from VPC2004 if the VM you are creating is for Windows
EARLIER than Windows98se.

If you are installing Windows386 or Windows 3.11 you will also need to
install drivers for the S3 video card before you install VMAdditions.

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.site90.net/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)90.net

 

[Bill in Co.]

The first point, is that all hardware is "virtualized" in VirtualPC.
When a guest OS runs in the virtual environment, it isn't supposed to
access host OS hardware directly. There have been very few exceptions
to this rule (such as back in the Macintosh version of VirtualPC by
Connectix, where the 3DFX video card could be accessed directly).

My CD drive is an MSI CR52 drive. When my Win98 guest OS is booted, the
Device Manager in there calls the CD drive "MS", so the branding doesn't
match the real physical drive. In other words,
my Win98 talks to a piece of Virtual PC code, and it in turn
talks to E: on the host system. Virtual PC's "pretend CD" has
a brand name of "MS".

OK, so the getting the "right" DOS driver for the floppy disk has nothing to
do with this at this point IF Virtual PC still can't even recognize the
device on its own, which indeed seems to be the case. (I think VPC expects
an requires and IDE interface (and not SATA), for CD drives the way it was
designed (which was several years ago).

I booted my favorite MSDOS floppy in VirtualPC. It has MSCDEX on it,
as well as XCDROM. It sees the virtual CD and handles it properly.
I changed drive letters, to the virtual CD, did a "dir" and it
works and displays the file names.

So what is unclear to me, is why VirtualPC is not able to read
your optical drive. If it can see the drive letter, like E: or
whatever, then it should be able to use the services of the
host OS to read the drive. And that would be a standard WinXP
driver, that would be reading the CDROM drive. VirtualPC would
use the data from those read operations, and present them via
its "pretend CD" emulation.

Well, it doesn't work. Only the drive letter shows up, and any access to
it is NADA. Well, that's not totally correct; I am able to eject the CD
tray, big deal!

Furthermore, I have to use a special driver (like gcdrom.sys) for DOS to be
able to recognize the CD drive, which it does fine - but only if running on
a DOS bootup disk, and NOT while under Virtual PC. (If I use that
gcdrom.sys on my bootup disk while in Virtual PC, it comes back with a
missing device driver message).

The "ISO9660 capture" feature, should also present itself as
a CD drive emulation. Now, what I did as a test, is while MSDOS
was running in Virtual PC (just after it had read a CD I installed
in the drive tray), I went to the menu above the Virtual PC window
and did a "capture ISO9660". That replaces the connection to the
physical CD drive, so "E:" in MSDOS is no longer looking at the
CD drive tray. Instead, at that instant, "E:" is looking at
the contents of the CD represented by the ISO9660 file I captured.
I was able to type the contents of a text file contained in the
ISO9660 file, to prove I was actually accessing the ISO9660.

So the two options, of "Use Physical Drive E:" or "Capture ISO Image",
are exclusive. You can use one of the other, and it becomes the
single virtual CD drive inside the guest environment.

Neither one of them works over here with my SATA Optical combo CD/DVD drive
(except for being able to see the drive letter, and ejecting the CD tray -
whoopee!).

ALSO, and getting back to my second problem, I am never able to install the
Virtual Machine Additions. I am assuming that is because I am running XP
Home and logged in as Bill. I think it said something about you MUST be
logged in as Adminstrator to be able to run it, but I can't recall. So that
is set up more for XP Professional, not Home, since in Prof you don't have
to be in Safe Mode to run as Adminstrator, which I think you have to in XP
Home.

But at this point I am thinking of chucking the whole idea. But thanks for
your feedback, and if you see something I missed, I'm all ears.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi Al,

What you are referring to is an ISO in the VPC 'Program Files\<VPC
Directory>' called VMAdditions. Once Windows98 is successfully installed
in a VM you can than choose the install VMAdditions option from the VMs
menu.

I haven't been ever been able to run those additions (or the wizard).

I assume that is because I am running XP Home Edition, and not Pro.
And I am (naturally) logged in as Bill, and NOT Administrator.

I think the docs said something about NEEDING to be running as Adminstrator,
which is probably easy to do in XP Pro, but not in XP Home. It's pretty
hard (or impossible?) to do that with XP Home, without running in Safe Mode,
as I recall.

 

[Bill Blanton]

Well, it doesn't work. Only the drive letter shows up, and any access to it is NADA. Well, that's not totally correct; I am
able to eject the CD tray, big deal!

Furthermore, I have to use a special driver (like gcdrom.sys) for DOS to be able to recognize the CD drive, which it does fine -
but only if running on a DOS bootup disk, and NOT while under Virtual PC. (If I use that gcdrom.sys on my bootup disk while in
Virtual PC, it comes back with a missing device driver message).

As Paul said, the CD is virtualized. VPC will access the CD just as any other
Windows program does. Through the Windows drivers. Something like
VM > CD > VPC > Windows(host). You do not want to use any special
drivers in the guest. Are you getting a DOS prompt at all? You might try
this virtual floppy image-
http://home.earthlink.net/~bblanton2/98DOSBoot.vfd

Load the floppy image and do a "Control CD" or "capture ISO". It doesn't
matter.

If you're not getting a DOS prompt, you might also check the boot order
in the virtual BIOS, though I'm pretty sure the default order is floppy - CD -
HD.

ALSO, and getting back to my second problem, I am never able to install the Virtual Machine Additions.

Those have to be installed from within the guest OS. After you get guest 98
up and running, do a "share folder" and run the installer from within the guest.
The guest additions will be added to the guests startup axis.

 

[Bill Blanton]

As Paul said, the CD is virtualized. VPC will access the CD just as any other
Windows program does. Through the Windows drivers. Something like
VM > CD > VPC > Windows(host). You do not want to use any special
drivers in the guest.

Just to clarify that,, DOS drivers are still needed. The default drivers included
on a generic boot floppy, such as are on the vfd below.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

I haven't been ever been able to run those additions (or the wizard).

I assume that is because I am running XP Home Edition, and not Pro.
And I am (naturally) logged in as Bill, and NOT Administrator.

I think the docs said something about NEEDING to be running as Adminstrator,
which is probably easy to do in XP Pro, but not in XP Home. It's pretty
hard (or impossible?) to do that with XP Home, without running in Safe Mode,
as I recall.

Hi Bill,

There is an account called 'administrator' which is an account set up by
Windows when you install the system. When you create an additional user
account, you can set what type of an account it will be. So that if when
you set up the account 'Bill' as an administrator account that account
would then have administrator access.

Whether you use WindowsXPhe or WindowsXPpe, the ability to set the type
of account does exist. If the 'Bill' account you are currently using is
not an administrator access account, you can log in as 'administrator'
create a new account and make sure that you give that account
administrator access.

You could also change the existing 'Bill' account again by logging into
the administrator account. Then from the 'Run Box', type:

control userpasswords2

When that window comes up, click on the 'Bill' account then click the
'Properties' button. When the next window comes up, click on the 'Group
Membership' tab. On that tab go down to the other radio button, after
selecting it, chose 'Administrator'. The 'OK' your way out and 'Bill'
now has administrator access.

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.site90.net/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)90.net

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi Bill,

There is an account called 'administrator' which is an account set up by
Windows when you install the system. When you create an additional user
account, you can set what type of an account it will be. So that if when
you set up the account 'Bill' as an administrator account that account
would then have administrator access.

Whether you use WindowsXPhe or WindowsXPpe, the ability to set the type of
account does exist. If the 'Bill' account you are currently using is
not an administrator access account, you can log in as 'administrator'
create a new account and make sure that you give that account
administrator access.

You could also change the existing 'Bill' account again by logging into
the administrator account. Then from the 'Run Box', type:

control userpasswords2

When that window comes up, click on the 'Bill' account then click the
'Properties' button. When the next window comes up, click on the 'Group
Membership' tab. On that tab go down to the other radio button, after
selecting it, chose 'Administrator'. The 'OK' your way out and 'Bill'
now has administrator access.

Thanks. I've already got administrator access as Bill, so that wasn't the
issue. I had just thought one might have had to explicitly log in as
Adminstrator (and not Bill - and such an option shows up in Safe Mode), to
be able to install the VMAdditions. But at this point I think I'm done
with getting VM to work properly (and don't really need it anyways).

 

[Bill in Co.]

Clarification: but it works fine (I mean with CD access) if I just instead
boot up on a USB flash DOS bootable drive, which I should probably just use
instead of VM. I just have to select that option at boot up (to boot up to
the USB flash drive, instead of windows). More below...

As Paul said, the CD is virtualized. VPC will access the CD just as any
other Windows program does. Through the Windows drivers. Something
like VM > CD > VPC > Windows(host).

But it's not able to. Again, that's probably because I'm using one of
those newer SATA CD/DVD drives, and some retro-capable IDE support for the
SATA CD/DVD drive (to allow VM access) isn't there with my WinXP driver(s).

You do not want to use any special
drivers in the guest. Are you getting a DOS prompt at all? You might try
this virtual floppy image-
http://home.earthlink.net/~bblanton2/98DOSBoot.vfd
Load the floppy image and do a "Control CD" or "capture ISO". It doesn't
matter.

If you're not getting a DOS prompt, you might also check the boot order
in the virtual BIOS, though I'm pretty sure the default order is floppy -
CD -
HD.

Got the DOS prompt. But I still can't access the SATA CD/DVD drive in VM
(even once trying a CD ISO file that I made of Win98SE instead, just to see
if that would work).

Those have to be installed from within the guest OS. After you get guest
98 up and running, do a "share folder" and run the installer from within
the
guest. The guest additions will be added to the guests startup axis.

Actually, it appears there aren't any for DOS. (at this point I was just
thinking of having the capability of using VM for DOS. But as I
mentioned, it might just be better just to boot up on a USB DOS flash drive
instead, which I already have made). But I wanted to try out VM.

At this point I think I'm done with trying to get VM to work properly, and
don't really need it anyways. But thanks, Bill.

 

[Bill Blanton]

Clarification: but it works fine (I mean with CD access) if I just instead boot up on a USB flash DOS bootable drive, which I
should probably just use instead of VM. I just have to select that option at boot up (to boot up to the USB flash drive, instead
of windows). More below...


But it's not able to. Again, that's probably because I'm using one of those newer SATA CD/DVD drives, and some retro-capable IDE
support for the SATA CD/DVD drive (to allow VM access) isn't there with my WinXP driver(s).

Something else must be going on. As long as the *host* Windows recognizes
the drive as an "optical removable" drive then you should be able to access
it through the VM. The virtual machine IOs with VPC, not the physical hardware.
(in this case), and then VPC accesses the CD through the Window's API. Just
as any other Windows program. VPC then feeds it back to the virtual machine.

Got the DOS prompt. But I still can't access the SATA CD/DVD drive in VM (even once trying a CD ISO file that I made of Win98SE
instead, just to see if that would work).

Yea, that should work. "Capturing an *.iso" is the same as loading a CD.

Actually, it appears there aren't any for DOS. (at this point I was just thinking of having the capability of using VM for DOS.
But as I mentioned, it might just be better just to boot up on a USB DOS flash drive instead, which I already have made). But I
wanted to try out VM.

At this point I think I'm done with trying to get VM to work properly, and don't really need it anyways. But thanks, Bill.

YW, Bill. But before throwing in the towel , if you have a bootable XP CD,
see if that boot the virtual machine?

 

[Bill in Co.]

Something else must be going on. As long as the *host* Windows recognizes
the drive as an "optical removable" drive then you should be able to
access
it through the VM.

Well it fully recognizes it *outside* of running VM - that much I know.
But apparently not inside VM (except for showing its drive letter (Q
within a menu bar option, where I can (seemingly) choose to deselect or
reselect it, but other than that, nothing happens).

The virtual machine IOs with VPC, not the physical
hardware. (in this case), and then VPC accesses the CD through the
Window's API. Just as any other Windows program. VPC then feeds it back
to the virtual machine.

"Just as any other Windows program"?? But it doesn't seem to be working
that way. So I am guessing that when VM was written, it may have been
written with the ability to use only a select (and somewhat dated) set of
API calls that it can use (or would even know about). Either that, or
perhaps my windows CD/DVD drivers are a bit inadequate in so far as VM is
able to access the drive. (but this is a 2008 Dell)

So I am guessing that these older versions of VPC (even through 2007) may
need some certain API hooks(?) to recognize this SATA CD-DVD drive, that my
native WinXP host applications running directly in XP apparently don't need.
Unless I still don't understand, which is possible.

What I am trying to say is this. Isn't it possible that without running VM,
I have full access to the SATA CD/DVD drive, but while inside VM, some API
or whatever interface is missing or inadequate to properly access the drive?
That sure seems to be the case. And just seeing the drive letter
recognized within a menu bar option in VM doesn't count!

Yea, that should work. "Capturing an *.iso" is the same as loading a CD.

I tried dragging the ISO image into the cd icon on the VM tray and it never
does anything (except change color and apparently recognize its presence,
but that's it).

YW, Bill. But before throwing in the towel , if you have a bootable XP
CD, see if that boot the virtual machine?

I tried it with the old Win95CD, and (as I recall) even with the XP cd, and
it was still no go. (I mean the cd drive spins when a cd is inserted, but
that's all).

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

Well it fully recognizes it *outside* of running VM - that much I know.
But apparently not inside VM (except for showing its drive letter (Q
within a menu bar option, where I can (seemingly) choose to deselect or
reselect it, but other than that, nothing happens).


"Just as any other Windows program"?? But it doesn't seem to be working
that way. So I am guessing that when VM was written, it may have been
written with the ability to use only a select (and somewhat dated) set of
API calls that it can use (or would even know about). Either that, or
perhaps my windows CD/DVD drivers are a bit inadequate in so far as VM is
able to access the drive. (but this is a 2008 Dell)

So I am guessing that these older versions of VPC (even through 2007) may
need some certain API hooks(?) to recognize this SATA CD-DVD drive, that my
native WinXP host applications running directly in XP apparently don't need.
Unless I still don't understand, which is possible.

What I am trying to say is this. Isn't it possible that without running VM,
I have full access to the SATA CD/DVD drive, but while inside VM, some API
or whatever interface is missing or inadequate to properly access the drive?
That sure seems to be the case. And just seeing the drive letter
recognized within a menu bar option in VM doesn't count!


I tried dragging the ISO image into the cd icon on the VM tray and it never
does anything (except change color and apparently recognize its presence,
but that's it).

I tried it with the old Win95CD, and (as I recall) even with the XP cd, and
it was still no go. (I mean the cd drive spins when a cd is inserted, but
that's all).

Hi Bill,

I fell asleep at the switch apparently. I didn't realize that your CD
drive was a SATA. With VPC2007, if you turn on virtualization, you
should be able to use the drive. In theory (but to be truthful I haven't
tested it), you should be able to put the drivers for the SATA CD drive
onto a floppy or floppy image and then the drive should be accessible.
Note I really haven't tested that last, so I don't know if it will work.

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.site90.net/
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