Vista on Virtual PC

[Guest]

I'm trying to load Vista B2 (86) from the Microsoft DVD as a Virtual PC.
Everything starts well, but it ask "where do I want to install Windows?"
There is no location listed in the selection box.

I'm not sure what the "Load Driver" button is for and if it is safe to use.
Also, I'm unclear as to why it would ask this.

Would it be better for me to create an XP VPC and then "upgrade" it to Vista?

Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[Guest]

My total experience is with VMware's products, but I understand WinVirtual PC
and Vmware are about the same. The disk asks for F6 drivers as it does every
time it starts, but the VM uses its own IDE drivers, and should continue to
load by 'ignoring' it. It should automatically install in the proper VM
partition.

I would not install XP first and then upgrade, for several reasons, the most
important one being that Vista does a cleaner job when installing 'clean.'
Also the tools used by the VM have given some installations 'fits', but I
have Vista 32 on a VM on a XPx64 machine, and it works without flaws.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Before commencing does your system have more that 512MB RAM (preferably
1GB)? If not then you are unlikely to install Vista on VM (well currently
anyway). I know i've tried it and have had the same problem as you regarding
'where do you want to install it'. I think i tried around 8 times to
install using Windows VM and failed on all occasions, so in the end i gave
it up as a bad job. I will maybe try again in a few months time when my PC
is ready for a memory upgrade.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

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[Colin Barnhorst]

The IDE drivers are loaded automatically in VPC. Drivers are not an issue
in VPC.

The problem is that the virtual cd drive in VPC cannot handle files larger
than 2.2GB. It cannot handle the Vista dvd image.

The simplest solution is to use a third party virtual optical drive or
install with Virtual Server (which can handle 4GB images) and then use the
vm in VPC.

Even the Vista Upgrade is a clean installation of Windows. This is a new
technique. The user's programs are reinstalled after Setup finishes the
clean installation of Vista. There should be no difference in the
installation of Vista as to whether a Custom installation is chosen or
Upgrade. All Vista installations are now "clean installations." This was
not true, of course, of earlier upgrade installations of Windows.

That is not to say that attempting to upgrade a system with third party
software will always work. Incompatible programs must be removed before
proceeding with the upgrade.

Vista x86 may also be installed on an x64 machine by using Virtual Server
2005 R2.