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How to Create a Virtual Machine of Your Existing Windows Operating System

Soumen Halder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:35:57 +0000

A virtual machine is a software, that lets you create and run a separate operating system in your existing computer system. You can boot the virtual machine from the parent operating system and run just like another software application.

For example: If you are using Windows xp, you can install popular virtualization software like Windows virtual PC, Vmware workstation to create a virtual machine within your current operating system. Now in that virtual machine, you can install any operating system e.g Windows xp, vista. You can run these operating systems in a new explorer window within Windows xp.

The problem with virtual machines is that you have to install an operating system from scratch. This includes loading the operating system from cd or dvd, installing all the drivers and system software etc. This can be very time consuming and is not a quick job.

How to Convert your Existing Operating System into a Virtual Machine

Microsoft has a free application named Disk2vhd, which can create a virtual machine of your existing operating system. The utility is a portable application and does not require any installation. You can run the virtual machine on any computer you want.

Following are the steps involved to create the virtual machine of your existing Windows operating system:

1. Download the Zip file (751 Kb) and extract it. After that, just run the Disktovhd. exe.

2. The application will show you the available drives in your computer.

3. Select the drive which you want to migrate as a virtual machine. In this case, i would want to create a virtual machine for my Vista installation, hence i have selected the D drive.

4. Specify the path where you want to save the virtual hard drive (vhd) file. The file would be of large size and almost equal to the size of the operating system drive.

5. Hit the Create button. It would take some time to create the vhd file (mine took 25 minutes).

The software will clone a virtual hard disk of the drive selected and save it in specified location. After the vhd file has been created, you can use any virtualization software to mount the virtual hard disk and run the operating system as a virtual machine.

For example: I mounted the virtual hard disk on Microsoft Virtual PC and ran Windows Vista as a virtual machine under Windows xp. The software can convert the chosen hard drive into a vhd file, even if it is under use.

How can the Virtual machine be useful

Using a virtual machine has many advantages, especially when you are tech savy. Consider you are working in Windows xp and need to test a small Windows application compatible with Windows vista only. In that case you have to boot your system and start Windows vista again. A virtual hard disk of vista will come in handy here as you can start testing the vista compatible application by starting a virtual machine in xp.

Another situation where virtual machine can be a real time saver is when you are using multiple computers. Suppose you want to work in your friends computer with all your installed software and applications. In that case, just create a virtual hard drive of your operating system and carry the vhd file in a usb stick. When you are using the friend’s computer, just mount the virtual hard disk and use all your installed software.

Disktovhd can be used to create virtual hard drives of Windows xp, Windows vista, Windows server 2003. If you are using Ubuntu, check out how to create an Ubuntu virtual machine.

How to Create a Virtual Machine of Your Existing Windows Operating System originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

5 Reasons Why You Should Use VirtualBox Over VMware Server

Damien — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:21:16 +0000

Ever since I started using Ubuntu two years back, I have been an avid user of VMware server. It fascinated me to a great extent that I could actually run an OS inside an OS. Recently, I tried out VirtualBox, another virtualization software like VMware server, and I was greatly impressed by it. Even though I love VMware server, I can’t deny the fact that VirtualBox actually runs faster and smoother, with less crashes. Here is my top 5 reasons why VirtualBox is better than VMware server.

1) File size

How long do you need to download a 20MB file with a broadband connection? A snap of finger! Yes, that is how small VirtualBox is: slighly over 20MB where you can download it in a snap. VMware server? About 102MB, well…not too long either, mayber after you have finished your tea session.

2) Installation

Ubuntu users can simply install VirtualBox from the repository. Simply open the Synaptic Package Manager, check the VirtualBox and click Apply to install. For other Linux disro, there is also debian and rpm package available for download. For VMware server, only if you like to compile and build the source code from command line.

3) Speed Boost

The real advantage of VirtualBox over VMware server lies in its performance. VirtualBox apparently runs faster than VMware server. A timed experiment of an installation of Windows XP as the guest OS took 20 mins in VirtualBox and 35 mins on VMware server. A similar test on the booting time of the guest OS also shows favor to VirtualBox with a timing of 45secs compared to 1min 39 secs on VMware server.

4) Remote File Sharing

When I was using VMware server, I have to install and configure Samba on my Ubuntu host so as to access the files in my guest OS. In VirtualBox, the remote file sharing feature is built right in the package. Setting up remote file sharing is easy and you only need to do it once: point the file path to the directory that you want to share.

5) Integration with Host OS

In VirtualBox, there is this mode call ‘seamless mode‘ where you can integrate the guest OS with the host OS. With this mode on, you can access the applications from the guest OS right from the host’s desktop. There is no need for you to traverse between the guest and the host. VMware server does not have this feature, although you can find the ‘unity‘ mode that does the same thing in VMware Workstation.

My Feel…

I have not tested VirtualBox on a server setting, thus I can’t comment on its performance for corporate use. However, for personal use, I would strongly recommend VirtualBox over VMware server because of its faster speed and user-friendliness.

5 Reasons Why You Should Use VirtualBox Over VMware Server originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Sharing Files Between Ubuntu Host and Virtual Machines

Damien — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:26:22 +0000

After installing Windows Vista on Ubuntu using VMware, one of the problems that you’re likely to face is that your virtual machine has completely no access to your host folder. This means you cannot view/edit your favorite photos (or any other files) in your Vista VM. Come to think of it, what is the use of installing a VM if you can’t access your local hard disk where all your documents are kept?

Luckily, there are several solutions to this.

1) Transfer files using a USB drive.

Open up your VMware Server Console. Make sure that your VM is powered off (not in suspend mode). Click “Edit Virtual Machine Setting”. Under the Hardware tab, click Add -> USB Controller. This will install the USB driver and allow you to connect up to two USB devices to your VM.

Insert in your USB disk and power on your VM. Once the VM has finished loading. On the menu bar, Click VM -> Removable device -> USB Device -> your USB drive name.

Done. You have now access to your USB disk from your VM. A point to note is that you can’t access your USB disk from the host desktop and the VM at the same time. If you are adding USB disk in your VM, the host will automatically dismount your USB disk. Thus, if you want to transfer files between host and VM, you will need to transfer files from host to USB disk, then dismount USB disk from host and add removable device in VM.

2) Setting up networking via Samba

All virtual machines use shared networking to gain network access from the host. Thus, if configured properly, you can create a shared network to share files between the host and the VM. Here is a detailed instruction to configure file sharing via samba.

3) Buying license software
If you rely heavily on your VM for work, then you want want to consider buying a licensed VMware. This paid software enables you to access your virtual machine from the host desktop and you can even drag and drop your files from your VM to anywhere in the host without any further configuration. Parallels (another paid VM solution) also offers this service.

Sharing Files Between Ubuntu Host and Virtual Machines originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Install Windows Vista In Ubuntu Gutsy Using VMware

Damien — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:12:19 +0000

For Ubuntu Gutsy users who find that they can’t live without Windows, or just want to give Vista a try, here’s your savior: VMware Server.

Vmware Server is a free to download virtual machine tool that allows you to install the various type of operating systems under a virtual environment.

Before you attempt to install Windows Vista, please make sure that your computer has at least 1GB of RAM (preferably 2GB), 16GB of hard disk space and a genuine Vista CD.

Here are the steps to install Windows Vista in Ubuntu using Vmware Server.

Download the VMware Server software from VMware download site. Remember to register to get your license key. You will need it for installation.

Launch Archive Manager and extract the downloaded file to /tmp directory

Next, we need to prepare our system for VMware installation.

In your terminal,

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential
sudo apt-get install xinetd

Now the installation,

cd /tmp/vmware-server-distrib (or whatever directory you have extracted to)
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

The installer will then guide you through the installation. Press “Enter” for all the questions. The last step require you to enter the license key.

Once installed, launch the VMware from Application -> System Tools -> Vmware Server Console

Click “Create a new virtual machines”

Choose “Typical” in the Virtual Machine Configuration

Under the Guest Operating system, choose “Microsoft Windows”. At below, scroll down to “Windows Vista (experiemental)”

Enter the name of your virtual machine and choose the location where you want to save it.

Under Network Condition, choose use “Network Address Translation (NAT)”.

Under the Disk Size, allocate 16GB to the disk size and make sure the split disk into 2GB files is checked. If you just want to try out Vista, uncheck the allocate disk space now.

Ok. Now insert in your Vista installer CD.

On the VMware console, click “Power on this virtual machine”.

The virtual machine will now boot up with your installer CD and guide you through the Vista installation process.

Once the installation of Vista is completed, press “Ctrl + Alt” to get out of the VMware console.

On the VM menu, select “Install Vmware tool”. Now you’ve got enhanced graphics and mouse cursor that can move in and out of the virtual machine.

That’s it. Done!

How To Install Windows Vista In Ubuntu Gutsy Using VMware originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)