Re: Virtual machine

[[Forwarded to microsoft.public.virtualpc newsgroup via crosspost]]

Ceder wrote:
> "philo" <> wrote in message
> news:yZOdnaiy2pH-...
>> On 05/09/2010 06:28 AM, Ceder wrote:
>>> How to set Virtual PC for Windows XP? I need test programs in virtual
>>> environment, for safe testing, as it may contain viruses, etc.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Once you have Virtual PC installed and you go to start it...
>>
>> Just try to pretend that it's an actual computer and you will soon see
>> how it works
>>
>> In other words, you will have a (virtual) bios where you can set the
>> boot order...boot from the cd and be given the option to partition and
>> format your (virtual) harddrive
> ---------
>
> There is several virtual machines. Which one is OK? Which one uses less
> resources (hard drive space, etc).
> Should I copy my programs into Virtual machine and run it from there?
>
> Also, I want track what system changes program do when it launched:
> registry
> keys added, files added/changed, all. A long time ago I used InCtrl
> utility
> which can track that changes. But it not work on XP. Is there some tool
> that
> can track this changes when program run on Virtual machine?

OT: Your posts' headers (Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1409) tell us
that you're running outdated & much less secure versions of Outlook Express,
Internet Explorer and WinXP. Check in at Windows Update ASAP!

Note: Support for WinXP (x86) SP2 ends on 13 July 2010. After that date,
computers running WinXP (x86) SP2 "will no longer receive software updates
from Windows Update" (i.e., Automatic Updates will not work and Windows
Update website will not be accessible) until SP3 has been manually
installed.

• What does it mean if my version of Windows is no longer supported?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...f-support-mean

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

SlickRCBD wrote:
> I just saw this thread and it caught my attention. I just installed a
> fresh copy of Windows XP Pro and used automatic updates to bring it up
> to SP3. I didn't pay much attention, but I don't think my cd has any
> service packs, or if it does it's only SP1.
> What's the best thing to do to prepare for the next time I invariably
> need to pull out the install cd and do a clean install if I can't
> simply sic automatic updates on it to have the least amount of trouble
> getting a fully patched system set up from scratch?
>

Download SP3 separately.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Use a tool like NLite, to prepare a new installer CD, with SP3
slipstreamed into the install.

http://www.nliteos.com/guide/part1.html

After NLite is finished, you'll be able to take the resulting
output, and burn a new installer CD.

That will then allow you to install to SP3 level.

You'll still need a couple hundred other updates from
Windows Update. If there was a "rollup", things might
be different.

Another alternative, is to just back up your entire C:
drive, as it now stands. Assuming it is not infected,
you can restore the backup you make, at any future time,
and avoid all the downloads again. The disadvantage of that
approach, is it is only going to work for your current
hardware configuration. If your computer died, and you
bought an entirely new one, the backup image might not be
very easy to use. An installer CD is the most "portable"
solution, even if it doesn't happen to be very complete
(i.e. needs lots of Windows Updates).

Paul

SlickRCBD wrote:

> On an unrelated note, is there anything similar that I can use to make
> a Windows 98SE install cd from the setup files in the c:\windows
> \options\cabs on my old Dell optiplex gx110? I don't have a working
> restore cd for it and need one. I've made a backup of the hard drive
> onto a virtual pc setup as I don't have any imaging software at home,
> but would feel better if I could make a clean install from a cd if
> necessary.
>
> It seems nlite is only for NT based Windows.

All I can say, is I see sites on the web selling CDs,
but they don't seem to be proper recovery CDs. As long
as you have some idea what a legitimate one looks like,
perhaps you can buy one.

Did the Optiplex have a utility, to burn a CD using the
files stored on the hard drive ? Perhaps you were
supposed to make your recovery CD that way. Generally,
that mechanism is limited to burning one CD, and you'd make
copies after that on your own.

Paul

On Tue, 25 May 2010 09:51:23 -0700 (PDT), SlickRCBD
<> wrote:

>On an unrelated note, is there anything similar that I can use to make
>a Windows 98SE install cd from the setup files in the c:\windows
>\options\cabs on my old Dell optiplex gx110? I don't have a working
>restore cd for it and need one. I've made a backup of the hard drive
>onto a virtual pc setup as I don't have any imaging software at home,
>but would feel better if I could make a clean install from a cd if
>necessary.
>
>It seems nlite is only for NT based Windows.

No, you cannot make a setiúp disk from that data. It simply does not
contain enaough info.
You are probably looking in the right direction thinking about cloning
the PC to a virtual computer though.

What you can do depends on your needs:

1) You can huse the DISK2VHD utility from Microsoft to migrate the
physical computer to a virtual computer. Download the utility here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../ee656415.aspx

2) Or you can use the VMWARE Converter to convert your existing
physical computer to a virtual one possible to load into VMWARE
Player.
Player is available here: http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
Converter is available here: http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
you need to download the standalone version (free).
THis works very well indeed for XP level PC:s but I have t´not tested
it on Win95 type PC:s..

--

Bo Berglund (Sweden)

On 5/27/2010 1:32 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:
> On Tue, 25 May 2010 09:51:23 -0700 (PDT), SlickRCBD
> <> wrote:
>
>> On an unrelated note, is there anything similar that I can use to make
>> a Windows 98SE install cd from the setup files in the c:\windows
>> \options\cabs on my old Dell optiplex gx110? I don't have a working
>> restore cd for it and need one. I've made a backup of the hard drive
>> onto a virtual pc setup as I don't have any imaging software at home,
>> but would feel better if I could make a clean install from a cd if
>> necessary.
>>
>> It seems nlite is only for NT based Windows.
>
> No, you cannot make a setiúp disk from that data. It simply does not
> contain enaough info.

Sure it does. Everything is there to install Windows. All he needs is a
boot disk.