Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit VM on Windows 8.0 home x64 ??

[MilesAhead]

Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit VM on Windows 8.0 home x64 ??

Basically I'm looking for something foolproof so I can enjoy true Glass without multibooting. I know some Glass can be had on W8. I'm running it now. But the windows with "extend frame into client area" just don't have that chrome metal reflective look so pretty in W7 and Vista.

I'm on a Toshiba Laptop.

The keyword here is easy. I'd rather avoid becoming a VM scientist. I just want something so easy even I can do it on the first go.

I have a W7 iso image to use for the VM.

 

[shadow]

Clarification

VM? As in virtual machine? And why would you want a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit system? I will try and assist after I am clear on the details.

 

[MilesAhead]

VM? As in virtual machine? And why would you want a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit system? I will try and assist after I am clear on the details.

Because i used W7 Ultimate 32 bit before and I know it works. If the default was MBR on this laptop I'd just multiboot. But I don't want to make life tough on myself.

I tried upgrading Vista x64 to W7 x64 on a desktop. It didn't go so well. Whereas 32 bit Vista to 32 bit W7 upgraded and ran fine. So I'm suspicious of W7 64 bit to put it bluntly.

 

[shadow]

OK, I have a few questions and suggestions, so I can help you.
Operating systems are tricky, so just bare with me please. So, you are running windows 8 64 bit home and you miss the look of 7, so you want to use 7 inside of 8 because your computer doesn't support MBR?
That was my question, I need to make sure I understand your problem fully in order to advise you more.

Windows 8 is weird, but have you tried updating it to 8.1? It's free and you do it through the windows store metro app on your start screen. Even if you will use seven through this, the updates fixes bugs and stuff allowing your PC to run more smoothly. Also an easier fix for you, assuming I am correct about what you want, might be researching software that merely cloaks your windows 8 interface with a theme like windows 7.

If you have only 2gigs of ram or less, a VM isn't going to run well with any OS. How much ram do you have? If you don't know, since you are on win 8, it is super easy. Put your mouse pointer in the top right corner and bring up the charms bar on the side. On the bottom there is a settings button. Once you bring that up there should be several options, click on PC info and it will redirect you to a page that should tell you everything you need to know about your PCs specs.

 

[MilesAhead]

If you click in System Specs link in my post you would see the amount of ram.

The point about MBR is to multiboot W7 I would need to change the system to MBR instead of GPT. Sorry but I think this is the long way around. I'll see if I can find an appliance ready to go.

 

[shadow]

Ok, that's cool. Your question really didn't make much sense to me, so I was just trying to figure out what you really wanted. For future references, if you are more clear and precise about what you actually want to do it may help you get more responses and better responses. We could have avoided time waisted if you would have just told me you really didn't want help in the first place.

 

[owenspal]

Miles..I have Win7 pro 32bit in a vm on Win8 pro 64bit. Using Vm player which is free and extremely easy to install/configure and use. Simply allocate a few gigs disc space, couple gigs memory and you got a perfectly working Win7 !!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
No probs running Win 7 32 bit as a VM

Simply from within VMPLAYER install the OS as you would normally --I prefer VMPLAYER as the VM software but you can use Virtual Box. You can either use the physical DVD or the ISO copied to HDD - the VM setup allows either option. Use the Wizard to create a VM in a few easy steps - you can always re-configure it afterwards.

After installing the VM and first boot ("Power on " is the expression used when re-booting a VM) install the VMWARE TOOLS -- then in the vm's settings enable 3-D and hardware acceleration --then your Glass / Plasma effect will work wonderfully.

VM's have come a long way in the last few years --3D and decent video is readily available in VM's now - including movie / DVD playing if you want.

HINT though -- DON'T activate Windows 7 UNTIL you've decided on your final configuration --you can run W7 for 30 days before you have to activate it. - If the DVD is the same one you used on your physical machine - no problem just activate by phone and say you've moved it to a new machine - you don't have to say it's a VM.

@MilesAhead -- there's loads of good reasons why you might want a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit machine

1) You might have some old legacy hardware that only works on XP for example - I have a VM for that purpose running nicely on a 64 bit machine

2) you can run SEVERAL 32 bit VM's on a 64 bit machine if you have sufficient RAM -- so you could allocate a separate VM for each user - quite decent when say teaching students on using things like EXCEL - you can have say 5 or 6 logged on to the server all using their individual copies of EXCEL --at the end of the course just wipe the VM's for the next lot.

3) some corporate VPN's and GUI's only work on 32 bit OS'es - so using a VM makes sense here.

Loads and loads of reasons for using VM's (whether 32 / 64 or even the forseen future 128 bit OS'es)

Incidentally - provided the VT feature (INTEL) is enabled in the CPU - always is these days - you can actually run a 64 Bit GUEST (VM) OS on a 32 bit system - although your max RAM is still 4GB -- I tested early Win 7 x-64 as a VM on a 32 bit XP system. Worked fine !!!! --the CPU though of course needs to be 64 bit capable.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[adamf]

Miles, you have home version of Windows 8 so you can't use Hyper-V. This leaves Virtualbox or VMWare (both free). VMware Player is marginally easier than VirtualBox I think. Either you can run full screen.

Just install VMware player, click on create a machine (it will find your DVD drive or you could install from ISO if you prefer - see picture below) and install it. It really is very easy - same as a normal install. You just pick how much disk space and RAM. Leave the defaults unless you want to look into reasons to change it.

You'll need to install VMWare tools but it will tell you to do so at the relevant point.

EDIT - added a picture.

 

[MilesAhead]

Thanks. That's what I did. Once VMWare Player sees Windows it uses the Easy Install. It's about as easy as any program install that requires registration. I only have 4 GB ram. It defaults to 1 GB ram for the VM. It's a bit slow on the Laptop. But at least I can verify the OS image is functional. It's nice to see W7 glass again.

I may hold off an actual dual boot until I have another machine to bail me out in case this UEFI mumbo jumbo does not go smoothly. In the meantime I guess the thing to do is chase down W7 drivers to maximize my options.


Thanks for the responses.