Solved Virtual Machine Questions

Sandhill

New Member
Messages
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My current computer’s OS is Windows 8 64bit. I’ve been doing a little reading about virtual machine software. I’m not a computer geek but know just enough to be dangerous.

Basically what I would like to do is install the hard drive from my old computer into my new one. I have some old rare and no longer produced programs that ran on my old system (Vista32) that I would like to be able to use. I no longer have the disks for some of the programs and some were made by companies that are no longer in business so new install disks are not an option. (Mostly engineering programs).


I know I’d either have to upgrade to Win8 Pro to use Hyper-V, or get another program like VMware Workstation to setup a virtual machine on my new computer.


I guess my question is

Can I access on old hard drive from a VM (running VISTA) and run programs that were installed on that hard drive.?

The old hard drive is SATA so it will work in my new computer; I just want to run some of the old programs on that hard drive, at least the ones I can’t reinstall on my new computer.


Would this be possible without having a degree in Computer Science from MIT.:D


I’ve also been reading about dual-boots and maybe that is the way to go but seems it would be easier if I didn’t have to reboot every time I needed to use the old programs.


Right now I’m jumping between the old computer and my new one but I don’t know how much longer the old computer is going to last. It has a real hard time booting up, gets stuck in BIOS and I have to keep rebooting to get it to start the OS system. Actually I’ve not turned it off in over two months.


Any input will be appreciated. Maybe I just have to say good bye to my old programs.

There are other newer ( and more expansive) ones that can do the same calculations for me but after using the old ones for years it will be hard to change.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    i5
    Memory
    10GB
    Hard Drives
    2 TB
It is possible to add a real HDD in a virtual machine... settings and capabilities differ from VM programs.
User has to know the options used otherwise he/she risks to loose data or format the disk by accident.

But a bit easier is to clone the HDD and create a virtual copy of it and use that in a VM.
Safe and sound since you use a copy. :D

Disk2Vhd:
Disk2vhd

or

Vmware Converter
VMware vCenter Converter: P2V Virtual Machine Converter - United States

Clone a host OS as a guest: physical to virtual (p2v)
Basically makes a virtual (VHD or VMDK) hard disk from the real one which can be used in Hyper-V, VMware WS/Player and VirtualBox.

Cheers
Hopachi
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
Hi Hopachi

Thanks for your reply

You have given me hope

Cloning the HDD and creating a virtual copy to be used in Hyper-V, or VMware Workstation or VM/Player seems to be what I need to do


Just need to do more research now..


VMware Workstation is pretty expensive whereas VM Player is free. I’ll have to do some more reading but I think the MVPlayer will work for what I need


I looked at the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone program and it’s a free program also.


Disk2Vhd is a free program also, but I’d have to upgrade to Win8Pro to get Hyper-V.

Might be better to wait for Win 8.1 Pro to come out then upgrade?

I’ll have to do some more reading


Thanks again..:geek: :thumb: :thumb:


I’d gotten spoiled using my old engineering program for the last 15 years and the thought of not being able to use any longer had kept from upgrading my computer for years
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    i5
    Memory
    10GB
    Hard Drives
    2 TB
VM Ware player is a very capable piece of software and is all the home user really needs unless you want to run 20 VM and do all kinds of experiments. I have VM Ware Player and Workstation. My wife uses a copy of the player on her 7 64 bit OS to run XP so she can play a version of Scrabble she loves. Download and try it out with a Linux VM before you do anything with your Vista installation. Good Luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64 Bit and VM
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built (Saberkitty)
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350 Vishera 32nm Technology @ 4.1 GHz default
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 (Socket 942)
    Memory
    G Skill F3-2400-8GZM
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB Super SC ACX 2.0+ with Back Plate GDDR5 128bit, PCI-E 3.0
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi Titanium HD Audiophile PCIe
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L227WTG x 3
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    238GB TOSHIBA THNSNJ256GCST SATA Disk Device (SSD)
    1863GB Seagate ST2000DM 001-1CH164 (SATA)
    1397GB Seagate ST1500DL 003-9VT16L(SATA)
    466GB Western Digital WDC WD50 03AZEX-00K1GA0 (SATA) x 2
    932GB Seagate ST310005 28AS SATA Disk Device (SATA)
    PSU
    Enermax Revolution87+ 1000 Watts Gold Certified Power Supply
    Case
    Rocketfish Full Tower
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212 with push pull fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K740
    Mouse
    Logitech Laser
    Internet Speed
    Fibre Cable 100 down 30 up.
    Browser
    IE 10 Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast, MSE and common sense
    Other Info
    3 x LG L227WTG @ 1680 x 1050 16:10 monitors.
    Using Mouse Without Borders (Google it)
HI there
+1 for VMware - easy to use and free

Here's a screenshot of a Windows 98 system STILL RUNNING - so VISTA should be easy. I'm using VMware workstation - but VMware player (FREE) is just as good for this type of application.

What you will have to do is after installing your Virtual machine - at first boot run the install VMware tools - this will adjust things like Video / Audio / Mouse - so you can get decent video / audio etc on these older systems - I don't for intance think 40 inch screens were around when Windows 98 was current !!!!!.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Thanks for everyone input. I’m going to give it a try this week-end.
From what I’ve read it should work

In the manual for VMware vCenter Converter Standalone program is the statement below


“NOTE You cannot move original equipment manufacturer (OEM) licenses between physical machines. The license is attached to the server when you purchase it from the OEM and cannot be reassigned. You can only reassign retail and volume licenses to new physical servers. If you migrate an OEM Windows image, you must have a Windows Server Enterprise or Datacenter Edition license to run multiple virtual machines”


My old computer has a OEM Vista installed, But on some other docs I read it said it ”might not work” with an OEM license… sure can’t hurt to try

Question

Will installing a VM on a computer use a lot of resources? I’m not so concerned about disk space but if I allocate say 3 gig of RAM for the VM is that taken away from the host OS always or just when I’m using the guest OS?

Thanks again everyone.. what a great forum
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    i5
    Memory
    10GB
    Hard Drives
    2 TB
Because of my lack of knowledge and my paranoid nature I’ve got some more questions.

I’ve decided to try to make a VM with an old WinXP disk I have before I trying the cloning of my old hard drive.


The XP disk is one I bought when I built my first computer way back in 2006 I think. If I remember correctly it formatted the drive that you installed it to.


I was going to put it on a partition on my main HD. I do have other data on that partition and I assume VMware will not let it format my host drive… I don’t want to destroy the Win8 system on my new computer.. I guess I don’t quite understand all this VM stuff.


The more I read about this the more confused I get.. but the way I understand it is


A virtual machine uses the physical resources of the physical machine on which it runs, the host.

Virtual machines have virtual devices that provide the same functionality as physical hardware,
So when you install the guest OS it will format the virtual drive not the physical drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    i5
    Memory
    10GB
    Hard Drives
    2 TB
Add another +1 to VM Player here.

You can use Disk2VHD since VHD is supported by VMware as well. I've already tested this in the past with one of my older VM's.
If you get allong with VM Converter, use that.

Yes, when you install a guest OS it will format the virtual drive not the physical one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
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