Virtualization for Computer learning

nolacs22

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:think:I am a beginner of computer science, specifically windows 8. i was thinking i could learn more through virtualization because i only have 1 computer with Win 8. I don't know if i can even do this on my computer. Does this mean i could have another computer in the cloud somewhere? I don't know where to start the learning,:eek: I am all over the place on the web

Hp pavilion g6-2225nr
Win 8 X64 IE 10
4 GB ram
Amd A4-4300 APU w/radeon
HP graphics 2.50 GHz
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
I can't say I understand. Are you saying that you wish to virtualize Windows 8 to learn more about it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update 1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 2000
    CPU
    Intel Pentium 2020M Processor
    Memory
    4GB DDR3 RAM
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Optical Mouse M185
    Browser
    Chrome v34
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Well if moving on to free softs, U can use the following :-
1.Virtual Box
2.Hyper-V ( inbuilt withing windows )


If opting for paid softs the best that i would suggest is:-
1.VmWare Workstation
2.VmWare Player
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Inspiron 530S
    Motherboard
    64Bit X64 based Processor
    Memory
    4.5GB Ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    1GB - XFX ONE ATI Radeon HD 5450 - Plus Edition
    Sound Card
    Inbuilt
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1440*900
    Hard Drives
    1*Seagate 150gb + 1*Seagate 320gb
    Cooling
    3 x fans
    Keyboard
    Dell Analog
    Mouse
    Dell USB Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1Mbps, 100kbps Download Speed
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, Bitdefender, but Switched off
For further questions regarding virtualization feel free to ask me ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Inspiron 530S
    Motherboard
    64Bit X64 based Processor
    Memory
    4.5GB Ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    1GB - XFX ONE ATI Radeon HD 5450 - Plus Edition
    Sound Card
    Inbuilt
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1440*900
    Hard Drives
    1*Seagate 150gb + 1*Seagate 320gb
    Cooling
    3 x fans
    Keyboard
    Dell Analog
    Mouse
    Dell USB Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1Mbps, 100kbps Download Speed
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, Bitdefender, but Switched off
Well if moving on to free softs, U can use the following :-
1.Virtual Box
2.Hyper-V ( inbuilt withing windows )


If opting for paid softs the best that i would suggest is:-
1.VmWare Workstation
2.VmWare Player

Hi there

VMWARE player is FREE for individuals and IMO easily the best for beginners.
Note also you can't have HYPER-V and VBOX / VMWARE software installed at the same time - but if you want to try them out just uninstall VMWARE / VBOX before installing HYPER V or the other way around.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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)
I evidently don't have the capability for hyper-v, but I could still do the VMware with my computer? What is IMO?:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
In my opinion.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I would start with Virtualbox since it's free, it's much more flexble than Hyper-V, it's well maintained and it has a big community. This way you can experiment with different operating systems (say various Windows versions and of course Linux). And best of all you can try whatever you want, if you mess up the system you can simply delete the virtual machine and set up a new one again. But before you start I would suggest to do some (google) research.

Oh, by the way, virtualization has nothing to do with cloud computing (even tĥough it would be possible to virtualize a computer in the cloud). What you do when you virtualize a pc is you kind of simulate the hardware by software. That makes it possible to install a operating system onto this simulated hardware and use it almost as you would on a real computer. In fact almost everything is possible, you even get some sort of 3d acceleration even though it is by far not fast enough to run graphics intesive software like games.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update 1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self built
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 Rev. 3
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac GTX 770 Amp 2 GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    GDATA Internet Security
Hi there

Virtualisation 101 (non technical)

1) Your computer system runs an OS (Operating system) which is loaded up when you switch on the machine (boot). This machine has its own set of hardware and after the computer starts up you can run your programs, browse the Internet, read and send email, play music / videos and a host of other things.

2) The operating system is the control program that starts when you switch on the machine and there are various "different" control programs that can be installed on the machine - usually one version or another of Windows or Linux. (We'll forget about Apple computers here for this discussion).

Unlike your programs you run on the machine only ONE OS can run at a time - even though you can run many programs at the same time like email, internet browser, EXCEL etc.

3) By a technique called Virtualisation it is possible now to run MORE than one OS at the same time. A piece of special software runs on your normal OS which has the ability to create some "fake" hardware (known as Virtual hardware) so another OS can be loaded on to the machine and run. This OS is known as a GUEST OS and it is designed so that it isn't even aware that it is running as a normal "Application" program". The software that enables this to be done is usually VBOX or VMWARE player. There are other pieces of software but these are the main ones and are free. You install one or other (or even both if you want) just like installing any other program on your running system.

4) When you start up the software you'll be presented with a wizard "Create Virtual Machine". This allows you to specify what "hardware" you want in the virtual machine (note this hardware doesn't PHYSICALLY exist as such but is "Virtualised"), and what OS you want to install. You then follow the on screen instructions and then install the OS -- just like a REAL OS -- if it's Windows you perform the same actions as if you were re-installing Windows.

5) For better Sound, Mouse, Video etc after the newly created machine starts you should install (from VMWARE menu or VBOX menu) an extra piece of software called VMWARE TOOLS or VBOX ADDITIONS. This fixes any problems with video resolution, jerky mice etc.

This OS behaves on the whole just like another totally separate PHYSICAL COMPUTER.

You can run it full screen or windowed - so you CAN actually have two versions (or more) of Windows running at the same time. It actually seems like another wholly separate computer - and it can be acessed on a LAN for example just like any other PHYSICAL computer. You can share its "Virtual" disks with your HOST machine or any other on a LAN. To the outside the VM appears like a normal computer with its own hardware.

6) I'd install LINUX first as a VM since it's FREE and no activations are needed --remember each instance of Windows needs a separate license / activation so unless you have an Enterprise or Volume license (VL) edition of windows running several windows VM's could be expensive.

That's the base explanation -- very basic -- but it's a start. Virtualisation is a great way also of testing software --if something gets totally hosed up just delete that VM and start another one. You only need ONE instance of vmware / vbox to control as many VM's as you can run on your machine.

VM's are quite RAM intensive though -- on your box I'd only run ONE VM with an allocated maximum RAM size of 1 - 2GB. CPU shouldn't be a problem unless your are doing a lot of video editing on your HOST or the VM.

There's all sorts of extra configurations and tips but this post should be enough to get you started. For Linux distros simply download any LIVE CD and in your Virtual machine configuration set the Virtual DVD drive to point to the .ISO file you downloaded -- and boot the Virtual (not the REAL machine !!) from the .ISO

As a beginner I'd stay away from HYPER-V. Practice with vmware vmplayer (my favourite) but others choose ORACLE' s VBOX --try both if you like - but remember Windows virtual machines need activations so I'd test a LINUX distro on both VBOX and VMWARE to see what you prefer. You can use HYPER-V when you gain a bit more practice with VM's - but you will have to UNINSTALL VBOX and VMWARE - these can't co-exist with HYPER-V.

One caveat -- although the Video facilities of Virtual machines have improved enormously in the last few years as well as the hardware capabilities of even quite small laptops - they aren't (yet) suitable for intensive gaming -- some older games might work. DVD and Movie playing though are just fine these days in a VM.

Have fun and welcome to the world of Virtual machines.

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)
VMware Player vs Vbox ? - for running VPN

I found the following statement on another site : "VMplayer can still be found for free, but it's options are limited, Like no way now to get wifi pass through" . Is this true and if so what does this mean ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-5 serie
    CPU
    i5 4-serie
    Memory
    8GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon R7 M265 (2 GB)
    Screen Resolution
    Full HD
    Hard Drives
    1TB HDD (soon 250 SSD)
    Browser
    Crome
    Antivirus
    Avast
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