Microsoft Virtual PC
Drewslair.com Software Review

Introduction

There's an old cartoon joke where a character is being chased and comes up to a wall of some kind blocking his way.  So, our hero pulls out a paintbrush, paints a hole in the wall and runs through to safety.  The villain, of course, tries to follow and ends up seeing stars after crashing into the solid wall.  The virtual escape works like a charm for the good guy while keeping the attacker out.

I thought of the cartoon when working with Microsoft Virtual PC over the past couple of weeks.  With this software, which is now free from Microsoft, you can create an entirely new session on your PC that is isolated from the rest of the system and functions just like a separate computer.  You create the session, allocate memory and resources and then install the operating system of your choice.  Officially supported systems include the various flavors of Windows, DOS and OS/2.  All of the information for the session exists within a virtual hard drive file that the program creates and the session can be displayed either as a normal window or in full-screen mode. 

Some potential uses for this software include:

• Running different operating systems on one machine without having to create separate partitions on the hard drive.  This might be necessary when testing software under different configurations or after an operating system upgrade if existing software is not fully compatible with the new OS.
• Running different software configurations for development and testing, such as multiple versions of a software that would ordinarily conflict if installed on the same system.
• Temporary installation of programs for evaluation.  By installing the software in a virtual session, it can be evaluated without cluttering the registry or risking problems caused by software defects, viruses and spyware.
• Quick reconfiguration of machines as needed for training or demonstration purposes.

A couple months ago, I downloaded a 45-day trial for the software and posted some notes elsewhere on the site.  The trial ended earlier this month, just after the software proved invaluable in helping me solve a bug in one of my programs that was reported by a visitor to the site.  I decided I didn't want to be without it anymore and found it on Amazon for a discount.

What reminded me of the cartoon was how perfectly this software mimics a real PC with all its capabilities even while safely isolated from the host operating system in its own session viewer.  Setting up a new virtual computer was identical to installing a new operating system with accompanying updates and software.  When the OS loads in the virtual session, it behaves just as it would on the host PC, even running system utilities such as defragmentation on the contents of the virtual drive. Running the software in full-screen mode, I could forget that I'm in a session until I try to shut the computer down and end up returning to the host machine.

Virtual PC installs easily, taking it's place under the Programs menu.  Starting the program displays the console screen that shows the options for any existing virtual machines with an accompanying icon in the system tray that provides quick access to machines and options.  (Click the image to the left or any of the images on this page for a full-size view.)

Out of the Box

My first thought when setting up new virtual machines was, of course, Microsoft Access.  I have three versions of the software and could potentially want to work with any of them.  The problem is that multiple versions of Access on the same machine must be installed in the order the versions were released and even then, they don't always play well together.  The last time I re-imaged my machine, I decided I'd avoid the hassle and just install Access 2002 for now, leaving the previous two until I definitely needed them.

A virtual machine quickly solves this problem.  First I decided to create one with a basic Windows 2000 installation on it with all current updates, anti-virus and firewall software and nothing else.  The anti-virus and firewall are necessary as the virtual machines easily detect and use broadband connections.  (One person I talked to even suggested that Virtual PC could be used solely for the purpose of isolating programs such as Internet Explorer from the rest of the computer system.)

Virtual PC includes a simple wizard for creating new machines.  It guides the user through choosing a location for the machine and virtual hard drive file (which defaults to the My Documents folder), specifying the operating system to be used and allocating RAM to the machine.  For Windows 2000, it recommends 128 megabytes of RAM.  Personally, I'm not running a Windows 2000 installation with less than 256 MB if I can help it.  Shortly after I downloaded the trial version, I decided it was an excellent time to upgrade my system's memory from 256 to 512 MB so I could allocate 256 MB to the virtual session and still leave the same amount for the host to work with.

The virtual machine settings are stored in a small file that uses the XML format.  These settings include the location of the virtual hard drive file(s).  While the virtual hard drives have a capacity of 16 gigabytes each, the files that hold them start out small and expand as information is added.  Each virtual machine can access up to three of these  drives. Given the compression I was able to get on one of these with WinZIP, it doesn't appear that much, if any, compression is used within the files.  With hard drive space far cheaper these days, this isn't as much of a problem as it once would have been.  Still, it's something to keep an eye on when creating new machines.  Fortunately, DVD burners and external drives are cheaper these days, too.

One of the features I like best about the software is the Undo Disks feature.  When this is activated for a virtual machine, all changes made during a session are stored on a temporary disk instead of the virtual hard drive itself.  When the session is shutdown, the program prompts the user with options of committing the changes by merging them with the main file, saving them in the temporary file or deleting them.  This is great for when I just need to test something out quickly and I can see it saving me a lot of time that I won't have to spend restoring virtual machines to their original state.  Changes can be saved indefinitely in the temporary file until the user decides to save them permanently or delete them.

Since the virtual hard drive is blank when first created, a boot disk is needed to start the new machine or that old familiar text message about a missing boot disk is displayed.  It will default to the floppy if there is one but will also boot from the CD if instructed from the virtual machine's BIOS which, just like on a regular computer, is accessed by pressing DEL when starting the virtual machine.  After that, it's just a matter of installing the OS and whatever software is needed in the virtual session.  I installed Windows and downloaded all of the required updates from Microsoft and Norton (for the security software).  The virtual machine rebooted just as a normal machine would after installing the larger updates such as Windows 2000 SP4 and the .NET framework.  After backing up the machine files to a DVD, I created two more machines from it with separate versions of Access.  Now, when I need to run Access 97 or Access 2000, it's just a matter of running the right virtual machine and I'm good to go.

Ghost in the Machine

A couple of days later, I had another thought; how would these virtual machines stand up to being re-imaged?  I use Norton Ghost to re-image my machine at least once a year and I have a couple of images setup with the basic software configuration I like to start out with.  It's a lot quicker than reformatting and reinstalling everything from scratch.  From what I'd seen, throwing an image on a virtual machine should be just as easy as on the host machine but I wanted to try it out just for fun.

I used the Norton Ghost Boot Wizard to create a boot disk that would work with my DVD drive and inserted the DVD with the image.  I then created a new virtual machine with the appropriate settings and booted from the floppy I'd just made.  Sure enough, it loaded the Ghost DOS program with no problem and when I told it to restore the image from the DVD, it went through all the standard steps.  After it was done, it rebooted and loaded Windows on the virtual machine with the configuration it had found in the image.  Now, I was really impressed.

Virtual Machine Additions

An extra set of features is available through the Virtual Machine Additions software which installs on individual virtual machines that are running Windows.  This add-on is  unique in its installation as it's featured as an application on the virtual machine.  When the add-on is installed, the session attaches a CD image containing the installation program to whatever CD drive it's accessing and then runs the installation program.  The add-on is included in the guest operating system's list of installed software and can be uninstalled if needed in the same way that any other application would be.

'Additions' includes integrated mouse support.  Without the add-on, the mouse is either active on the host machine or contained within the virtual machine window.  Once you're working within the virtual environment, you have to hit the right ALT key to move the mouse outside of it.  'Additions' removes this restriction.  The add-on also synchronizes the system time between the host and virtual machines. and provides better video handling with flexible screen resolutions.  Once 'Additions' is installed, the user can resize the session window as needed and the virtual machine's resolution will change to match it.

Perhaps the handiest feature of the add-on is that it allows for file transfer between the host and the guest operating system by drag and drop or by cutting and pasting through a shared clipboard.  In the machine settings, various folders on the host can also be shared with the virtual session to allow for easy transfer.  While these features are very useful, they should also be used with care if one of the intended uses of the software is to shield the host system from potentially dangerous programs.

I've also seen a noticeable improvement in virtual machine performance after installing the Additions package.  Even after upgrading the memory and changing the console settings to give the virtual sessions priority, the speed of my Windows 2000 virtual machines was a bit sluggish.  After installing 'Additions', they run just as fast as the host.

What's Missing

There are a couple of limitations I've found with Virtual PC at this point.  Hopefully, Microsoft will address these in future versions.

Virtual PC for Windows does not currently support USB devices. From a search of the Microsoft site, it looks like the version for the Mac does support them but for some reason, it was left out of the Windows edition.  It's a rather glaring omission at this point.  I was able to set my external USB hard drive up as a shared folder and transfer files, so that workaround exists.  I haven't tried to figure out a way to print from a virtual machine to my USB printer, though.

Other than the missing USB support, the only thing I could comment on is the fact that only one CD or DVD drive can be used at a time with Virtual PC.  The software will quickly switch between multiple drives on the host system and I suppose the shared folders would again come in handy if I ever needed to copy from one to the other so I'm not as concerned about this one.

One quirk I did find in the interface is that the options relating to Virtual Machine Additions features, such as the shared folders, can only be set when the virtual session is running.  Otherwise, the option screen doesn't seem to recognize that the add-on is installed on a machine that has been shutdown.

The Fun Continues ...

I just keep finding more reasons to use Virtual PC.  Here are a few things I've been able to use the virtual machines for in the past couple of weeks:

• I'm now working with Visual Basic.NET and I wanted a basic environment (i.e. without the development software loaded) on which to test out an application.  One of the Access machines I created was perfect for this.  It only had a basic Windows configuration on it and I was able to see if the application would run outside of the machine it had been created on.
• I bought a utilities package last week for cleaning up the registry and other aspects of the system.  The software was highly recommended but still, it does work with the registry and could do some serious damage if it doesn't live up to its reputation.  So far, it's running great on one of the virtual machines and I also got to see which of the utilities I wanted to install and which I didn't need.
• One of the things that bugs me about some of these online games is the additional components they want to install just to run some game that only has about 15 minutes of entertainment value in it anyway.  Once again, Virtual PC lets me try the game out without cluttering my system with who knows what.  The Undo Disks feature has also come in very handy for something like this.  Not only is the host system safe but all changes to the virtual machine itself can can be easily erased. 

Even though it's not officially supported, I'm looking forward to trying out a couple versions of Linux on virtual machines.

Conclusion

When I review something here, it's because I really like it or at least think that it could be useful to a lot of people.  Microsoft Virtual PC meets both of these criteria.  After all the years that I've worked with computers and all the advances I've seen, it's a good feeling to still be amazed by new ideas and products like this one.  This is a product that, despite its appearance as a technician's tool, is simple to use and will appeal to a wide range of people. 

Reader Response

Richard Thorp (Manchester, UK) wrote to me about creating a network boot disk that will work with Ghost and Virtual PC. 

(Here is an Intel link where you can download the drivers that Richard used to create the boot disk.  Click here for more information from the mcirosoft.public.virtualpc forum.)

For More Information ...

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 - Visit the product homepage.  The site includes a full evaluation guide for the software and a link to the Virtual PC discussion group.

Virtual PC Guy's Weblog - Ben Armstrong is the Program Manager for the Core Virtualization team at Microsoft and keeps this blog on MSDN featuring information on the various aspects of Virtual PC.

Wikipedia has an article discussing some of the more technical aspects of the software including information for the Macintosh version and featuring additional links.

Additional Screenshots

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