Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows Vista and 7 => Topic started by: Bones92 on January 11, 2009, 02:31:43 AM
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Hello everyone, I'm just wondering how safe and possible it is for me to set up a virtual partition on my computer, and then install windows 7 on it? I have the 32 bit beta from the microsoft website.
I have never set up virtual partitions before.
I would install it on my backup machine, but its not powerful, so I'd like to try it on my more powerful but primary machine - and really don't want to screw it up.
How easy and how safe is it to do this? If it is very dangerous I won't try it, but I've gone to all the effort of downloading the beta now...
If you could, some kind of step-by-step guide would be rather useful. ;D
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Here Ya Go... (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/625-boot-vhd-using-windows-7-a.html)
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As awesome as that link is, can I just check something?
I'm running windows XP... should have mentioned that.
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install Virtual PC or something, then. that should work.
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And the windows 7 installer will recognize it? Ok, cool. I'll try it tomorrow.
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When you install Virtual PC, you don't need to burn it to a CD.
You can use the .ISO file and get Virtual PC to treat it as a CD.
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This is a coincidence because I just (yesterday) installed Windows 7 Public Beta (build 7000) using VMWare Workstation. First of all I downloaded the public beta ISO 2.5 GB file and burned it to a DVD-R and then I created a virtual machine in VMWare and booted it off the install DVD. The install halted and said it could not read install.wim. I did a bit of Googling and found that this most likely a bad burn. Apparently Microsoft say you should burn the disk at the slowest speed your DVD burner supports. I had used 8x but my burner goes down to 2x for that brand so that was my fault. Anyway, I then remembered that virtualizing apps like VMWare and Virtual PC support using the ISO file without having to burn it, as Carbon Dudeoxide said above. So I installed that way and it all went just fine. I am sure Virtual PC will be the same. I have a 3 GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) with 1 GB of RAM. Windows 7 has 512 MB allocated and seems a little slow run like this, whereas OpenSuSe 11.0 (also with 512 MB) gives a very smooth and snappy experience.
There are very well seeded torrents around of ready made VMWare virtual machines of this Windows 7 Beta, but I like to do things the hard way...
I must say, at first look, I don't like the Windows 7 era GUI one little bit.
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"First of all I downloaded the public beta ISO 2.5 GB file and burned it to a DVD-R and then I created a virtual machine in VMWare and booted it off the install DVD. The install halted and said it could not read install.wim. I did a bit of Googling and found that this most likely a bad burn."
I had that happen to me too. It was the IDE cable on the dvd player that was bad. Try swapping it out.
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"First of all I downloaded the public beta ISO 2.5 GB file and burned it to a DVD-R and then I created a virtual machine in VMWare and booted it off the install DVD. The install halted and said it could not read install.wim. I did a bit of Googling and found that this most likely a bad burn."
I had that happen to me too. It was the IDE cable on the dvd player that was bad. Try swapping it out.
Apparently Microsoft says you should burn the install disk at the slowest speed your DVD burner supports. I had used 8x but my burner goes down to 2x for that brand so that was my fault. The funny thing is, I can burn audio CDs at 42x and DVDs (don't ask) at 16x and they play just fine. I have got a brand new 80 wire cable so maybe I'll swap it anyway.
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I'm in the middle of solving similar problem.
I downloeded Win 7 two days ago from "Wired" link, burned it to DVD, and I attempted install today, using VMWare. The installation kept freezing at "Starting Windows", and actually it was even freezing my computer.
At first, I thought, maybe formatting virtual partition in SCSI was at fault ( I had this problem with installing 7 pre-beta), so I created new partition, using IDE.
Same problem.
I thought, bad download, so I started new download, before I saw this thread.
I'll try 3 things, when download is done:
1. Burn at normal speed
2. Burn at slower speed
3. Install from .iso on hard drive
P. S. With Win 7 pre-beta, switching from SCSI to IDE, solved the problem. Pre-beta DVD was burned at normal speed, and I installed pre-beta from DVD, not from .iso on hard drive.
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At first, I thought, maybe formatting virtual partition in SCSI was at fault ( I had this problem with installing 7 pre-beta), so I created new partition, using IDE.
I used SCSI (it was recommended in the VMWare virtual machine setup)
3. Install from .iso on hard drive
THis is what I did.
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I used SCSI (it was recommended in the VMWare virtual machine setup)
I know it is, but pre-beta installation was hanging no matter what until I switched from SCSI to IDE. I didn't try to install from .iso back then.
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Stupid me. I tried to be a smart a**, and I set RAM for Win 7 installation in VMWare to 2048MB, not seeing VMWare note about not setting RAM to higher, than 1700MB.
I changed it to 1024MB, and it installed right away from the very same DVD.
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How easy and how safe is it to do this? If it is very dangerous I won't try it, but I've gone to all the effort of downloading the beta now...
No problem at all. You are a experienced user.
There is no case ever in the history of beta testing that
a beta program will travel through the air and find the
backup HDD you keep in a locked vault.
Experienced users, like you of course, always have a
backup HDD made the day before.
So yes, you are safe. ;D
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With a virtual partition or a virtual PC, i still need to be running XP, don't I? Is there a way of *just* having Windows 7 running?
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you install it on the computer.
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If i don't do a virtual partition, and rather do a real partition using Gparted, does this mean I will lose data? Sorry to sound like a noob.
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Or can you just install it on the same partition as XP?
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With a virtual partition or a virtual PC, i still need to be running XP, don't I?
Yes. A virtual PC program needs an OS to run in, called the "host" operating system. This can be XP but does not have to be.
Is there a way of *just* having Windows 7 running?
Yes, it's called "installing" it. You can dual boot with your existing OS, if you know what you are doing. Back up data first!
http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-xp-or-vista
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Is there a way of *just* having Windows 7 running?
Yes, it's called "installing" it.
Heh, I didn't really think about that before asking. Thanks for the help and will continue with your link plus what I've found myself.
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Just in case anybody is wondering if they can install a virtual OS and then, in that virtual OS, install another virtual OS, that is, stack virtual machines, the answer would appear to be "no". The long answer is here
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~konrad/References/notes/CS253-VMWare-Report.pdf
and the short answer is
"“Because the Intel CPUs don't support multiple ring zero contexts you can only have
one running kernel. In other words, a large part of the CPU architecture is unavailable to guests and
is emulated via privilege violation exceptions."
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Just in case anybody is wondering if they can install a virtual OS and then, in that virtual OS, install another virtual OS
Interesting. Never thought about it. What would be a reason for doing this, even, if possible?
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What would be a reason for doing this, even, if possible?
The satisfaction of curiosity, or the alleviation of boredom, I suppose.
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I see....;D
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well there goes my method of placing my kinky goats folder withing three levels of different nested guest operating systems with different passwords.
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well there goes my method of placing my kinky goats folder withing three levels of different nested guest operating systems with different passwords.
I know. Great minds think alike...
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there a way of *just* having Windows 7 running?
What? Is that not what MS says in the documentation.
Doy know how to read? ;D
The say :
"Do install on a test computer"
"Do not install on you main home or work computer..."
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Doy know how to read? ;D
Doy know how to write? ;D