I did something incredibly sweet

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I know the title sounds a bit pompous, but I feel extremely proud of myself.

Last night, I successfully managed to install VMware Server on SUSE Linux and install and run Windows XP in it!

First, I went through a long list of unpacking tars, running installers files, configuring ports, networking. Then, after about an hour of scripts and typing in command line, I succeeded in getting VMware Serve to work, on the first run! Then, I built a virtual machine for XP. Vmware Server would not start this machine. Hmm, after a bit of tweaking, one script to run, it started perfectly. Half an hour later, I had Windows XP installed. Network working, no sweat. All drivers installed. I tried Internet Explorer and my bank's troublesome IE-only site, worked smoothly.

I was so excited I hardly managed to fall asleep. I'm no Linux expert and have been doing only "basic" things so far. But apparently, with a bit of patience and patient reading, magic can be done.

If someone ever wondered if this is possible or thought what would happen to his IE-only sites if he ever fully merged to Linux, this is the answer. No need to worry. It is possible to enjoy ALL PC-based software from within Linux, with full compatibility.

I will soon post articles about how to install and configure SUSE Linux, and how to install and configure VMware Server with Windows XP on my web site. Stay tuned!

Mrk

[trickyricky]

Nice one! I recall a system administrator I worked with running Windows inside a window on a Silicon Graphics server console around 12 years ago, and I thought it pretty clever then :)

[scoopnoggin]

I read your posts on how WGA got all snotty in a virtual enviro with windows as the underlying OS. I wonder what it would do in this set up? Better behave nice, if it knows what's good for it.

[Mrkvonic]

{QUOTE-> I read your posts on how WGA got all snotty in a virtual enviro with windows as the underlying OS. I wonder what it would do in this set up? Better behave nice, if it knows what's good for it. <-QUOTE}

Hello,
I never installed WGA in virtual machines. I tried it on live systems.
I had a problem with validation - not notification - when I tried to test IE7. For a reason unbeknownst to me, it refused to validated.
The Windows I installed in Linux need not be up to date. It serves as proof of concept mainly, and for use with super-stupid sites like bank sites that were so poorly made with frontpage. Other than that, you can do everything else in Linux. Besides, a bit of restriction policies, Firefox with Noscript and Windows can be made safe without any extra patching.
Mrk

P.S. WGA is afraid of me.

[Devinco]

Congratulations Mrk! :)

You should be proud of yourself.
That would be great if you made a step by step detailed tutorial of how you did it. With pictures (like Blackspear's NOD32 tutorial) would be even better.
It would give more hope to people who feel trapped in Windows (me included).
One of the things that can help promote massive migration to Linux will be ease of transition from Windows and good tutorials can go a long way toward achieving that goal. If you decide to do it, name the thread something that will be easy to search for later like: Tutorial: Setting up Windows XP within a VMWare Server on SUSE Linux.

You may have already tried it with your bank, but there is a firefox extension called User Agent Switcher that can alter the firefox user agent to show the bank that IE is visiting. Unless they are using ActiveX for main functionality (idiots), it may work.

[Mrkvonic]

{QUOTE-> Congratulations Mrk! :)

You should be proud of yourself.
That would be great if you made a step by step detailed tutorial of how you did it. With pictures (like Blackspear's NOD32 tutorial) would be even better.
It would give more hope to people who feel trapped in Windows (me included).
One of the things that can help promote massive migration to Linux will be ease of transition from Windows and good tutorials can go a long way toward achieving that goal. If you decide to do it, name the thread something that will be easy to search for later like: Tutorial: Setting up Windows XP within a VMWare Server on SUSE Linux.

You may have already tried it with your bank, but there is a firefox extension called User Agent Switcher that can alter the firefox user agent to show the bank that IE is visiting. Unless they are using ActiveX for main functionality (idiots), it may work. <-QUOTE}

Hello,
Yes the idiots are using ActiveX or worse.
What I did was install Windows, not just dlls, files or something partial, a full 100% working Windows.
As to step-by-step guide, it will be soon on my site - first a guide how to install and configure suse, then how to install and configure vmware server with windows in suse. I will make posts about it after I write these articles down and upload to me site.
I'm half-way through on suse one, with lovely screenshots etc. If you want to see how things will look like, try the website in my signature and go through some of the computer security articles.
Peace,
Mrk