Moving to 'Heavy' virtualisation?

[crapbag]

I like Deep Freeze and Shadow Defender but have been looking into things like VirtualBox and VMPlayer. It would appear that I'm a bit of a chump when it comes this kind of thing and have no idea how to proceed.

I downloaded and installed VMPlayer and was trying to set it up. Am I correct in assuming that I'd need to set up a whole new Windows for it to work? Is this just a case of finding the Windows installation stuff that I'm currently using on my laptop and running from that or do I need to acquire a new one?

I'm aware that I could also use something like Ubuntu. I tried this out too but it seems that my laptops lack of built-in wireless connectivity mucks this up.

It may simply be that setting up a system wide virtual environment may be a bit too hardcore for me

Any input is appreciated. Thanks all.

[Acadia]

Originally Posted by crapbag

Am I correct in assuming that I'd need to set up a whole new Windows for it to work?

Correct, you reinstall Windows all over again inside of the VM. The installation disks that you have may or may not work depending upon licensing legal stuff. Some folks have to obtain a new Windows, some can use their old ones, have never been able to figure out the rhyme or reason why.

Acadia

[crapbag]

The only copy of Windows I have is pre-installed on the laptop. Even if I could use this I doubt the license could be applied twice. I don't have a disc copy and can't really shell out cash on a new one. May have made my decision a little easier thanks.

[sbwhiteman]

Paragon has a couple of products, Go Virtual and Virtualization Manager, that allow you to create a virtual machine from your current installation. Haven't used them, so don't know how well they work.

I believe you can also create VMs from image backups.

Finally, you can always download an installer for your OS and try using your current license.

Regards.

[crapbag]

Originally Posted by sbwhiteman

Paragon has a couple of products, Go Virtual and Virtualization Manager...I believe you can also create VMs from image backups.

I think I read that Shadow Protect could create VM's from an image. Perhaps the trial is worth a look. I'll check out the Paragon gear too, thanks. The cheaper and easier the better

[kjdemuth]

You can also use any linux distro from an image or live disk. I've started to use it this way rather do try a dual boot. You can also try the shadow protect VM image. It actually works rather well. Other than that you can "borrow" a friends windows disk.

[crapbag]

Originally Posted by kjdemuth

Other than that you can "borrow" a friends windows disk.

Using something like Linux or Ubuntu sounds very interesting. May have to wait until I get some gear with an inbuilt wireless connection setup. I'm currently using a wireless card and Ubuntu certainly doesn't like it. ShadowProtect seems to be highly recommended. It may also be one for the future. Seems a bit on the pricey side.

[kjdemuth]

Linux mint has a fairly up to date driver list. You might try that and see if your wireless card works on it. Thats that beauty of VM images. You can try it out without commiting.

[Chuck57]

If your copy of windows is, I think, 3 yrs old or older it'll register. I'm not sure how that would work if, for example, you have a Dell computer with a "Dell" version of Windows as I do.

I put XP Pro in my VMWare workstation on the laptop and it registered without a problem. I've also got that same XP Pro on my slowly dying 5 or 6 yr old desktop.

Legal? I don't know. I assume if MS allowed it to register, it's okay.

[crapbag]

Originally Posted by kjdemuth

Linux mint has a fairly up to date driver list. You might try that...

Worth a try! I'm using XP and everything about my machine is old so it might work. As said above I'd have to 'borrow' a friends installation disk or scour the net for an XP installer of some kind I ain't got one.