Shoutbox

could someone tell me what virtual machine is and what it does?

thanks

you create a "virtual pc" within your own PC, and you can use it to run other operating systems and stuff within your own PC to test it out.

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is it free?

VMWare is $189, im not sure about other virtual machine software

In short, a virtual machine (VM) is a complete virtual PC.

You'll need software for it the most popular ones are VMWare Workstation and Microsoft's Virtual PC. With this programs you can create virtual systems which run inside of your regular Windows. So you can launch these virtual PC's in a window, boot them up and install almost any OS you wish on it. You can reboot a VM and install and use software... It's kinda like a remote desktop connection, but then connected to a virtual PC which is stored in a file on your system.

It's great for testing software. You can let a VM crash completely, your normal system will keep on working . Install spyware, viruses and all... it won't harm your regular system and you can just restore you VM at anytime. I use VMware for betatesting Messenger Plus!, this way i can test on Windows 98 all the way up to Longhorn if i wish, on a single PC, without formatting it .

ok thanks i am downloading the 45 day trial from microsoft

so your saying that you can install spyware and all it won't mess with the main oprating system

so would it be possible to install it and make it windows xp?

quote:

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Originally posted by chris100
your saying that you can install spyware and all it won't mess with the main oprating system

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True. But do keep in mind that when you have internet access enabled on your virtual PC, it will send data to the internet... so you should still know what you do before you start spreading a virus over the net from your virtuals system . But for such things you could just disable internet access on the virtual PC, or install a firewall on the virtual PC .

quote:

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Originally posted by Violet
so would it be possible to install it and make it windows xp?

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Yes, indeed. But keep in mind that you need enough power in your PC to run both your normal PC and the virtual PC at once. So when you have XP installed and you want another XP installation in your VM, you basicly need twice as much RAM and a good CPU. XP can run on 64MB, so 128MB minimal in your PC could work, but it will be slow. For normal results you need at leat 256, 512 or higher.

And don't even think about playing 3D games on a virtual PC .

quote:

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Originally posted by Violet
so would it be possible to install it and make it windows xp?

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yep you just hafta install the system on it like you would on a regular computer ... except you dont have to restart the "normal computer" just work the virtual machine

Edit: I'm too slow!

finally my xp dreams come true for 45 days

edit justt perfect, the trial doesnt support windows 98