Alexander’s Blog

Here’s a video that walks you through the steps necessary to clone a VMware Server image on Windows 7. I used Windows 7 as my host computer for this video but you can use any other operating system and follow the same procedure for cloning a virtual image. VMware makes cloning images a breeze and because the FREE VMware Server uses a Web interface you will love the ease and efficiency of VMware server.

You might also be interested in this video: How to Install VMware Server on Windows 7

If you are new to Windows 7 then first of all I want to make sure that you understand the different versions of virtual PCs offered by Microsoft. Before Windows 7 Microsoft offered Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Once Windows 7 was released, Microsoft offered Windows Virtual PC, which along with Windows XP Mode, allows you to run older applications that ran on Windows XP in Windows 7. Windows Virtual PC is a special version of Virtual PC specifically designed for Windows 7. One of the major difference between the two versions is that Windows Virtual PC requires that your computer support hardware virtualization. Microsoft Virtual PC does not have that requirement. It can run on computers that do not support hardware virtualization.

Now what happens when you install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (yes, I said “Microsoft Virtual PC 2007″, not “Windows Virtual PC”) on a Windows 7 computer? Well, you can’t. Bummer!  You can either install one or the other, but not both on the same computer. And before you even ask, no you can’t install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 in a virtual machine inside Windows XP Mode because you can’t run Virtual PC inside a Virtual PC.

So how do you run Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7? In order to install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7 you need to make sure that you first remove Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode or else you will get the following message.

If you have removed Windows XP Mode and are still getting this error then you need to make sure that Windows Virtual PC has also been removed in Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. If you do not see Windows Virtual PC listed, click on the link in the upper left-hand corner “View installed updates.” You will see Windows Virtual PC (KB958559) listed in the Microsoft Windows section, as shown below.

Right-click and uninstall the update then restart the computer. Now you should be able to install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Of course, if you never installed Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode in the first place then you should have no problem installing Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, even though it is not supported on Windows 7. Yes, you heard it right. Microsoft does not officially support Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7.

Troubleshooting Tips

Here are some of the techniques you can try to troubleshoot the installation of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7.

#1. Make sure that you have removed Windows XP Mode from the Control Panel, Uninstall a Program.

#2. Make sure that you remove Windows Virtual PC (KB958559) by going to “View installed updates” as described above.

#3. Make sure that you have rebooted your computer after removing Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode.

#4. Try and run Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 in compatibility mode by right-clicking the setup.exe and selecting a compatible OS on the Compatibility tab, as shown below. I tried it but the Compatibility Mode did not work for me. However, I know that others have been able to make this work.

#5. Some people have reported that they have been running Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7 for a while until one of Microsoft’s update caused it to start displaying the Microsoft Compatibility Assistant message that you see above. If that is the case then you’ll have to uninstall the update, which may not be advisable, or just wait until Microsoft finally realizes that support for virtualization in Windows 7 is important. I mean true virtualization, I don’t consider support for only Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 true virtualization.

#6. It may not be enough just to use the “Turn Windows features on or off” link and uncheck Windows Virtual PC. You should completely remove Windows Virtual PC by uninstalling it, as I have mentioned earlier in this article.

#7. I tried everything listed in this article and was still getting the dreaded compatibility assistant warning until I decided to try one final troubleshooting technique. I disabled hardware virtualization in my BIOS and was finally able to install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 successfully.

#8. After you install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 successfully, one problem that you may encounter is that the NIC in Virtual PC 2007 will no longer be available (even though it is available on the host computer). This is a problem that I encountered on my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 running on an AMD 64-bit computer. When I started Virtual PC 2007 I received this warning:

“Virtual PC could not open the Virtual Machine Network Services driver. Access to the virtual network and host will be unavailable to all virtual machines using virtual networking. To fix this problem re-enable the Virtual Machine Network Services driver on one or more ethernet adapters or reinstall Virtual PC.”

Here’s what I did. I opened Network and Sharing Center, clicked Local Area Connection, clicked Properties, and checked the box Virtual Machine Network Services. That didn’t solve the problem so I uninstalled and reinstalled Virtual Machine Network Services. After you reinstall you need to go back and check the box for Virtual Machine Network Services as it doesn’t enable it automatically…….DO NOT forget this step. As soon as I checked the box and restarted Virtual PC 2007 I was able to see the NIC in Virtual PC 2007 images.

COMMENTS: All of us MCTs around the world have to use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (or Virtual Server 2005) because most, if not all, Microsoft Learning courseware uses virtual images. It’s a shame that Microsoft does not offer support for Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7. If you visit various Windows 7 forums you will discover that there a lot of disappointed people out there. Microsoft first got everybody hooked on virtualization (especially Virtual PC 2007) but then decided to pull the rug under their feet by removing support for Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 in Windows 7. As more people start to use Windows 7 and realize how Microsoft has removed virtualization support in Windows 7, the pressure will start to mount on Microsoft and I am sure they will eventually provide a solution to Windows 7 users. I am not sure what the solution will look like. Perhaps its time for Microsoft to consider purchasing VMware :).

Microsoft has published the following FAQs to help us all understand the differences between Windows XP Mode, Windows Virtual PC and MED-V. Hopefully you will find these FAQs helpful.

What is Windows XP Mode, Windows Virtual PC and MED-V?

• - Windows Virtual PC is a type II hypervisor in Windows 7 - i.e. it enables users to run multiple instances of Windows on a single device.
• - Windows XP Mode leverages Windows Virtual PC and a preconfigured Windows XP image to create a virtual Windows XP environment
• - MED-V is the management layer for IT professionals on top of Virtual PC.
• - Windows XP Mode does not replace MED-V.

The breakdown

Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses users to run their Windows XP applications on their Windows 7 desktop.

• - Windows XP Mode is available as part of Windows 7 Professional , Ultimate and Enterprise.
• - Windows Virtual PC will enable users to launch many older applications seamlessly in a virtual Windows XP environment from the Windows 7 start menu
• - Windows Virtual PC includes support for USB devices and is based on a new core that includes multi-threading support
• - Windows XP Mode is best experienced on new PCs from OEMs but will also be available for customers as a separate download.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) is designed for IT Professionals.

• - MED-V enables Virtual PC deployment in larger organizations
• - MED-V provides important centralized management, policy-based provisioning and virtual image delivery to reduce the cost of Virtual PC deployment.
• - MED-V is part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)
• - MED-V v1 builds on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to help enterprises with their upgrade to Windows Vista when applications are not yet compatible.
• - MED-V v2 will add support for Windows 7 and Windows Virtual PC.
• - MED-V v2 beta will be available within 90 days of Windows 7 GA.

Which customers should use Windows XP Mode?

Windows XP Mode is suitable for small and medium business users, who are able to set their XP applications themselves or with the help of an IT professional.

Each device has its own virtual Windows XP environment, that is controlled and managed by the end user.

Windows XP Mode is not designed for large, centrally managed deployments, and is not suitable for organizations that have widely deployed business applications that require Windows XP.

How does MED-V adds management to Windows Virtual PC?

To provide a managed, scalable solution for running virtual Windows XP applications, MED-V addresses many of the IT challenges around deployment and management including:

• Deployment - deliver virtual Windows images and customize per user and device settings
  

  • - Automate first-time virtual PC setup based on an IT customized script - including assignment of a unique computer name, joining to AD domain
    (for instance: assign the virtual PC a name that is derived from the physical device name or the username to simplify identification and management)
  • - Adjust virtual PC memory allocation based on available RAM on host, so that the virtual PC does not take significant resources from the user

• Provisioning - define which applications and websites are available to different users
  

  • - Assign virtual PC images according to users and groups
  • - Define which Windows XP applications will be available to the user through the start menu
  • - Define which websites (e.g. internal sites that requires a previous version of Internet Explorer) are redirected automatically to Windows XP

• Control - assign and expire usage permissions and Virtual PC settings
  

  • - Control the network settings of the Virtual PC (e.g. whether it connects through NAT or DHCP, whether its DNS is synchronized with host)
  • - Authenticate user before granting access to the Virtual PC
  • - Set expiration date, after which the Virtual PC is not accessible to the end user

• Maintenance and Support - update images, monitor users and remotely troubleshoot
  

  • - Update images using TrimTransfer network image delivery - update a master Virtual PC image, and MED-V will automatically distribute and apply the changes to all endpoints
  • - Centralized database aggregates events from all users, and provides troubleshooting information on malfunctioning virtual PCs
  • - Administrator diagnostics mode allows faster resolution of Virtual PC issues
  • - Run on multiple platforms - MED-V will work on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and will not require processor-based virtualization support

How do I purchase MED-V?

MED-V is licensed as part of MDOP subscription that is available for purchase for Software Assurance customers.

What are the key features of new version of Windows Virtual PC?

Easy setup of Windows XP Mode - Once both the Windows Virtual PC and the virtual Windows XP environment are installed, Windows Virtual PC provides a simple wizard to setup the Windows XP Mode with just a few clicks.

USB Support - Users can access USB devices attached to Windows 7 directly from Windows Virtual PC.  These devices include Printers and Scanners, Flash Memory/Sticks and External Hard Disks, Digital Cameras and more.

Seamless Applications - Publish and Launch applications installed on Windows Virtual PC directly from the Windows 7 desktop, as if they were installed on the Windows 7 itself.

Folder Integration between Windows 7 and Windows Virtual PC- Access your Windows 7 Known Folders:  My documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, Video, from inside the virtual windows environment, such as Windows XP Mode

Clipboard Sharing - Cut and paste between your Windows 7 and Windows Virtual PC.

Printer Redirection - Print directly to your attached printer from your Windows Virtual PC applications either in application mode or desktop mode.

According to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), in a survey of 1,191 IT and business managers, 33% of North American and Western European mid-market and enterprise companies are currently using SharePoint technologies. With the widespread usage of SharePoint, more and more companies are looking into virtualizing their SharePoint 2007 environment. I have been recommending SharePoint virtualization to my clients for quite some time and run our own SharePoint servers in Hyper-V.

Virtualization offers several benefits. Here’s a partial list of benefits.

- Reduction in overall size of your infrastructure

- Cost savings in power usage

- Ease of management

- High availability and better disaster recovery

- Reduction in server space requirements

- Fully supported by Microsoft on Virtual Server 2005 and Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

According to the findings posted in this article:

In terms of performance, (omitting the SQL backend - which has been virtualized in other tests showing EXCELLENT performance), across 3 baseline tests, on average:

- Our Virtualized SharePoint server infrastructure farm out-performed the physical SharePoint farm by 4%,
- But only used 26% of the electrical power (watts) required to power the physical server infrastructure - put another way, that’s a 74% power saving over physical, put yet another way, going physical means 380% more power.
- 1017 Watts versus 3952 Watts. 6 Power cords versus 22

If you are looking for comprehensive information on virtualizing SharePoint, check out the Virtualizing SharePoint Series on MSDN from Microsoft Consulting Services.

Should You Virtualize Your SQL Servers?

I am no expert on SQL Server but I do know that a lot of people report performance gains by virtualizing their SQL Servers. Brent Ozar, a SQL expert, answers the question about virtualizing SQL Server in his blog. He says that:

- Virtualize only when it’s going to solve a problem, and you don’t have a better solution for that problem.
- Get good at performance monitoring before you virtualize, because it’s much tougher afterwords.
- Start by virtualizing the oldest, slowest boxes with local storage because they’ll likely see a performance gain instead of a penalty.
- Avoid virtualizing servers that have (and utilize) more than 2 HBAs.

He has two excellent blog posts, one on why you should and the other why you shouldn’t virtualize SQL Server.
Why Would You Virtualize SQL Server?
Why You Shouldn’t Virtualize SQL Server

If you are not virtualizing your SharePoint Servers today, chances are you will tomorrow. If you have any inkling about virtualizing SharePoint, I strongly encourage you to read the Virtualizing SharePoint Series on MSDN.

App-V 4.5 is the first Microsoft-branded release of the product formerly known as SoftGrid. It includes new capabilities designed to help IT support large-scale virtualization implementations across many sites and provides multiple delivery options, including over-the-Internet application availability to meet your business needs.

App-V has several advantages. Because App-V applications are isolated from each other, different versions of the same application can run concurrently. This approach enables any application to be delivered without making any changes to its code. The App-V client presents the user with a list of applications, to which the user has access. The user can then launch a virtualized instance of the application. Depending on the configuration, the systems administrator can be either notified of the action via email or it can require an explicit confirmation from the administrator for the application to start streaming and initialize or it can just simply check the Active Directory for the user’s rights and stream the application to the user if it is authorized to run the application.

Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services supports Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and its available as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services.

If you want to know more about App-V, check out this interview in which Karri Alexion-Tiernan, Director in the Windows Client division, explains in detail what App-V is all about. The App-V Team Blog is another good resource.