Virtual PC Guy's Blog

-- Ben Armstrong, Virtualization Program Manager

Talking about core virtualization at Microsoft (Hyper-V, Virtual PC and Virtual Server).
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August 2009 - Posts

Monday, August 31, 2009 11:25 PM

How I became “Virtual PC Guy”

I have been meaning to blog about this for a long time now, and since I seem to be writing a number of insufferably long blog posts lately, I figured there was no better time than the present. Most of you know me as someone who has been working on Microsoft
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 14 Comments
Monday, August 31, 2009 6:00 AM

VMworld Update (and how to win a free Zune HD)

Today is the first day of VMworld.  Unfortunately I will not be there until tomorrow – so today I just have to sit here impatiently and follow the event vicariously online.  In the mean time I do have a few updates: First – I now have my final
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 0 Comments
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Friday, August 28, 2009 4:49 PM

Windows Virtual PC Integrated Applications on Multi-Monitor systems

When using integrated applications with Windows Virtual PC on multi-monitor computers there are a couple of “gotchas” to be aware of. We use Remote Desktop technology to provide our support for integrated applications. And as discussed here Remote Desktop
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 5 Comments
Friday, August 28, 2009 2:40 PM

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 RTM available for download

You can grab it from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=48359dd2-1c3d-4506-ae0a-232d0314ccf6 To recap, the new features of this release are: Support for physical computers with up to 8 physical processors Support for using
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 9 Comments
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Thursday, August 27, 2009 11:38 PM

Requirements and Limits for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

We recently updated the TechNet Library wit the details of the limits and requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2.  You can read about it here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee405267(WS.10).aspx As a side note, we are constantly updating
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 4:50 PM

Video: Hyper-V Snapshot Common Issues

A little while ago I was asked to speak about some of the common issues that people with virtual machine snapshots under Hyper-V, and what people should know about what to do here. This video is now available here: http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/c47aee4d-b89a-47b5-8c38-3a1d6e1997cf
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 6 Comments
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 12:36 AM

What’s up with all the angst / mud slinging?

Over the last couple of months, there has been a rise in discussion between Microsoft and VMware online. While both sides certainly have many moderate bloggers who are conducting civil and constructive conversations, both sides are also guilty of getting
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 17 Comments
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 11:11 AM

I am speaking at Tech-Ed Australia and Tech-Ed New Zealand

Immediately after attending VMworld this year I am going to be jumping on a plane and heading back home to speak at Tech-Ed Australia and Tech-Ed New Zealand . At both of these shows I am going to be giving two presentations: Windows 7 XP Compatability
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 3 Comments
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 1:15 AM

Geeking out with Windows Deployment Services

(Stick with me on this one – it will take a while but I will bring this back to virtualization at the end of it all.  Oh – and be warned – this is a very long post.) This weekend I had a challenge to solve: A while ago I bought myself one of the
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 5 Comments
Monday, August 24, 2009 11:06 PM

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 RTMs

As announced here , System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 has RTM’d and will be generally available vie volume licensing at the beginning of October. You can currently download a 180-day evaluation of this new release here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=292de23c-845c-4d08-8d65-b4b8cbc8397b
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 1 Comments
Friday, August 21, 2009 3:42 PM

Hyper-V versus Desktop Computing

Some of my colleagues were talking to me about this blog entry this morning where Emmanuel is commenting on the inability to run Hyper-V on a system with high end graphics (as discussed here ). Before I talk about my thoughts / reactions here – I want
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 29 Comments
Thursday, August 20, 2009 7:10 PM

Changing the DPI settings of Windows XP Mode

I have a deep, dark secret to confess.  I run Windows in high DPI mode (this is where Windows displays larger text / icons).  I do not know why, but as a “tech guy” I sense some deep shame over this.  However, I just find my computer screens
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 5 Comments
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 6:11 PM

Running Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7

Attention: In this blog post I am discussing a configuration that is possible, but not officially supported by Microsoft at this point in time.  Feel free to use this – but understand that you are in an unsupported configuration. There is a fair
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 29 Comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 5:01 PM

Windows Virtual PC and Undo Disks

With Windows Virtual PC we have been “fine tuning” the user experience for undo disks. If you are not familiar with “undo disks” this is the feature of Virtual PC that allows you to use a virtual machine, and when you are finished decide whether to keep
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 11 Comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:51 AM

My VMworld Schedule

I finally got signed up for various sessions at VMworld.  Unfortunately – I took too long, so there are some that I would like to have attended that were filled up already.  Also, I will not be at VMworld for Monday and the first part of Tuesday,
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 2 Comments
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Monday, August 17, 2009 3:40 PM

Windows Virtual PC RC and Jump Lists

In the RC release of Windows Virtual PC, one of the key changes was to integrate support for Windows 7 jump lists .  Our jump lists are there to help you to: Launch common applications inside virtual machines. By hovering on the “Windows Virtual
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 4 Comments
Friday, August 14, 2009 5:14 PM

Windows Server 2008 R2 Evaluation VHDs available for Hyper-V

You can grab them from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9040a4be-c3cf-44a5-9052-a70314452305 Cheers, Ben
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 3 Comments
Friday, August 14, 2009 3:06 PM

Windows Virtual PC Team Blog Launched

The Windows Virtual PC team have started a team blog over here: http://blogs.technet.com/windows_vpc/ So keep an eye on it for more information coming out about Windows Virtual PC. Cheers, Ben
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 7 Comments
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 1:36 AM

RSAT for Windows 7 RTM now available!

The Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 RTM are now available.  This includes the Hyper-V management tools, which are supported for managing Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Hyper-V Server
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 21 Comments
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 2:59 PM

Hyper-V Architecture Video

I while ago I was recorded doing a brief presentation on how the Hyper-V architecture fits together.  If you have been to a presentation by me on Hyper-V you have probably seen me talk about this – but it is always handy to have an online version:
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009 2:43 PM

Updated HVRemote Tool

John Howard has recently updated his – far too useful – tool for configuring Hyper-V for remote management. The two major updates are: Support for Windows Server 2008 R2 / Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 R2 and Windows 7. The ability to verify configuration changes
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 2 Comments
Monday, August 10, 2009 2:17 PM

Virtual PC Guy at VMworld US 2009

For the first time ever, I will be attending VMworld this year.  Long time readers of my blog will know that, historically, I only talk about Microsoft’s virtualization products – and not about other virtualization software.  This has been a
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 6 Comments
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Monday, August 10, 2009 5:30 AM

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 gets EAL4+

The RTM version of Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 (not R2) has just been formally certified as being EAL4 + compliant under the Common Criteria . Details are here: http://www.bsi.de/zertifiz/zert/reporte/0570a.pdf Cheers, Ben
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009 10:21 AM

Windows Virtual PC RC now Available!

You can go and download the RC release for Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode now: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx Some key changes in this release include: Granular drive sharing In the settings on the virtual machine, you
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 38 Comments
Monday, August 03, 2009 2:16 PM

Starting Virtual Machines via Scripting with Windows Virtual PC

Here are some simple scripts that allow you to start a virtual machine with Windows Virtual PC. Now, you may be wondering why you would want to do this. Well there are a couple of reasons I can think of: Automated testing. If you have a virtual machine
Posted by Virtual PC Guy | 3 Comments
Attachment(s): StartVM.zip
 
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