VHD Boot , which video card?

narmer93

Member
ok guys , i think i can create a .vhd using microsoft virtual pc, and i can use easy bcd to add it to boot menu
my question is if i used it , will i be able to use all my video card or just the mini one for the virtual pc?
 
You'll be able to use the real video card. The *only* thing virtualized when you boot from a VHD is the hard drive.
 
thanks for the quick reply

so , if i could install windows 7 x64 and make use of all 4GB ram and video card availabe , i'll have to install the game in the virtual machine not the real one?
btw, will i be able to share folders with the original HD or even view the real HD?

Addendum:

ok, i tried that on xp
i used virtual pc, created a .vhd with windows xp, installed guest additions things, used easy bcd to add it to boot menu
and when i start to boot it from boot menu, it seems to boot with windows 7 ( the black screen with the text have the same style and font of windows 7 ) and it gives me an error,
i tried to start windows normally or last good configuration but it gave me that error
c:\windows\system32\halmacpi.dll is missing or corrupted
any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
I have XP (SP3) installed as a guest system on my Virtual PC...don't you mean Windows 7 is the only host?

Also Virtual Drives although they use the graphics card, they don't see it as what it is but as some generic version.

I'll now boot over to my Win 7 test drive that has VPC installed and check.
 
Sure enough...

There's a Tutorial over at SevenForums on Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 Virtual PC.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8247-windows-xp-mode-install-setup.html?ltr=W
(Sorry to refer you to another source but they have excellent Tutorials).

VPC also doesn't see all your memory, I have 12gb of RAM and it only saw 512mb (or it may have been 1gb - can't remember) at first until I upped the ante through some virtual hacking.

It also doesn't recognize any graphics card you may have installed - mine is an nVidia GTX295 although it says differently in VPC as you will see below..

See pics below.

If your intention is to run a game that refuses to cooperate on Windows 7 then have you tried right-clicking the .exe and under Properties > Compatability, run it in compatability with XP?

I suggest that as the game will probably fail miserably on a Virtual Machine due to lack of resources.
 

Attachments

  • vmmemory.JPG
    vmmemory.JPG
    41.1 KB · Views: 5
  • vmgraphics.JPG
    vmgraphics.JPG
    78.7 KB · Views: 3
It's actually something entirely different. With EasyBCD, you can boot into a virtual PC image on your actual PC (i.e. not in a Guest mode with VPC).

narmer: it will use your physical graphics card, Peter was talking about something else.
 
ok guys one more question please if it's not annoying
i used xp as guest and it didn't work on boot.
if i installed windows 7 x64 in virtual pc. and added it to boot entery with easy bcd
will it work? with all vid card and ram availabe?
 
I already told you XP won't work. Windows 7 *should*, but you may need to install it in a very peculiar way to make it work if it doesn't. Give it a shot and see.
 
ok guys, i tried installing windows 7 x64 on virtual pc 2007 and it didn't work , i tried to add the .vhd anyway to boot menu, it reached the (starting windows) screen and then it turned to a blue screen with an error
any suggestions?
 
Well if installing Win7 in Virtual PC 07 didnt work, you really couldnt expect it to work when booting from the menu. It has to be working before you can add it to the boot menu.
 
Yeah, I expected as much. It's because your hardware is different from that of the virtual PC.

Correct way of doing it:

You can install the Windows Vista / 2008 / 7 bootloader onto a Windows XP machine and dual-boot Windows XP and Windows 2008 / 7 from the VHD (I don't believe Vista has VHD boot support). I'm doing this on my main laptop computer right now. The easiest way to do it is simply to install Windows 2008 / 7 into a VHD, and you get the bootloader "for free" during the install.

Boot the Windows 7 DVD
Choose Repair and Command Prompt
From the command prompt, execute the following:
DISKPART
CREATE VDISK FILE="filename for virtual disk here" TYPE=vdisk MAXIMUM=size-in-megabytes
ATTACH VDISK
EXIT
Close up the command prompt. start the Windows 7 install.
Choose the virtual disk (you'll be able to tell by size which one it is). You receive a warning that you cannot install onto that disk. Continue anyway and the install completes fine.

Then use EasyBCD to add that VHD to the menu.

Instructions taken from Installing Windows 7 boot loader on Windows XP - Server Fault
 
i guess I'm gonna give up that thing
the last time i tried installing windows 7 x86 on virtualbox, i made some conflicts with the internet connection.
any way , thanks alot for your time guys and your help

btw, i like the new design of the site
 
Back
Top