Upgrade To Windows 7

Why Use Windows XP Mode? (Upgrade To Windows 7)

One of the more useful features of Windows XP Mode is that, because it is still a fully featured installation of Windows XP, it can be controlled in the same manner as a standard desktop installation of Windows XP. This becomes important if you are using server-based policy tools, such as Active Directory and Group […]

Windows 7 and Existing Virtualization Environments

So far we have only discussed the virtualization capabilities inherent in Windows 7—virtually loading Windows 7 and using the Windows XP Mode virtual system within Windows 7. Windows 7 can also be deployed into other virtual environments, however, and the remainder of this topic discusses our experience in doing so. If you are interested in […]

Moving to a Virtualized Environment (Upgrade To Windows 7)

After you make the decision to move to a virtualized environment, most of what you need to do is essentially identical to the standard migration tasks that you’ll need to perform for any system migration. System installation, application migration, user configuration setup—all these tasks are identical under virtual environment to what you would normally do […]

Windows XP Mode (Upgrade To Windows 7)

Windows XP Mode is a special feature available only on higher-end versions of Windows 7—specifically the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions (see Figure 11.8). Windows XP Mode provides a fully licensed copy of Windows XP (with Service Pack 3 already installed) running virtually within your Windows 7 system. Unlike most virtualization solutions, this one does […]

Creating VHDs from Within Windows 7

After you have installed Windows 7, it is quite simple to create VHDs. 1. From the Control Panel, select “System and Security” and then “Administrative Tools”. 2. Select the Computer Management option. 3. In the left pane, select Storage, Disk Management. 4. From the Action menu, select Create VHD as shown in Figure 11.5. FIGURE […]

Mounting VHDs (Upgrade To Windows 7)

As we noted previously, it is possible to mount a VHD at any time using the command line. Follow these steps: 1. Type disk part and press Enter to start the disk part utility. 2. Type select vdisk file=”c:\Windows7Build.vhd” and press Enter. 3. Type attach vdisk and press Enter (see Figure 11.6). FIGURE 11.6 Mounting […]

Native Hard Disk Support in Windows 7

Windows 7 provides a unique capability, in that you can create, mount, and boot from a VHD file directly from the operating system, rather than requiring a software overlay, such as Virtual Box or ESX Server. What this means is this: When dealing with most virtualization solutions, such as Virtual Box or VMW are, you […]

Dependent VHDs (Upgrade To Windows 7)

You can also create dependent VHDs—multiple VHDs that depend on a parent VHD. Why would this be useful? Suppose you have 10 employees, but they basically use three configurations: • Office admin configuration • Graphics configuration • Developer configuration With a dependent VHD approach, you could create one parent VHD (the common company configuration, which […]

Using Windows 7 Virtualization

Windows 7 includes a number of new virtualization features that have not previously been available in the desktop version of Windows—and in fact have only recently been available in the Server editions aimed at large corporate data centers. The two primary features in this are Virtual Hard Disks, used in creating virtual systems, and the […]

Disadvantages of Virtualization and VHDs (Upgrade To Windows 7)

There are, however, some disadvantages to virtualization: • Some apps require a dedicated PC—Some applications still require dedicated physical resources. Take, for example, a rendering machine for a small graphics shop. Rendering is a process where processing time is highly dependent on the amount of available RAM and CPU. So although you can create multiple […]

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