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Virtual PC

Recent Virtual PC posts

* Solaris 10 on VPC?
* A How To Guide?
* Really safe testing in Virtual Machine ?
* Virtualization Technology Conference 2008 Philadelphia
* ard
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* VPC2007 Network Issue
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* USB-Device in Virtual PC 2007
* Virtual PC 2007 SP1, Vista Ultimate x64 SP1
* Mini newsgroup FAQ for the week of 5/18/2008
* Ubuntu install Issues
* MS Virtual PC 2007 SP1 install "Saved State" question
* Using VMs created in WPC2004 in VVPC2007
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Add Solution

Snapshots?

Source: microsoft.public.virtualpc
Sent: 05/22/2008
From: "Melelina" <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

I am a VMWare Workstation user new to Virtual PC. I had a lot of problems
getting Vista to run in Workstation 5.5. It works fine in Virtual PC.
However, there appears to be an essential element for a virtual machine
missing in Virtual PC. In VMWare, I use snapshots a lot. I can't find any
way to do that in Virtual PC. Undo disks is confusing and it isn't the same
as simply taking a snapshot and then choosing what snapshot to use (I have
about 30 for each virtual machine I have in VMWare).

So, is there a way to take a snapshot in Virtual PC? If not why? That is
essential seems to me. If Undo disks is used, that would put the pc back the
way it was before that session began, correct? So, somewhat similar to
Snapshots. However, no way to save a state like a snapshot would
do...right?

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Related Messages

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/23/2008
From: Robert Comer <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

There's nothing exactly like snapshots in VPC. You can kind of do the
same thing with differencing disks, but you have to shut down the
guest to make a differencing disk. Just read in the help about
differencing disks.

fwiw, the new Hyper-V has snapshots, so that's the direction Microsoft
is going. Maybe the follow-on to VPC2007 will have them.

--
Bob Comer <Microsoft MVP Windows - Virtual Machine>

On Thu, 22 May 2008 22:55:54 -1000, "Melelina" <(email address - cut out)>
wrote:

Show quoted text

>I am a VMWare Workstation user new to Virtual PC. I had a lot of problems
>getting Vista to run in Workstation 5.5. It works fine in Virtual PC.
>However, there appears to be an essential element for a virtual machine
>missing in Virtual PC. In VMWare, I use snapshots a lot. I can't find any
>way to do that in Virtual PC. Undo disks is confusing and it isn't the same
>as simply taking a snapshot and then choosing what snapshot to use (I have
>about 30 for each virtual machine I have in VMWare).
>
>So, is there a way to take a snapshot in Virtual PC? If not why? That is
>essential seems to me. If Undo disks is used, that would put the pc back the
>way it was before that session began, correct? So, somewhat similar to
>Snapshots. However, no way to save a state like a snapshot would
>do...right?
>

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/24/2008
From: "Melelina" <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

"Robert Comer" <(email address - cut out)> wrote in message
news:(email address - cut out)...

I recall reading about differencing disks but I don't remember the details
off hand. It is disappointing that there is no way to take snapshots.

I tried Virtual PC back in late 2004 and also tried VMWare Workstation and
there was really no comparison back then. VMWare was far superior. Both
were paid products then so it was no brainer to go with VMWare.

I had not tried Virtual PC since then until the middle of this month when
Vista, on VMWare Workstation 5.5, was gone when I went to boot up. It had
installed just fine and everything was working well until a few days later
when I had to reboot the host and had to shut Vista down. When I went to
reboot, VMWare couldn't find the machine. It was right where it was supposed
to be but Workstation couldn't access it. I got no help in the VMWare
forums. I tried several things and made matters worse. Vista is considered
experimental on Workstation 5.5 anyway.

So, I decided to try Virtual PC (now I recall I decided this after reading a
post at my home site about Virtual PC 2007 SP1 just being released). I must
say this version of Virtual PC is much improved over 2004. If it had
snapshot ability, I'd be quite happy with it because in other ways it works
great and has some advantages over Workstation 5.5 (I don't know about 6). I
cannot understand why Microsoft would not provide snapshot ability.
Snapshots are a major reason for using virtual machines ...at least in the
home environment. I use virtual machines for beta testing and simply not
saving the session isn't going to work. With betas, I would not rely on
System Restore either. I need snapshots.

I'll use it for now because I sure won't be doing any beta testing on Vista
for a long time. I'm struggling just to figure Vista out....fighting with it
a lot. Vista is very pretty and has improved networking. In most other ways
though XP Pro is superior IMO. Everything, except Networking, is a
struggle on Vista. I spent a whole day trying to figure out how to drop a
file from the host onto Vista. I finally found a solution in a Microsoft
forum but it is ridiculous what I have to do so I can drop a shared file
onto Vista. I hate, really, really hate all the security crap on Vista. I
spent the first few days just turning all that off and getting Vista as much
like XP as I could.

Show quoted text

> There's nothing exactly like snapshots in VPC. You can kind of do the
> same thing with differencing disks, but you have to shut down the
> guest to make a differencing disk. Just read in the help about
> differencing disks.
>
> fwiw, the new Hyper-V has snapshots, so that's the direction Microsoft
> is going. Maybe the follow-on to VPC2007 will have them.
>
> --
> Bob Comer <Microsoft MVP Windows - Virtual Machine>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 22 May 2008 22:55:54 -1000, "Melelina" <(email address - cut out)>
> wrote:
>
>>I am a VMWare Workstation user new to Virtual PC. I had a lot of problems
>>getting Vista to run in Workstation 5.5. It works fine in Virtual PC.
>>However, there appears to be an essential element for a virtual machine
>>missing in Virtual PC. In VMWare, I use snapshots a lot. I can't find any
>>way to do that in Virtual PC. Undo disks is confusing and it isn't the
>>same
>>as simply taking a snapshot and then choosing what snapshot to use (I have
>>about 30 for each virtual machine I have in VMWare).
>>
>>So, is there a way to take a snapshot in Virtual PC? If not why? That is
>>essential seems to me. If Undo disks is used, that would put the pc back
>>the
>>way it was before that session began, correct? So, somewhat similar to
>>Snapshots. However, no way to save a state like a snapshot would
>>do...right?

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/24/2008
From: Paul Adare <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

On Sat, 24 May 2008 16:27:21 +0200, Bo Berglund wrote:

If you're going to complain about people's posting habits it would behoove
you to make sure that you yourself follow proper posting etiquette.
Since your post was nothing more than a rant about other's posting habits,
none of the text you quoted was necessary and should not have been quoted.
People that live in glass houses...

--
Paul Adare
http://www.identit.ca
Manual Writer's Creed: Garbage in, gospel out.

Show quoted text

> Is it completely impossible for users of this newsgroup to refrain
> from top-posting, thus destroying any possibility of easily following
> the discussion flow???

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/24/2008
From: Bo Berglund <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

>>>I am a VMWare Workstation user new to Virtual PC. I had a lot of problems

AFAIK the differencing disks are great if you want to create multiple
test systems but want to limit the disk usage on the host. What
differencing disks do is the following:

- You start out normally by creating your base bachine and installing
the operating system with all its updates and gizmos.

- Once you are satisfied with the way the guest looks and behaves you
close it down and from now you never again start it.

- For safety change the virtual disk file for the guest to ReadOnly.

- Next create a new virtual hard disk using the Virtual Disk Wizard
(File/Virtual Disk Wizard). Instructions from the VPC2007 help below.

- Now you have a differencing disk and you can create a new guest and
at the disk selection step rowse to this differencing disk as the
guest disk.

- Repeat as many times as you need separate guests based on the same
ase disk.

These guest disks will only store the *changes* you make from the
original disk so they will remain considerably smaller than the base
disk.

Notice that this is not a snapshot by a long way as can be seen from
the involved way to create the differencing disk in the first place.
It would be nice if the "New virtual machine" wizard could give an
option to create the new guest disk as a differencing disk. This way
one would not have to first make the disk and then make the guest.

From VPC2007 Help on making a differencing disk:
------------------------------------------------
In the Disk Options dialog box, click Create a new virtual disk, and
then click Next.

In the Virtual Disk Type dialog box, click A virtual hard disk, and
then click Next.

By default, the wizard creates the virtual hard disk in the My
Documents folder. If you want to store the virtual hard disk in a
different location, type the full path of this location when you
specify the virtual hard disk name or click Browse to find it.

In the Virtual Hard Disk Location dialog box, type a name for the
virtual hard disk, and then click Next.

In the Virtual Hard Disk Type dialog box, click Differencing, and then
click Next.

In the Differencing Virtual Hard Disk dialog box, type the name of the
parent disk or click Browse to find it, click Next, and then click
Finish.

There are other shortcomings as well in VPC2007, one of the major ones
being the inability to link a USB device over from the host to the
guest so it can be used there. For me and my collegues the most
important such use is to handle software protection dongles that are
nowadays almost uniquely USB. Without that VPC2007 cannot be used for
software testing on protected programs...
But VMWare WorkStation 6 and Player 2 both support this function and
Player is as free as VPC2007 (the fact that you cannot directly create
a guest in Player 2 is overcome by websites that offer to make the
needed files for you).

Oh, another soul-mate! I also cannot fathom the security interventions
of Vista so I will use my trusty old XP as long as possible.

Show quoted text

>>>getting Vista to run in Workstation 5.5. It works fine in Virtual PC.
>>>However, there appears to be an essential element for a virtual machine
>>>missing in Virtual PC. In VMWare, I use snapshots a lot. I can't find any
>>>way to do that in Virtual PC. Undo disks is confusing and it isn't the
>>>same
>>>as simply taking a snapshot and then choosing what snapshot to use (I have
>>>about 30 for each virtual machine I have in VMWare).
>>>
>>>So, is there a way to take a snapshot in Virtual PC? If not why? That is
>>>essential seems to me. If Undo disks is used, that would put the pc back
>>>the
>>>way it was before that session began, correct? So, somewhat similar to
>>>Snapshots. However, no way to save a state like a snapshot would
>>>do...right?
>> There's nothing exactly like snapshots in VPC. You can kind of do the
>> same thing with differencing disks, but you have to shut down the
>> guest to make a differencing disk. Just read in the help about
>> differencing disks.
>>
>> fwiw, the new Hyper-V has snapshots, so that's the direction Microsoft
>> is going. Maybe the follow-on to VPC2007 will have them.
>>
>> --
>> Bob Comer <Microsoft MVP Windows - Virtual Machine>
>
>I recall reading about differencing disks but I don't remember the details
>off hand. It is disappointing that there is no way to take snapshots.
>So, I decided to try Virtual PC (now I recall I decided this after reading a
>post at my home site about Virtual PC 2007 SP1 just being released). I must
>say this version of Virtual PC is much improved over 2004. If it had
>snapshot ability, I'd be quite happy with it because in other ways it works
>great and has some advantages over Workstation 5.5 (I don't know about 6). I
>cannot understand why Microsoft would not provide snapshot ability.
>Snapshots are a major reason for using virtual machines ...at least in the
>home environment. I use virtual machines for beta testing and simply not
>saving the session isn't going to work. With betas, I would not rely on
>System Restore either. I need snapshots.
>onto Vista. I hate, really, really hate all the security crap on Vista. I
>spent the first few days just turning all that off and getting Vista as much
>like XP as I could.

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/25/2008
From: Robert Comer <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

Mark and Bo, this is a Virtual PC newsgroup, not an NNTP nettiquette
group, keep on topic.

And yes, I do top and in-line post, but only for clarity and not
having to scroll. It's no tough guy act...

There is no "law" that bottom posting only is allowed, and indeed, top
posting is more common on Usenet these days.

--
Bob Comer

On Sun, 25 May 2008 18:00:14 +0100, "Mark Rae [MVP]"
<(email address - cut out)> wrote:

Show quoted text

>Of all the groups in which I post regularly, this one is by far the worst
>for top-posting. Some of the "regulars" seem almost to delight in doing it,
>as if the deliberate flaunting of netiquette shows what tough guys they
>are...

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/25/2008
From: "Mark Rae [MVP]" <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

"Bo Berglund" <(email address - cut out)> wrote in message
news:(email address - cut out)...

Of all the groups in which I post regularly, this one is by far the worst
for top-posting. Some of the "regulars" seem almost to delight in doing it,
as if the deliberate flaunting of netiquette shows what tough guys they
are...

--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

Show quoted text

> Is it completely impossible for users of this newsgroup to refrain
> from top-posting, thus destroying any possibility of easily following
> the discussion flow???

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/25/2008
From: "Non scrivetemi" <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

Wrong. Top posting brings out the wannabe netcop whiners and is entertaining.

In article <#(email address - cut out)>
"Mark Rae [MVP]" <(email address - cut out)> wrote:

Show quoted text

>
> "Bo Berglund" <(email address - cut out)> wrote in message
> news:(email address - cut out)...
>
> > Is it completely impossible for users of this newsgroup to refrain
> > from top-posting, thus destroying any possibility of easily following
> > the discussion flow???
>
> Of all the groups in which I post regularly, this one is by far the worst
> for top-posting. Some of the "regulars" seem almost to delight in doing it,
> as if the deliberate flaunting of netiquette shows what tough guys they
> are...
>
>

Re: Snapshots?

Sent: 05/25/2008
From: Bo Berglund <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

On Sun, 25 May 2008 18:00:14 +0100, "Mark Rae [MVP]"
<(email address - cut out)> wrote:

My belief is that very many are using Microsoft mail programs (like
Outlook) also for newsgroup communications. And with Outlook it is
*very* difficult to get replies properly organized...
At work I have to use Outlook and therefore I very seldom reply to a
thread...
At home I use Forté Agent and proper formatting is "built in".
Why are so many using Microsoft mail programs here? Beats me, but
maybe because it is a Microsoft newsserver and group?

I usually manage to decode the postings but this particular thread got
*very* difficult because every other respondent used top posting and
the other bottom posting so in order to read the information flow one
had to start in the middle and then guess when to look down and up...

Bo Berglund

Show quoted text

>"Bo Berglund" <(email address - cut out)> wrote in message
>news:(email address - cut out)...
>
>> Is it completely impossible for users of this newsgroup to refrain
>> from top-posting, thus destroying any possibility of easily following
>> the discussion flow???
>
>Of all the groups in which I post regularly, this one is by far the worst
>for top-posting. Some of the "regulars" seem almost to delight in doing it,
>as if the deliberate flaunting of netiquette shows what tough guys they
>are...

Post Reply | This is Spam! | Mark as Spam

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