Gallery: Run multiple operating systems on the same PC

We’ve created a link to Microsoft’s Virtual PC download page at www.computeractive.co.uk/2186521, so type this in to the Address or Location bar of your web browser and hit Enter. When our website appears, click the Microsoft Virtual PC link to be transferred to the relevant download page on the Microsoft website. Now click the ‘Get free download’ link followed by the link to the Microsoft Download Center. Scroll down the page and click one of the two Download buttons to save the Virtual PC 2007 file to the Windows Desktop. There are two download links to cater for 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows: for the vast majority of users, the 32-bit version is most appropriate. At just over 30MB, the download is not massive, but dial-up users should be aware it could take well over an hour to complete.

Switch to the Desktop and double-click the setup file to start the installation. If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, a message will appear when you click Next, warning that the program will only run under the Professional version of XP. However, testing has shown that Virtual PC works reliably with the Home Edition, though do remember that this is free software and there are no guarantees. Click OK, agree to the terms of the licence and click Next. Click Next followed by Install and the necessary files will be copied into place.

Once installation is complete, click Finish and then launch Virtual PC from the Start menu. Another warning message may appear about using an unsupported operating system - just select the option not to show it again and click OK. When the New Virtual Machine Wizard window appears, click Next, select the option labelled ‘Create a virtual machine’ and click Next before clicking browse to choose where the files should be saved. If there is more than one hard disk drive or partition, choose one which does not have Windows installed. Enter a meaningful name for the virtual machine and click Next.

Provided the virtual PC has been appropriately named, the program should be able to work out which operating system is going to be installed on it – naming a virtual PC ‘Windows 98’, for example, gives a clear indication of which version of Windows is going to be used. However, should the automatic detection be incorrect, make a new selection from the dropdown list before clicking Next. Virtual PC will then suggest an amount of system memory (Ram) that should be dedicated to the PC, but this suggestion will be a little low. Select ‘Adjusting the RAM’ and move the slider before clicking Next.

Virtual PC uses creates files with a ‘.vhd’ extension to emulate a virtual hard drive for the virtual machine. Select the option labelled ‘A new virtual hard disk’ and click Next before indicating where the disk should be stored. By default, the disk will be created in the same location as the virtual machine settings as configured in step three, and this is a sensible place to leave it. Click Next and the final dialogue will display a brief summary of the settings which have been chosen. Click Finish to continue.

Before launching the newly created, but empty, virtual PC, you can configure a few further settings. In the Virtual PC Console window, select the new virtual machine and click Settings. The first two settings in the list to the left of the dialogue box make it possible to adjust the name and memory settings for the machine, while the three entries labelled ‘Hard Disk’ allow for extra virtual drives to be created. For an additional drive, select Hard Disk 2, for instance, and click the Virtual Disk Wizard button.

Moving down the list, the ‘undo disks’ facility can be enabled. This is particularly useful when testing out new software, as it makes it possible to roll back the virtual machine to an earlier time if something goes wrong - working very much like an extended version of Windows XP’s System Restore. Whenever the virtual PC is closed down, you will be asked whether any changes that have been made should be saved or discarded. Tick the box to enable the feature, or leave it unticked to leave the virtual machine functioning in the same way as any other computer.

Move to the Networking section and indicate how many network cards the virtual PC should be allowed accessed to. After making a selection, choose whether the machine should be allowed direct access to the card or should instead connect via Network Address Translation - these settings can be changed later if networking does not function correctly. Move to the Display section and choose between running virtual machines in full-screen or windowed mode. Here it is also possible to hide Virtual PC menu bar, but in practise it is best to leave it visible.

The final setting to configure is to choose what should happen when a virtual machine is closed down. Head to the Close section and indicate whether Virtual PC should display a list of three possible actions on closing (save, shut down or turn off), or should always perform a specific one of these actions. With all options now chosen, click OK to return to the Virtual PC Console, select the virtual machine from the list and click Start - or double-click the name of the virtual PC instead.

Now for the fun part. As the virtual machine currently consists of an empty virtual hard drive, little will happen initially. From hereon, everything that happens in this Virtual PC window will be just like working on a real PC. As this virtual PC lacks an operating system, insert an installation CD for your chosen operating system and from the CD menu click ‘Use Physical Drive x:’ where ‘x’ is the letter of the drive (on the real PC) that contains the disc. Click Action and choose Reset followed by the Reset button and the virtual machine will start up (boot) from the CD. Run through the installation and after a short while the basic setup of the virtual machine will be complete.

Once installation is complete, one of the first things that needs to be done is to install Virtual Machine Additions. This not only helps to improve the performance of Virtual PC, but also makes it possible to drag and drop files between Windows and the virtual machine window, and vice versa. In the virtual machine window click Actions then choose Install Or Update Virtual Machine Additions - in order to access this menu the mouse needs to be ‘released’ by pressing the right-hand Alt key on the keyboard (sometimes labelled Alt Gr) - and then click Continue.

Continue through the installation by clicking Next followed by Finish and then click Yes to restart the virtual machine when prompted. With Virtual Machines Additions installed it is possible to increase the resolution and colour depth of the virtual machine window to make things look better and easier to work with. Note also it is no longer necessary to press the right-hand Alt key to remove focus from the virtual PC to switch back to your real computer - just move the mouse. The virtual machine can now be used as if it was an ordinary computer. This is a remarkably powerful tool.

Files can be copied from Windows to the virtual PC by dragging and dropping, making it easy to transfer documents when required. It can sometimes be beneficial to run Virtual PC at full screen rather than in a window and this can be achieved by pressing the right-hand Alt key and Enter simultaneously - use the same keyboard shortcut to return to windowed mode. When the virtual machine is finished with, the operating system can be shut down in the usual way. Alternatively, click the Close button in the upper right-hand corner of Virtual PC and choose the action that should be performed. If running in full-screen mode, try not to forget that you’re running a virtual PC

With a virtual computer set up, there are a few additional options worth looking at. Right-click the Virtual PC icon in the Notification Area and select Options. Use the Performance section to choose how much processor time should be allocated to the Virtual PC, while in the Mouse section it is possible to choose how the mouse should be used to switch focus from Windows to the virtual PC. To prevent unwanted changes to settings, use the Security section to deny settings access to non-administrator accounts.

With a virtual computer set up, there are a few additional options worth looking at. Right-click the Virtual PC icon in the Notification Area and select Options. Use the Performance section to choose how much processor time should be allocated to the Virtual PC, while in the Mouse section it is possible to choose how the mouse should be used to switch focus from Windows to the virtual PC. To prevent unwanted changes to settings, use the Security section to deny settings access to non-administrator accounts.