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Virtual machine -- how does it work



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 17th 17, 04:11 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Steve Hayes[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,089
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?

How easy it it to copy/paste between apps running under 32-bit and
64-bit?

How much RAM does one need to run a virtual OS, as well as software
running in each?




--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com
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  #2  
Old July 17th 17, 04:18 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Big Al[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 177
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On 07/16/2017 11:11 PM, Steve Hayes wrote:
I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?

How easy it it to copy/paste between apps running under 32-bit and
64-bit?

How much RAM does one need to run a virtual OS, as well as software
running in each?




In short:
You load software that when run allows you to create a virtual (does not
exist) computer. The hard drive is a file, it accesses your hardware
like usb and dvd. The software runs and makes the virtual computer
think it really running on a real machine, but it's just running inside
this program. You tell the program to use an ISO or DVD drive as THE
dvd drive and when you boot it looks just like your are booting a real
PC. And you load just like a real PC.

I use it to run Linux on Windows 10. And Window XP too. I still have
software that won't run on Windows 10.

Google something like VirtualBox. That's one program. VMWare Player is
another, I think the better for windows. Free.
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/fre...on_player/12_0

  #3  
Old July 17th 17, 06:20 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

Steve Hayes wrote:
I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?

How easy it it to copy/paste between apps running under 32-bit and
64-bit?

How much RAM does one need to run a virtual OS, as well as software
running in each?


Say you had a Win10 machine running a copy of Win7.
You could allocate 2GB for Win10 and 2GB for the
Virtual Machine Guest OS Windows 7. The machine would
then need 4GB worth of DIMMs installed in it, to do both.

If Win7 virtual machine is not running, then Windows 10
can use the whole thing.

The hosting software running the VM, is a "program".
It gets to use cores, just like other programs do. You can
"cap" the amount of CPU a guest uses, to keep the host
side responsive. I've never particularly had a problem
with the responsive part.

And you don't really want to try this on gutless
hardware either. I've run Win10 on Win10 on my
single-core AMD processor on my laptop, and it's
slow as molasses. Even dual cores isn't really enough
for two modern OSes at the same time. If you have
4C 4T or 4C 8T for a processor, you should be quite
comfortable with that. My 2C 2T setup, I've run as
many as three guest VMs at the same time, but each
was an older OS, the VM was set to a single core for
each, and I wasn't running demanding software in all of
them at the same time. I could run Win2K in 512MB.
I could run Win7 in 1GB. Maybe three VMs would be
256MB+512MB+1GB or a bit less than 2GB total.
So you can skimp a bit on RAM, but just don't
expect the OSes to be as snappy as regular ones.

If you have a 64-bit OS, modern DIMMs are in the
4GB to 8GB range, and it isn't too much expense
to set the machine up with 2x4GB as an example.
Now you can easily run three VMs plus a host.

*******

Virtual Machine integration features (copy/paste, drag&drop, file
sharing, shared folder, USB passthru), require additional software.
Typically something called "Virtual Machine Additions", that's
a virtual CD you add to the environment after the Guest OS install
is done, then add in the support for copy/paste.

Typical sequence:

1) Download VM hosting program.
Download Virtual Machine Additions (if the one you have is too old).
Download USB passthru package (the one that allows running a USB
scanner in a WinXP VM).
2) Install the software.
3) Start the main program.
Do a "New".
4) Define the guest OS. The dialog allows you to state with some
certainty, that your new VM will host Windows 7. And that
you plan on installing an x86 OS. Certain defaults are selected
by the hosting software, to match the specification you select.
5) Continue on with the configuring steps. For example, you
have to define a bitmap file, which "holds" the entire
virtual hard drive. Only the "non-zero" parts of the drive
take up storage space. If you store 4MB of files on a 100GB
virtual disk, the actual storage needed is only 4MB. I select
an extension of .vhd for this file, as I have tool flows
for working with it.
6) In addition to specifying a hard drive, you can also specify an
optical drive. If you have a Win7 installer DVD, you can specify
the physical drive as an element inside the VM. Or, if the file
is stored on a hard drive as an ISO file, you can "mount" that
inside the VM, as if it was a virtual optical drive. The OS
installation software can be on there.
7) The tricky part, is specifying what kind of networking option
you want. The one offered out of the box, is typically a
bad choice. I select "bridged", then specify a virtual NIC
inside the VM, which is of the same epoch as the OS. An
older AMD NIC for WinXP VMs. A newer Intel NIC for Win10 perhaps.
8) OK, now, if the hosting software control panel is not complaining
that you've selected incompatible options, you can "start" the
virtual machine. It jumps to the same address as a physical processor
would, when coming out of reset. There is a virtual BIOS that
the virtual processor runs, it detects your OS install disc
and the virtual hard drive.
9) A Window appears, maybe 800x600, and the OS install can begin.
The window represents an entire computer desktop. And will
(eventually) be decorated like a real computer desktop.
10) Once the OS installation is finished, you're staring at a Guest
desktop. Now you go to the Hosting menu and specify the
Virtual Machine Additions, and add those drivers. Now your
copy and paste should work, after the next reboot of the
Guest virtual machine.
11) With Windows 10, the .vhd file will be on the order of
10GB to 12GB or so. My largest VMs here, might be on the
order of 35GB. I might have 500GB worth of VM files, scattered
all over the place. They don't really take that much space at
all. And there are procedures for "squeezing the fat" out
of a VHD, later on. If you zero out portions of the VHD,
say with Sysinternals SDelete, you don't get the space back
right away. There are some tricks for reducing the size
of the resulting VHD file.

That's just enough to get you started.

To pull a physical configuration, into a virtual environment,
there is this ("Disk2VHD"). But this isn't particularly
practical, because you have to mess around with activation
and license keys. For example, I've even "pulled" a physical
Win10, into a VM, it booted just fine, but it did show
that it wasn't activated. Given a few more days, it
might have started "whining".

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...rnals/ee656415

I recommend you test this stuff, before you even get
a new computer. The more you learn, the more prepared
you're going to be. The smallest machine I might try this
on, is 2 cores and 4GB of RAM, just so the experience isn't
"miserable". That should give you plenty of room to test.

To avoid some of the setup details, you can get
"appliance" versions of VMs. These must be opened
with the appropriate "appliance" option in the hosting
software, after you've finished the download of one of
these, and unpacked it. Only occasionally are these
things "meritorious". Sometimes, one of these runs
with a little more snap, than the one you install
yourself from scratch. But I can't think of a good
strong reason to do it this way. It's just a different
set of problems to deal with. And yes, the networking
options are likely to still be set up wrong :-) You
*always* have to fix the network.

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-u...dge/tools/vms/

I use VMs practically every day, and the main reason
for doing so, is hygiene. The main OS stays a lot
cleaner, if the experiments go into a VM. Windows VMs
tend to get tossed, because they're not activated,
while I have Linux VMs that are ten years old.

Paul
  #4  
Old July 17th 17, 04:58 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Ken Blake[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,221
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:


But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.




Your friend was wrong. If 64-bit Windows can run on a computer, 32-bit
Windows can also run on that computer.

Running a 32-bit virtual machine under 64-bit Windows would be a bad
mistake, as far as I'm concerned. All it would do is slow everything
down.

And why would you want to run 32-bit Windows? With only a few
exceptions, any program that can run under 32-bit Windows can also run
on 64-bit Windows. Those exceptions are mainly some utilities and old
DOS programs.

If you had a problem running some programs under 64-bit Windows,
please tell us what programs those are. All you may need to do is get
a new version of those programs.
  #5  
Old July 17th 17, 05:09 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Linea Recta[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 742
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

"Ken Blake" schreef in bericht
...
On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:


But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.




Your friend was wrong. If 64-bit Windows can run on a computer, 32-bit
Windows can also run on that computer.




Without taking advantage of installed ram.




--


|\ /|
| \/ |@rk
\../
\/os

  #6  
Old July 17th 17, 05:39 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
philo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,807
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On 07/17/2017 10:58 AM, Ken Blake wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:


But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.




Your friend was wrong. If 64-bit Windows can run on a computer, 32-bit
Windows can also run on that computer.

Running a 32-bit virtual machine under 64-bit Windows would be a bad
mistake, as far as I'm concerned. All it would do is slow everything
down.

And why would you want to run 32-bit Windows? With only a few
exceptions, any program that can run under 32-bit Windows can also run
on 64-bit Windows. Those exceptions are mainly some utilities and old
DOS programs.

If you had a problem running some programs under 64-bit Windows,
please tell us what programs those are. All you may need to do is get
a new version of those programs.



Correct. AFAIK any 32 bit program will run on the 64 bit version of
Windows. Extremely old 16 bit software will not.
  #7  
Old July 17th 17, 05:52 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Char Jackson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,449
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.


How inconvenient are those two issues? If you always run it on Mains
power, then maybe it's no big deal that the battery is toast. BTW, have
you priced a replacement battery? Generics are usually quite reasonable.

As for the DVD player, same question - how inconvenient has that been?
Replacing a laptop DVD player is usually a 5-minute job, in other words
not complicated at all although I haven't looked at your exact model, or
you can always buy an external DVD drive and connect it via USB.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.


I wouldn't recommend taking it anywhere for a battery and a DVD drive.
Both of those replacements should take far less than 10 minutes on your
kitchen table.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.


The "might not work" warning could be related to driver availability. If
you do shop for a new laptop, see if they offer a 32-bit OS option. If
so, drivers will be available, although it will likely come with 64-bit
preinstalled since that's the thing these days.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?


1. You would boot the laptop as you always do.
2. You would launch the host, or hypervisor, program.
3. Within that program, you would boot the VM.

So yes, there are two boots in that sequence.

How easy it it to copy/paste between apps running under 32-bit and
64-bit?

How much RAM does one need to run a virtual OS, as well as software
running in each?


Others have addressed those points.

--

Char Jackson
  #8  
Old July 17th 17, 08:16 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Stephen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 11:52:56 -0500, Char Jackson
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.


How inconvenient are those two issues? If you always run it on Mains
power, then maybe it's no big deal that the battery is toast. BTW, have
you priced a replacement battery? Generics are usually quite reasonable.

Last tmime I bought a replacement battery for a Toshiba laptop it was
£25 (UK)
- so maybe $35 depending on exactly which model, your currency and all
that stuff.
- Toshiba use the same battery types in multiple models and different
markets just as with DVD players, power supplies et al, so fairly easy
to find.

Try Ebay or Amazon and just search for the Toshiba model number, or
use the type code on the current battery (which only works for the 1st
time you put a 3rd party unit in ! )

Generic lithiums seem to last for a few years and manufacturer fitted
ones significantly longer.

As for the DVD player, same question - how inconvenient has that been?
Replacing a laptop DVD player is usually a 5-minute job, in other words
not complicated at all although I haven't looked at your exact model, or
you can always buy an external DVD drive and connect it via USB.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.


I wouldn't recommend taking it anywhere for a battery and a DVD drive.
Both of those replacements should take far less than 10 minutes on your
kitchen table.


Agreed

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.


The "might not work" warning could be related to driver availability. If
you do shop for a new laptop, see if they offer a 32-bit OS option. If
so, drivers will be available, although it will likely come with 64-bit
preinstalled since that's the thing these days.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?


1. You would boot the laptop as you always do.
2. You would launch the host, or hypervisor, program.
3. Within that program, you would boot the VM.

So yes, there are two boots in that sequence.

How easy it it to copy/paste between apps running under 32-bit and
64-bit?

How much RAM does one need to run a virtual OS, as well as software
running in each?


Others have addressed those points.

Stephen Hope
Replace xyz with ntl to reply
  #9  
Old July 18th 17, 07:36 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Ammammata
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 209
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

Il giorno Mon 17 Jul 2017 05:18:58a, *Big Al* ha inviato su
alt.windows7.general il messaggio news cosa ha scritto:

VMWare Player is
another, I think the better for windows. Free.


it is just a "player" (you can use a VM created elsewhere) or does it allow
you to create a new one from scratch?

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it

............ [ al lavoro ] ...........
  #10  
Old July 18th 17, 09:01 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Ralph Fox
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 474
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Tue, 18 Jul 2017 06:36:36 +0000 (UTC), Ammammata wrote:

Il giorno Mon 17 Jul 2017 05:18:58a, *Big Al* ha inviato su
alt.windows7.general il messaggio news cosa ha scritto:

VMWare Player is
another, I think the better for windows. Free.


it is just a "player" (you can use a VM created elsewhere) or does it allow
you to create a new one from scratch?



It does allow you to create a new one from scratch (since 2009).

VMware how-to article is here
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...alId= 2013483

Version history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware...ersion_history


FYI current versions only run on 64-bit operating systems,
but they can be used to run 32-bit operating systems in the VM.

DL LINK
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/...on_player/12_0



--
Kind regards
Ralph
🦊
  #11  
Old July 18th 17, 11:34 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Steve Hayes[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,089
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 01:20:45 -0400, Paul
wrote:


lots of useful stuff snipped

I use VMs practically every day, and the main reason
for doing so, is hygiene. The main OS stays a lot
cleaner, if the experiments go into a VM. Windows VMs
tend to get tossed, because they're not activated,
while I have Linux VMs that are ten years old.


Thanks very much for that -- save for future reference.


--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com
  #12  
Old July 18th 17, 11:44 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Steve Hayes[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,089
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 08:58:01 -0700, Ken Blake
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:


But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.




Your friend was wrong. If 64-bit Windows can run on a computer, 32-bit
Windows can also run on that computer.

Running a 32-bit virtual machine under 64-bit Windows would be a bad
mistake, as far as I'm concerned. All it would do is slow everything
down.


Thanks, that's a relief.

And why would you want to run 32-bit Windows? With only a few
exceptions, any program that can run under 32-bit Windows can also run
on 64-bit Windows. Those exceptions are mainly some utilities and old
DOS programs.

If you had a problem running some programs under 64-bit Windows,
please tell us what programs those are. All you may need to do is get
a new version of those programs.


In some cases new versions of the programs are either not available,
or are way beyond my price range (I'm a pensioner).

About half the programs I use most frequently are DOS programs. In one
case I have a Windows version of the program (askSam, a text
database), but the DOS verson is more powerful and has more
functionality. I frequently copy/paste stuff between these programs
and Windows programs and vice versa -- eg something from a web page
into a database.




--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com
  #13  
Old July 18th 17, 11:51 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Steve Hayes[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,089
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 11:52:56 -0500, Char Jackson
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows 7.

It came with Windows 7 64 bit installed, and had a couple of DVDs with
the 32-bit version.

When I found that a lot of my software would not run in it, I
installed the 32-bit version, and then all my programs worked fine.

But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.


How inconvenient are those two issues? If you always run it on Mains
power, then maybe it's no big deal that the battery is toast. BTW, have
you priced a replacement battery? Generics are usually quite reasonable.


Not all that inconvenient, unless the power goes off. I'm not sure
whether the problem is the charger or the battery itself.

As for the DVD player, same question - how inconvenient has that been?
Replacing a laptop DVD player is usually a 5-minute job, in other words
not complicated at all although I haven't looked at your exact model, or
you can always buy an external DVD drive and connect it via USB.


It could be inconvenient if it crashes and I want to restore from a
backup -- Acronis needs to boot from a CD rescue disc.

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.


I wouldn't recommend taking it anywhere for a battery and a DVD drive.
Both of those replacements should take far less than 10 minutes on your
kitchen table.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.


The "might not work" warning could be related to driver availability. If
you do shop for a new laptop, see if they offer a 32-bit OS option. If
so, drivers will be available, although it will likely come with 64-bit
preinstalled since that's the thing these days.


Thanks. Seems it might be better to go to a specialist shop for such a
thing rather an an off-the-shelf one.


Thanks for the helpful comments.


--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com
  #14  
Old July 18th 17, 03:02 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Brian Gregory
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 648
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

On 18/07/2017 11:44, Steve Hayes wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 08:58:01 -0700, Ken Blake
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:11:21 +0200, Steve Hayes
wrote:


But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.




Your friend was wrong. If 64-bit Windows can run on a computer, 32-bit
Windows can also run on that computer.

Running a 32-bit virtual machine under 64-bit Windows would be a bad
mistake, as far as I'm concerned. All it would do is slow everything
down.


Thanks, that's a relief.

And why would you want to run 32-bit Windows? With only a few
exceptions, any program that can run under 32-bit Windows can also run
on 64-bit Windows. Those exceptions are mainly some utilities and old
DOS programs.

If you had a problem running some programs under 64-bit Windows,
please tell us what programs those are. All you may need to do is get
a new version of those programs.


In some cases new versions of the programs are either not available,
or are way beyond my price range (I'm a pensioner).

About half the programs I use most frequently are DOS programs. In one
case I have a Windows version of the program (askSam, a text
database), but the DOS verson is more powerful and has more
functionality. I frequently copy/paste stuff between these programs
and Windows programs and vice versa -- eg something from a web page
into a database.





For DOS programs when using 64 bit Windows DOSBOX is likely to be the
best solution. Exceptions are possibly a few DOS games that need a lot
of CPU power. It's an emulation rather than a virtual machine.

https://www.dosbox.com/


For 16 bit Windows programs a virtual machine running 32 bit Windows is
the only way I know.

--

Brian Gregory (in the UK).
To email me please remove all the letter vee from my email address.
  #15  
Old July 18th 17, 08:08 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default Virtual machine -- how does it work

In message , Char Jackson
writes:
[]
But I've been using it for 6 years now, and it seems to be nearing the
end of its life, so I'm beginning to think of a replacement. It no
longer chqargest its battery, but has to run off mains, and the DVD
drive doesn't work any more.


How inconvenient are those two issues? If you always run it on Mains
power, then maybe it's no big deal that the battery is toast. BTW, have
you priced a replacement battery? Generics are usually quite reasonable.


Yes, seconded - might be the battery rather than the charging circuit.
Not sure how to find out without buying a battery, though, which could
be a waste of money. (Though could also be just a loose connection
somewhere.)

As for the DVD player, same question - how inconvenient has that been?
Replacing a laptop DVD player is usually a 5-minute job, in other words
not complicated at all although I haven't looked at your exact model, or
you can always buy an external DVD drive and connect it via USB.


And an external one could be used with other machines. They're cheap. (I
use one for when I use Macrium, like your Acronis.)

I suppose I could take it for repair, but perhaps something else will
break, and it would be cheaper to get a new computer.


I wouldn't recommend taking it anywhere for a battery and a DVD drive.
Both of those replacements should take far less than 10 minutes on your
kitchen table.

But a friend has told me that if I installed 32-bit Windows on a new
computer it might not work, and so it would be better to run a Virtual
Machine.


The "might not work" warning could be related to driver availability. If


Yes, it'll almost certainly work, but if there aren't 32-bit drivers for
some of the hardware, you'd be limited - e. g. for the graphics
software, to say 1024×768. I'm not sure if there are some things that
wouldn't work at all, though ...

you do shop for a new laptop, see if they offer a 32-bit OS option. If


.... so that's good advice.

so, drivers will be available, although it will likely come with 64-bit
preinstalled since that's the thing these days.

I'm not sure how that works, so I hope someone with experience of such
things might tell me.

Does it mean you have to boot twice, to run one OS on top of another?

If so, what effect does it have on boot time?


1. You would boot the laptop as you always do.
2. You would launch the host, or hypervisor, program.
3. Within that program, you would boot the VM.

So yes, there are two boots in that sequence.


Once you've done the first boot, can a VM system be saved in current
condition, rather like hybernating, or do you have to boot it every time
you want to use it?
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

'It works for me' is not the same as it isn't broke - Kenn Villegas, 2010-2-19
in
https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/02/1...s-technically/
 




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