Windows 7 on Windows XP via Sun Virtual Box 3

A few months back we posted how you can run and try Windows 7 on your Windows XP desktop so you can decide if you want to switch to Windows 7 when it comes out a few days from now. You can read our previous entry here.

Now we continue by showing you how to actually go about doing this. We'll need to use a virtualisation software to emulate a virtual machine so it can run on top of your existing machine. Interested?

We're assuming you're running Windows XP, which is the most popular operating system (OS), and the likely candidate to migrate to Windows 7 - if you chose to do so. Of course, you can run virtualisation software on any other OS as well - as long the virtualisation software supports it.

We'll be using Sun's Virtual Box 3, since it's free, and unlike Microsoft's Virtual PC 6 Service Pack 1 (2007), which is also free, Sun's version offers a bit more. Of course there's popular VMware, but that's not free.

Keep in mind Microsoft's Virtual PC 7 only works on Windows 7 as XP Mode. We'll talk about that later on how to use XP software on Windows 7. Right now let's focus on Windows 7 on XP.

First you'll need to download Virtual Box, which can be found here (70MB). If you want to see the other options of Virtual Box, visit the site here. To get a primer about Virtual Box, go here.

Next, you'll need a copy of Windows 7 installation DVD, which you can get the free 3-months Enterprise edition here (x86 32-bit or x64 64-bit around 3GB). However, before you download the x64 version of Enterprise and find out you can't use it on your machine, first download and run this SecureAble tool (site here) to find out if your processor supports hardware x64 virtualisation. If your processor supports virtual x64, you'll get this:

If it doesn't, you'll get this:

So download the right Enterprise! The Enterprise edition is similiar to Windows 7 Ultimate (compare here), so you can try everything that Windows 7 has to offer.

Once you've used the Enterprise edition to evaluate Windows 7, you can then buy the full RTM edition when it goes on sale in the next few days. Okay, got your downloaded trial Enterprise edition burned into a DVD? It's time to start.

First, install the downloaded Virtual Box on your XP desktop. It will cut you off from the Internet while it installs its virtual networking hardware, so make sure you're not downloading anything! Once it's done, run the installed Virtual Box.

Now create a new virtual machine. Click the New button in Virtual Box and follow the wizard guide. Type a name for your virtual Windows 7 Enterprise (maybe Fake NCC1701? Okay, inside Trek joke - ignore!).

Select the type of OS you want to install on this virtual machine from the list - in this case, it'll be Windows. Then select the version of Windows - which is Windows 7. Next, select how much of your machine's memory you want to devote to this virtual Windows 7 - you can leave it as the default or increase it if you have more memory to spare.

If you're doing this on Windows XP, chances are it's the x86 (32-bit) version, so you'll be limited to 4GB of memory (if you have that much installed). This means you can't put more than 2GB for this virtual Windows 7 since that will leave your running Windows XP with less than 2GB of memory to run all else.

Next, you need to create a virtual hard drive to run this virtual Windows 7. This will lead you to the drive wizard. You can stick to the dynamically-expanding storage, this will grow the file space as needed based on your need for it. Next you'll need to also name this virtual drive. Again, you can stick to the initial size given or give your own size (and it will expand accordingly if you chose dynamic earlier).

Once all these are done you'll get a new entry in your list of virtual machines in the Virtual Box. It will be in a powered-off state. Now you'll have to power it on to install your Enterprise DVD.

Click on the Start button in Virtual Box and a new window will open as the virtual machine comes to life. Since it's your first time running this new virtual machine, another wizard will ask you for the source to install an OS to this new virtual machine. Just select your DVD drive. If you don't have the downloaded-and-burned Windows 7 Enterprise trial DVD in your drive, you'll get this:

If you do have the DVD in your drive, you'll get the the Windows 7 installation screen:

If you were so 'smart' to download and burn the x64 (64-bit) version of Enterprise but your processor can't run virtual x64 OS, then you'll get this:

Going back to the installation, so assuming all goes well, proceed with the user-friendly Windows 7 installation as if you were installing on an actual computer - even if you're doing it virtually. Remember that its installing on the virtual drive you configured earlier - so don't worry about it formatting your existing running Windows XP!

As the installation is running in its own virtual machine window, feel free to do something else on your Windows XP desktop while waiting for the installation to complete. When it's done, it'll automatically restart the virtual machine like it were a real computer.

That's all there is to it! Now you've got a virtual Windows 7 running on your existing Windows XP desktop! Feel free to run it anytime. You can do the same with the RTM Windows 7 when it's out a few days from now. Keep in mind this virtual Windows 7 is running off a virtual hardware, which means you can't install software drivers for the hardware that's on your real machine. You probably won't have to anyway - Windows 7 will automatically detect the virtual hardware.

Next, we'll show you how to share files between this virtual Windows 7 machine and your real Windows XP desktop.

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Bill Gates @ Facebook

Sorry Bill Gates, we just had to highlight your plight when you recently decided to try out the social networking phenomenon Facebook in the Web 2.0 age. On the bright side, at least you won't have BrickTech being the 10,001 friend who wants to add to your list :)

To know more about the story that inspired this strip, read on for more details.

Yahoo recently carried a story about Bill Gates, who tried Facebook, but then gave it up after 10,000 people wanted to be his friend. You can read more about it here.

If you're wondering why Bill has dual large monitors on his table, we're referring to the news on C-Net which mentions he has triple LCDs in his office. Find out more here.

Yes, we know how to count.

However, we don't have enough bricks :P

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Sun Virtual Box 3 for 3D

That's Windows 7 RC running in Sun's Virtual Box 3 window (on a Windows XP desktop)

If you've read this post before (scroll down to the bottom of it), you'll know about Sun's Virtual Box (VB), a virtualisation software like Microsoft's Virtual PC 6 (VPC6), which is designed for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Virtual PC 7 (VPC7) is designed for Windows 7, but unlike VPC6, VPC7 is designed to work transparently on Win7 as a compatibility feature for Windows XP software, hence it's known as "XP Mode". If VM (Virtual Machine) software sounds familiar, you might have heard of VMware before. But what's the difference?

VB differs from the popular VMware by being free, and it differs from MS VPC6 by emulating better computer hardware (since it's newer), and like VPC7, it offers a "Seamless Mode", where you can hide the virtual desktop running in VB and use the virtual windows with your actual operating system (OS). VMware calls this the "Unity Mode".

Anyway, since VPC7 only works on Win7 and only runs XP, this makes VB an attractive option if you're running XP, Vista, Mac or Linux, and if you want to run virtual Vista, Linux, etc.

Additionally, VP7 requires your processor to support hardware virtualisation (known as VT in Intel and V in AMD). If you have an Intel Core i-class or an AMD Athlon-class or AMD Phenom-class processor, it's ready. If it's an Intel Core 2-class or Intel Pentium 4-class processor, it may or may not. Check the Intel Archive Site here to see the list.

Moving on, in our previous VB post, we talked about using VB2 to sample Win7 RC (Release Candidate) instead of installing 7RC on your computer. However, VB2 suffers from one major flaw - while it emulates newer hardware than VPC6 which uses older hardware, it doesn't support 3D, in the form of Microsoft's Direct 3D - the most important component in DirectX for Windows, and OpenGL (Graphics Library), used in Mac and Linux.

VB3 solves that by including 3D support - albeit it's experimental. With VB3, you can now take full advantage of the newer emulated hardware - just like how VB2 did, except now you have 3D.

In our following post, we'll show you how to use these free VM software. In the meantime, feel free to play around with them. Remember, they're virtual. So whatever happens in them happens in the virtual OS - NOT the OS which these VM software runs on. So relax. You're safe.

This also means you don't have to bother with anti-virus or almost any forms of security. Hence why most anti-virus won't even work in a virtual OS. Which means using a virtual OS is a very secure way to experiment with any dangerous software which might otherwise wreak havoc on your actual OS. Using virtualisation is a good way to visit unknown sites which might otherwise harm your computer with your actual OS. However keep in mind you can share files between the virtual OS and your actual OS so make sure your actual OS has an updated anti-virus! We'll show you how to share files between the virtual (guest) OS and your actual (host) OS next time.

Free Virtualisation Software Download Links:

• Microsoft Virtual PC 6 (runs on Windows XP/Vista)
  
• Microsoft Virtual PC 7 * (Beta - runs on Win7 only - get free Win7 RC here)
  
• Sun Virtual Box 3 (runs on XP/Vista, Mac, Linux)

* Virtual PC 7 requires 2 install steps - the VPC7, followed by a virtual XP image (included)

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