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.

More Data?

x86 (32-bit) and 4GB of Memory

This might be something you already know - or don't. x86 (32-bit) computer systems can only recognise up to 4GB of total memory - regardless of what type of memory. This includes the DDR1, 2, or 3 memory modules slotted on your board inside the computer casing, as well as the memory (usually GDDR3, 4, or 5) that comes with your graphic card (which contains the GPU or Graphics Processing Unit) - if you have one installed.

Some boards come with integrated GPU so the memory is shared from the main installed modules. For these, there is no need to take the graphic card memory into consideration. But what if you have a graphic card?

If you have a graphic card, and say it comes with 512MB of memory, plus you have 4GB of memory sticks installed on your board, you will only be able to use about 3.5GB of memory because the other 512MB has to be allocated for the processor to access on the graphic card. This is a limitation of x86 design.

To circumvent this problem you have to move to x64 (64-bit), which means you have to install an x64 operating system (OS), like Windows XP 64 (rare), Windows Vista 64, or the upcoming Windows 7 64 - currently available as a freely-downloadable RC (Release Candidate) version from Microsoft's site here.

Keep in mind to use an x64 OS, your processor needs to be able to support x64 as well - check Intel or AMD's site (depending on which brand of processor you have) to see, or see here to see what processors support x86 and x64 OSes.

There is one caveat to using an x64 OS however - only x86 software can run on it (this backwards compatibility is included), and this means there can be no legacy 16-bit code in the x86 software, which can sometimes happen to older hardware which have outdated software.

x64 also means you can go beyond 4GB of board memory - so feel free to install more up to how much your board supports and if you can afford it. Having more memory means you can have more things open on your desktop without having to close something to free up memory for something else to open.

Keep in mind memory on the board and memory in the form of hard drive storage is 2 very different things. The board memory dictates how much you can open on your desktop at any one time while your drive storage dictates how much you can keep on your computer. There is a dual-stage of storage and usage going on between drive and memory so they're not the same.

More Data?

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)

More Data?

Best Free Antivirus?

If you're looking for the best free antivirus out there, there's nothing better than Avast, made by Alwil. Not only does it support x64 (64-bit) operating systems (Windows XP or Vista), it also supports Linux, and comes with boot scan capability, which is very important if you have a virus or worm on your computer, as this ability eliminates the malicious program before it even loads when the OS starts up.

Avast works for a year - all you need to do is register on their site. Avast can also remove infections from USB flash drives (but please right-click and scan the drives in your My Computer first before opening it - you might have to do this a few times to fully get rid of it), and trojans. Did you know you can also customise the look of it?


If you like to skin your AV software, Avast has a selection of skins here. Choose from Bionic for a BioHazard look, LCARS for Star Trekkies/Trekkers, Corporate if you're tech support installing for offices, Matrix for Neo fans, aVist if you're using Vista and want the AERO feel, and even KDE for Linux fanboys.

And yes, Avast is recognised by XP and Vista's Security Center so it will notify you when it's outdated so you can manually update it should the automatic update not execute (perhaps your connection was down at the scheduled time). Anyway it's always a good idea to manually update your security software off and on for any updates it may have missed during automatic updates.

A word of advice, an AV - or any AV for that matter - is a prevention tool more than a solutions tool. Meaning you need to take measures to scan the unknown before opening, not use your computer as usual and expect the AV to solve a virus once you're infected. Virii are designed to disable AV - trying to remove one once you're infected can be a hassle.

You can get Avast 4.8 from here (XP/Vista 34MB) and then register here. For more download languages, visit here. Linux users can download it here. Check out its features compared to others here.

More Data?

Sims 3 and Microsoft .NET Framework

If you've read our latest BrickGamers LEGO® Gaming Comic, you'll notice we poke fun at Sims 3, or rather, the users (or players) of Sims 3 - which could be you! Are you one?

Anyway, since this is BrickTech, this is more about what goes on BEHIND Sims 3, in particular, Sims 3 requires Microsoft's .NET Framework (specifically version 2.0), a software framework that needs to be installed on Microsoft Windows XP operating systems but comes as a part of Microsoft Windows Vista (version 3.0) and of course, the RC (Release Candidate) of Microsoft Windows 7. But did you know you don't have to install the latest version of .NET to play Sims 3?

While the latest version of .NET is 3.5 Service Pack 1 (250MB), with .NET 4 Beta 1 in the works, Sims 3 was designed with .NET 2.0. This means if you're running Sims 3 on Vista or Win7 RC (yes it works!), the installer (or you) won't have to install any .NET versions, but if you're using XP, the installer will put in .NET 2.0, unless you've already installed .NET 3.0 or 3.5.

However, .NET will slow down your XP since it's adding a whole new software framework to an OS. Even version 1.0 and 1.1 of .NET needs to be installed on XP - it doesn't come with it. So the wise thing to do is to upgrade or run Vista (or even Win7 RC) instead, as it comes with .NET already. Of course you don't have to do this if you're not playing Sims 3 (or any other game or software which requires .NET). However, if you are, you're better off running the speedier Win7 RC or the slow Vista, rather than the slower XP with .NET.

More Data?