ContentsWhat's new in Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Support for Windows Vista as a host operating system Support for Windows Vista as a guest operating system Network-based installation of a guest operating system Running virtual machines on multiple monitors Support for 64-bit host operating systems Support for hardware-assisted virtualization No support for using a virtual hard disk linked to a physical hard disk Installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 from the command line Drag and drop between the host and guest does not work without restarting the host Hotfix required on certain x64-based computers Instructions for performing a PXE boot includes unnecessary step |
These release notes contain important information about the new features included with this release of Microsoft® Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), installing the software, and known issues. We recommend that you review all of the information in this document before you install this version of Virtual PC.
What's new in Virtual PC 2007 SP1This release of Virtual PC 2007 SP1 introduces support for the following:
What's new in Virtual PC 2007The release of Virtual PC 2007 introduces support for the following:
Support has been removed for the use of linked disks in a virtual machine. Support for Windows Vista as a host operating systemThe release of Virtual PC 2007 also supports the following host operating systems:
Support for Windows Vista as a guest operating systemThe release of Virtual PC 2007 also supports the following guest operating systems:
The following operating systems that were supported in Virtual PC 2004 SP1 are compatible with this release, but they are not supported:
Network-based installation of a guest operating systemThe virtual machine network adapter includes support for performing a PXE boot. This means that when the appropriate network infrastructure is in place, you can perform a network installation of a guest operating system without using a PXE boot floppy disk. Running virtual machines on multiple monitorsVirtual PC 2007 includes support for viewing virtual machines on multiple monitors of a physical computer. If you have more than one monitor attached to your physical computer, you can view a virtual machine on one of the monitors, in either window mode or full-screen mode. Support for 64-bit host operating systemsThis release of Virtual PC 2007 supports 64-bit host operating systems. However, there is no support for 64-bit guest operating systems. Support for hardware-assisted virtualizationVirtual PC 2007 includes support for virtualization technology from Intel and AMD. By default, hardware-assisted virtualization is enabled if the feature is enabled on the physical computer. You can turn this assistance on or off for each virtual machine by modifying the virtual machine settings. For more information, see the Virtual PC Help. No support for using a virtual hard disk linked to a physical hard diskYou can create a virtual hard disk that is linked to a physical hard disk by using Virtual PC. However, it is no longer possible to use a virtual hard disk that is linked to a physical hard disk in a virtual machine. A virtual hard disk linked to a physical hard disk allows the guest operating system to directly modify the contents of a linked physical hard disk. This means that the guest operating system can overwrite the contents of the physical hard disk and potentially corrupt the host operating system and other programs and data of the physical hard disk. Installation notesThis section provides information about installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1. There are two installation scenarios:
Upgrading in placeOn a computer that is running Virtual PC 2007, you can upgrade to this version of Virtual PC 2007 SP1 by using the following procedure.
To upgrade to Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on a computer running Virtual PC 2007:
Performing a new installationYou can install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on a computer that is not currently running Virtual PC 2007 using the following procedure. To install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on a computer that is not currently running Virtual PC 2007:
Installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 from the command lineThis section provides information about installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 from the command line. SyntaxSetup.exe [{/v "parameter_string_for_MSIEXEC" | /c }] /t [path] Parameters
Syntaxmsiexec.exe {/i|/a} "msifile" [ALLUSERS=value] [{INSTALLDIR=value|TARGETDIR=value}] [ALLUSERS=value] [/qb | /qn | /qr | /qf] [/l logfile] Parameters
ExamplesThe following example shows how to perform an unattended installation and make the program accessible to all users on the computer. During an unattended installation, the Setup program runs without prompting you for input. Msiexec.exe /i " Virtual_PC_2007_Install.msi " /qn If you want to use Group Policy to deploy Virtual PC 2007 SP1, you must use the administrative installation option (/a) along with the TARGETDIR option. This is shown in the following example: Msiexec.exe /a " Virtual_PC_2007_Install.msi " TARGETDIR=Installation folder's network path /qn The following table provides a formatting legend for the command-line information.
Known issuesThe following are known issues that you might encounter after you install this product. Drag and drop between the host and guest does not work without restarting the hostAfter installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1, when you run a virtual machine for the first time, drag and drop between the host and guest does not work. You can resolve this issue by restarting the host operating system. Hotfix required on certain x64-based computersInstalling Virtual PC on a computer that has AMD hardware-assisted virtualization support and uses a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP as the host operating system generates a bug check and shuts down the operating system. This occurs because 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system protect a critical system register that Virtual PC modifies to enable hardware-assisted virtualization. You can resolve this issue by installing a hotfix. For information about this hotfix, see article 924131 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=81489). Documentation correctionsThis section provides additions and corrections to the Virtual PC Help. Instructions for performing a PXE boot includes unnecessary stepThe topics "To use a startup CD or ISO file to install an operating system" and "To use a system disk to install an operating system from a CD" include the following instruction: "Start the virtual machine, and then select Network as the boot device during startup." However, it is not necessary to select Network as the boot device because it will be selected automatically when there is no bootable image on the virtual hard disk and the network infrastructure is in place. Disregard references to DOS Virtual Machine Additions.vfdThe virtual floppy drive “DOS Virtual Machine Additions.vfd” is not supplied with this version of Virtual PC 2007 SP1. Disregard all references to this virtual floppy drive in the Virtual PC Help. CopyrightInformation in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. Unless otherwise noted, the companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property. © 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |