Virtual PC won't boot - PXE boot

[JohnB]

I am trying Virtual PC for the first time. My PC has a 2.6 ghz processor
with 512 mb of RAM on XP Pro.

I went through the setup process and basically chose the defaults. When I
start it, it looks like it's trying to boot from the NIC, as if it can't
find the hard drive. I have absolutely no clue here. What could be wrong?

Thanks

[Bill Grant]

When you first boot a new VPC the hard disk is blank, just like a brand
new hard metal machine. If it cannot find a floppy or CD to boot from it
will try to boot from the network.

What OS do you plan to run in the vm? What media do you plan to install
it from?

If your host only has 512mb of RAM you do not have much to spare for a
vm to use.

"JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:uOtKVJFk...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

[JohnB]

I guess I needed to do some reading first.

I want to run XP on the vm machine. I have an XP CD. I was thinking it was
going to use my existing OS somehow. How do I install XP to a virtual HD?

"Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
news:OkUblOFk...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

[Bill Grant]

Just the same way as on a hard metal machine. Load the CD and boot it up.

From the virtual machine window, check that it is set to use the CD
drive on the host, then reset the vm.

"JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:uWEy5VFk...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Bo Berglund]

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:56:52 -0400, "JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I guess I needed to do some reading first.
>
>I want to run XP on the vm machine. I have an XP CD. I was thinking it was
>going to use my existing OS somehow. How do I install XP to a virtual HD?
>

You have to add RAM to your machine.
The RAM you need for the virtual machine (=guest) for running XP is
minimum 256 Mb and that leaves only 256 for your host system, which is
really not much.
Get yourself a couple og Gb of RAM and then you are better off.

To install an OS on a virtual machine is exactly like on a real
machine, throw in the OS install media (CD or DVD) in the optical
drive and reset the virtual machine. It will now boot off the media
and display the install prompts normally (but inside of the guest
window on your host PC).

Bo Berglund

[JohnB]

I am just "playing". If I get more serious about this, I'll buy more RAM.
Or, if having only 512mb of RAM is the cause of my problem, I'll buy more...
but it sounds like that isn't the case.

Keep in mind, I know absolutely nothing about this. I don't find any
documentation on the Virtual PC 2007 web page. When you say "reset the vm",
I assume you mean that I do that after I've started it, and then click on
the Action dropdown menu. When I do that, it appears to reset but, it just
does the same thing over again, it's trying to boot from the NIC. It
doesn't attempt to boot from the CD drive. How do I correct that?

Thanks

"Bo Berglund" <bober...@home.se> wrote in message
news:k6cou351cqmg64e4o...@4ax.com...

[JohnB]

Ok, I got it. I noticed the message at startup that allowed me to get into
the BIOS setup, and changed the boot order so it would hit the CD drive.
Thanks.

"Bo Berglund" <bober...@home.se> wrote in message
news:k6cou351cqmg64e4o...@4ax.com...

[Sebastian G.]

Bill Grant wrote:

> If your host only has 512mb of RAM you do not have much to spare for a
> vm to use.

Since Windows XP runs fine with 128 MB, still having 40 MB left, there'
plenty of memory left.

[Sebastian G.]

Bo Berglund wrote:

> On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:56:52 -0400, "JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> I guess I needed to do some reading first.
>>
>> I want to run XP on the vm machine. I have an XP CD. I was thinking it was
>> going to use my existing OS somehow. How do I install XP to a virtual HD?
>>
> You have to add RAM to your machine.
> The RAM you need for the virtual machine (=guest) for running XP is
> minimum 256 Mb and that leaves only 256 for your host system, which is
> really not much.

Are you kidding? Windows XP runs fine and fluidly on 128 MB RAM, and the
implemented minimum is 64 MB.

[Jack]

Do not guess but just READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:uWEy5VFk...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Steve Jain]

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:59:28 -0400, "JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I am just "playing". If I get more serious about this, I'll buy more RAM.
>Or, if having only 512mb of RAM is the cause of my problem, I'll buy more...
>but it sounds like that isn't the case.
>
>Keep in mind, I know absolutely nothing about this. I don't find any
>documentation on the Virtual PC 2007 web page.

Documentation for VPC is almost exclusively through VPC's help. There
are other sites, including mine, that have more detailed info on stuff
that's not covered in VPC's help.

--
Cheers,
Steve Jain, Virtual Machine MVP
http://vpc.essjae.com/
I do not work for Microsoft.

[Steve Jain]

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:56:52 -0400, "JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I guess I needed to do some reading first.
>
>I want to run XP on the vm machine. I have an XP CD. I was thinking it was
>going to use my existing OS somehow. How do I install XP to a virtual HD?
>

Details on installing OSes in VPC are in my TechRef PDf at my
site...in my sig.

[Bo Berglund]

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:56:52 -0400, "JohnB" <jbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I guess I needed to do some reading first.
>
>I want to run XP on the vm machine. I have an XP CD. I was thinking it was
>going to use my existing OS somehow. How do I install XP to a virtual HD?
>

Maybe this may be of help:
http://www.goodells.net/virtualpc/index.htm

Bo Berglund