Windows VPC Networking Options explained

Reposted from the Windows Virtual PC help file (it always amazes me how many people ask for explanations about this on the forums, when they have the answer in their local help file):

Configure networking for virtual machines

You can configure networking to provide virtual machines with different types of network connectivity. A virtual machine can have as many as four network adapters enabled, each of which can be configured to use a different type of networking. You can use the following types of networking in a virtual machine:

• Internal network. This option provides networking between virtual machines only. This type of network connection is useful when you want to provide a networking communications channel to the virtual machines on one physical computer while isolating the virtual machines from all external networks, both wired and wireless, as well as the host operating system.
• <Network adapter name> (on host operating system). This option is sometimes referred to as “bridged mode”. It uses a physical network adapter to connect the virtual machine to a physical TCP/IP-based network as a separate computer. The virtual machine appears and operates like a separate physical computer on the network. You use this option by selecting the name of the physical network adapter that is connected to the network you want to use. You can choose from both wired and wireless network adapters.
• Shared networking (NAT). This option is available for the first network adapter in the virtual machine. It allows the virtual machine to share one connection to a physical TCP/IP network with the host operating system. When you use this option, the virtual machine is not listed as a separate computer on the network. This is useful if you regularly move the host between different network configurations, if you want to connect the virtual machine to the Internet through a broadband or dial-up connection used by the host, including a virtual private network (VPN) connection, or if there is a shortage of IP addresses. However, performance is not as fast as the performance offered by bridged mode.
  If the Windows 7 host uses a wireless WAN (WWAN) device to connect to the Internet and you want a virtual machine to be able to use this connection, you must configure the virtual machine to use shared networking (NAT).

	Note
	A network adapter that is disconnected from all available networks is listed as Not Connected. You can connect a network adapter to a network regardless of the state of the virtual machine. However, a virtual machine must be off before you can add or remove a network adapter—it cannot be running or hibernated. For information about closing a virtual machine, see Close a virtual machine.

To configure networking for a virtual machine

1. Open the settings for the virtual machine. Do one of the following:
   • In the Virtual Machines folder, right-click the name of the virtual machine, and then click Settings.
   • From the virtual machine window, click the Tools menu, and then click Settings.
2. In the left pane of the Windows Virtual PC Settings page, click Networking.
3. To add or remove a network adapter, click the new number of network adapters you want. When you add a network adapter, it is disconnected.
4. To connect the network adapter to an available type of connection, select it from the drop-down list next to an available network adapter.
5. Click OK to save the change.

 

Caught! The elusive XP Mode password window!

After reading dozens of threads where the poster says there was a never a prompt for them to enter a password for XPMode, I’ve finally tracked down this elusive beast while setting up my new work laptop.

Behold!

Notice how the Next button is grayed out?  You can’t proceed with the install until you enter a password.

Default installation folder is:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\

Does your CPU have what it needs to run Hyper-V 3.0 with Windows 8?

Mark Russinovich does it again with a sweet little tool, CoreInfo.

Coreinfo is a command-line utility that shows you the mapping between logical processors and the physical processor, NUMA node, and socket on which they reside, as well as the cache’s assigned to each logical processor.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722

You will need to download, extract and run as an administrator with the -v option.

-v	Dump only virtualization-related features including support for second level address translation. (requires administrative rights on Intel systems).

here’s my i7-2620m: ( the “-” means not present, the “*” means present/supported)

Also:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 560 @ 2.67GHz
x86 Family 6 Model 37 Stepping 5, GenuineIntel
HYPERVISOR      –       Hypervisor is present
VMX             *       Supports Intel hardware-assisted virtualization
EPT             *       Supports Intel extended page tables (SLAT)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       X 980  @ 3.33GHz
Intel64 Family 6 Model 44 Stepping 2, GenuineIntel
HYPERVISOR      -       Hypervisor is present
VMX             *       Supports Intel hardware-assisted virtualization
EPT             *       Supports Intel extended page tables (SLAT)

Parallels Workstation 6 for Windows and Linux released!!

It’s been a long time since Parallels gave the Win/Linux community any workstation love!

I bought the upgrade to 4 back in 2009!  They had a small booth at the Cloud Expo in Santa Clara.

Too bad I missed Kurt S. from the Connectix days.

http://www.parallels.com/products/workstation/

Top Features Include:

Tested and certified on a wide variety of Windows editions and  Linux distributions to support your efforts across multiple environments.

• VM configuration capabilities for CPU and RAM allocations on a  per VM basis to help enforce good neighbor policies.

• Configurable VM isolation for advanced testing scenarios.

• Adaptive hypervisor improves performance for active window  applying the computers power where you need it most.

•  Fast virtual machines with Intel VT-x2 support (VPiDs, EPT & Flexpriority) taking  advantage of the latest hardware improvements.

• Plug and play support for a wide range of USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices.

• USB smart connections remember assignments or default to your desired configuration  eliminating reconfiguration.

• Easy virtual networking to enable moving between offices, networks and more.

• Drag and drop, copy and paste, share files between Virtual Machines as well as the host OS to simplify the movement of data.

• Coherence simplifies interaction by integrating application from multiple VMs onto the host desktop for easy access.

• Configure undo-disks to automatically reset VMs to their original starting state enabling rapid testing scenarios and share computer support for labs and  classrooms.

• Remotely start, stop & reset virtual machines without physically sitting at the computer extending administrators management reach.

• Access VMs and their applications from iPads and iPhones with Parallels Mobile allowing you to take your workstation with you, virtually.

• Easily convert physical environments into virtual machines with the Parallels Transporter application.

• Automatically encrypt virtual machines to improve privacy and security.

Supported Host OS Software

32-bit:

• Windows 7

• Windows Vista SP1, SP2

• Windows XP Pro SP3

• Windows XP Home SP3

• Debian 6.0

• Fedora 14, 15

• RHEL 6, 6.1

• SLED 11 SP1

• Ubuntu 10.10, 11.04

64-bit:

• Windows 7

• Windows Vista SP1, SP2

• Windows XP Pro SP2

• Debian 6.0

• Fedora 14, 15

• RHEL 6, 6.1

• SLED 11 SP1

• Ubuntu 10.10, 11.04

KBD Shortcut to access Control Panel–>System

I just found out about the sweet little winkey+pause short-cut that takes you directly to your System info page under Control Panel.

Great timesaver