This behavior is by design.

To configure or create a virtual pc virtual machine in Windows 7, simply navigate to the top of this explorer window and click “create virtual machine” .

From here the steps to configure your virutal pc virtual machine are pretty similar to the steps they had been in previous virtual pc versions.

1. Copy the .vhd file  – preferably to another directory just to keep things organized.

2. Then run the Virtual PC  Console, and select “New” to open the New Virtual Machine Wizard.   Select “Create a Virtual Machine” and then click Next.

3. Then choose a filename and location for your new, cloned Virtual Hard Drive and click “Next”.  

4. Select the appropriate Operating System and click Next. One the subsequent RAM dialogue, make any RAM adjustments you’d like and click Next.

5. Now under the “Virtual Hard Disk Options” select “An existing virtual hard disk”.  Click “Next”.  Enter the path of the .VHD file you just copied (or Browse to find it).

6.  You will be taken to a summary screen. Click “Next”.  If you now head back to the Virtual PC Console, you will now see your new Virtual Machine added.

The two products I looked at are both free.  They are Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, and VMware Player.

Installation and Footprint

The install for both was easy, but I felt that the VMware player took up more system resources and was more cumbersome to run.  That’s not to say that Virtual PC 2007 wasn’t without i’s own quirks, but I did find Virtual PC 2007 easier to use.   Both are free, so cost is not an issue at this level.

Availability of Images

One of the things I liked the most about Virtual PC 2007 was the fact that there are free Windows XP and Windows Vista images available from Microsoft.  They are time-limited images (virtual pc images are also known as “virtual hard drives” or “VHD” by Microsoft), but they are useful nevertheless.  Because VHD’s are only compatible with virtual pc, you cannot use a VHD image with VMware’s product.    But because both software products emulate only the hardware, another option I had was to go ahead and create my own image.  I could easily have taken a licensed version of Windows and installed it on either Virtual PC 2007 or VMware Player.

Linux vs Windows

Because MS has the images available for free, it was easiest for me to setup virtual pc and run it with a Windows XP image.  This setup met my needs.  However, I did look to VMware player to help me setup a LAMP Server.  A LAMP server is a linux/apache/mysql/php installation that is very useful in locally testing php/mysql websites.  There were multiple LAMP server images available to download for use with VMware player.  These images were created by other contributing users, so I did have some hesitation about installing an image where I couldn’t trace back the security.  I did try a few of these installs, but I did feel that managing the overall environment was easier with Virtual PC.

Around this time I discovered WampServer, which is a WAMP installer for windows (note that WAMP is basically the same as LAMP except the “W” is for “Windows” instead of Linux).   WampServer installs the component programs all at once, obviating the need to manually install apache, php and mysql (which generally is pretty straight forward but can once-in-a-while be buggy).  Because of the seamless install, I actually elected to go with a WampServer setup instead of using a LAMP image on a VMWare Player installation.

Conclusion

So if you are looking to run a Windows virtual OS, then I can attest that Virtual PC is an excellent platform to use — especially if you are using virtualization to test websites in IE6.   If you would like step-by-step instructions about how to run IE6 in Windows XP in a Virtual PC enviroment on Vista, this post will help.

Note that I also tested running Windows 2000 and had no problems either.  If you are going to use something other than the free time-limited install, make sure that you follow appropriate licensing requirements, because Virtual PC “counts” as if you had a separate computer, so a legal windows license is needed.

The easiest way to explain this conceptis with an example.  Let’s say you are running Windows XP and you’d like to see if one of your commonly used applications would run on Windows Vista.  You could purchase a computer with Windows Vista installed, and then test the software.  If it works — great.  If not, you’ve spent a lot of money for nothing.

Let’s now do the same thing with virtualization.  By installing a Virtualization program and a Windows Vista image  (we will discuss both of these topics later) you can run an instance of the Windows Vista operating system right on your Windows XP desktop – without having to purchase additional software.  You can install the application on the virtual version of Windows Vista, and now evaluate your software without having to purchase new hardware.

The image below is an image of a Windows Vista desktop running Microsoft Word, Firefox, and Microsoft Virtual PC – notice that the Virtual PC application is running Windows XP.

To clarify, Microsoft Virtual PC is the virtualization software that is running in this example, and virtual pc  is, in turn,  running a Windows XP image.

II. Terminology

Virtualization Software – an application that allows you to run a virtual operating system on your computer.  Examples of virtualization software programs are Virtual PC, VMware Player,  and VirtualBox.  Think of the virtualization software as a brand-new computer that has no operating system installed on it.

Virtual Image or Virtual Machine – in order to use virtualization software, you need to install an operating system such as Windows XP or Linux.  Virtual Images are pre-fabricated operating system images.  You would download, for example, a Linux image for Vmware Player, and use the Vmware Player software to run the Linux image.  You can think of the virtual image as the actual operating system software.

So to run a virtual operating system, you would install a virtualization program such as Virtual PC, you would then install a virtual image (e.g. a Windows XP image), and then you would install any applications you need on the XP image.

III. Advantages

1. Because a virtualization software work as if it were in it’s own “container” you can freely test software such as alpha and beta releases without worrying about affecting your actual operating system.
2. Running virtualization software and virtual images can save a significant amount money because you do not need to worry about additional hardware costs to run the virtual operating systems.  Note that you still need to follow appropriate licensing laws for OS software where applicable.   Microsoft, however, does provide time-limited Virtual PC-compatible image for Windows XP.
3. You can easily delete and reinstall a virtual image.  If you install programs on your Virtual PC Windows XP installation, and accidentally corrupt the system, you only have to quickly re-setup the image, and not have to spend hours reinstalling the operating system.

IV. Disadvantages

1. A reasonably powered computer is required for virtualization.  If you use an underpowered machine to run a virtual machine, you will find the performance sluggish and it will be frustrating.
2. If you do allow your virtual machine to have access to the internet, (and especially if you allow the virtual machine to also access your actual operating system) you MUST take the normal security precautions by installing the appropriate anti-virus and anti-malware software.

Get Started.
I encourage you to test out virtualization software for yourself to see if it’s right for you.  Once of the easiest ways to get started is with the free Microsoft Virtual PC and one of the free, time-limited Windows XP or Windows Vista virtual images (also known as VHD’s or Virtual Hard Disks).

Remember that this article only covers the basic introduction to the concept of virtualization.  In the enterprise environment, virtualization technology can be extremely powerful in leveraging and maximizing use of resources, servers, and remote access among other things.