This will take you to the downloads page for all the virtual machines (VMs) Microsoft have created.Ģ. If you’re feeling nostalgic, even Windows XP is there!ġ.
If you have a Windows installation DVD or ISO already, this can be used, but there are special versions of Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 already pre-built as virtual machines by Microsoft, so you don’t have to go through the whole Windows install procedure.
Here we’ll show you how to easily get the version of Windows you want to test and how to quickly install it in a Virtual Machine so you can see how it works and whether you like it.ĭownloading The Version of Windows You Want to TestĪpart from the virtual machine software itself, you obviously need a version of Windows which you can use inside it. The best and least destructive way to test drive a new operating system is in a virtual environment. Messing around with backups, Master Boot Records, multiboot menus and drive partitions can be a dangerous and time wasting, especially if you don’t plan to test the new operating system out for long or you’re inexperienced in these areas.
Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be the case. In the main, it’s simply due to believing there’s a lot of work involved and they will have to erase or tamper with their current operating system to do so.
Most users don’t try out a new version of Windows before actually buying a license or a prebuilt computer with a license already installed.
If you’re a Windows 7, Vista or even an XP user, you might want or need to upgrade and install something newer, whether it’s from XP to 7, or you’re a Windows 7 user looking to see if you’ll like the desktop friendlier Windows 10. For Windows 8 or 8.1 users, this may be good news if you’re currently one of the many not entirely happy with features like the Start Screen or the heavy reliance on the Modern UI. This will please a lot of people because many of the changes in Windows 8 that made it so unpopular are being scaled back or even reversed completely. ?īelow is the output of me changing the ID of the VHD located at C:UsersbschachtVirtualBox VMsWindows XP (VPN) Copy.Most of you will have heard by now that Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, is now in testing phase and begins the long road to a final release sometime in 2015. I spent more than a couple minutes trying to figure out why things weren’t working. Note that internalcommands and sethduuid need to be lowercase. Type the following VBOXMANAGE.EXE internalcommands sethduuid.Change the directory to where VirtualBox is installed (Default: C:Program FilesOracleVirtualBox).I think instead of setdhuuid it was setvdiuuid, but don’t hold me to that.** **Note that I am on VirtualBox version 4.1.6 and from what I’ve read this command used to be something different a few versions ago. Of course it requires the command prompt, so open that junk up and let’s get started! I looked all over the place to find what was causing it and finally found a fix. Everything was wonderful until I got this error:Ĭannot register the hard disk becuase a hard disk with UUID already exists. I recently tried to make a copy of one of my VHDs (Virtual Hard Drive) and create a new VM. It works great for those of us who have Windows 7 and allows you to run both x86 and 圆4 virtual machines. Currently to do all this I am using Oracle’s VirtualBox software. So if something happens and my install gets corrupted I will just roll it back and reinstall SQL Server rather than the entire OS plus SQL Server. I have a snapshot on the VM just before I installed SQL Server. One of the advantages of doing this is you don’t have to worry about screwing something up. In fact the only thing I have installed on my host is Office, Skype and Chrome. On my laptop I don’t even have SQL Server installed on the OS directly. Virtualization is awesome! It really helps when you are a developer.