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VMWare

AliHajiSheik

AliHajiSheik

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I'm interested in virtualizing my home PC but I'm not sure which product to get.

I'm running Windows 8.1 and it appears as though I need to get VMWare Workstation 11 for Windows.

1. Is that the right product.
2. Is it pretty easy to run?
3. I think I've read somewhere that I need another license for windows--no problem as I think I have another one somewhere.
4. Any gotchas?

Thanks for any helpful replies.
 
Back when I had a Mac (bleh!), I purchased VMWare Fusion and had no problems with it. I was actually quite impressed. I remember it being pretty straightforward and easy to run.

Hopefully that helps a little, even though I used a slightly different product from VMWare.
 
Simon W. Moon said:
To what end?
Click to expand...

As a means of backing up environment and having the flexibility to move it to another PC whether by choice or in case of a physician hard drive failure.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
I'm interested in virtualizing my home PC but I'm not sure which product to get.

I'm running Windows 8.1 and it appears as though I need to get VMWare Workstation 11 for Windows.

1. Is that the right product.
2. Is it pretty easy to run?
3. I think I've read somewhere that I need another license for windows--no problem as I think I have another one somewhere.
4. Any gotchas?

Thanks for any helpful replies.
Click to expand...

There is a built in virtualization in Windows 8. It is pretty easy to use with Windows versions and Linux versions.. but not OSX.

Run virtual machines on Windows 8 with Client Hyper-V - Windows Help
 
AliHajiSheik said:
As a means of backing up environment and having the flexibility to move it to another PC whether by choice or in case of a physician hard drive failure.
Click to expand...
No offense, but while your idea is understandable, it's also not a good solution. If you're worried about hard drive failure, you need to backup your files to a secondary drive anyways, so why limit your computing to a virtual machine, which will be inferior to your physical machine? A better solution would simply to create a simple backup script (which is easy to do...I could even get you one if you wanted), create a scheduled task and have it backup the files you wanted. Then it would be a simple process to move them to a new computer from your backups.

However, it bugs me when people ask for advice and people give their opinion without providing advice on the subject asked for, so here's my answer to your question:
AliHajiSheik said:
I'm interested in virtualizing my home PC but I'm not sure which product to get.

I'm running Windows 8.1 and it appears as though I need to get VMWare Workstation 11 for Windows.

1. Is that the right product.
2. Is it pretty easy to run?
3. I think I've read somewhere that I need another license for windows--no problem as I think I have another one somewhere.
4. Any gotchas?

Thanks for any helpful replies.
Click to expand...

1&2) I've never used VMWare's workstation virtualization software. I always use VirtualBox and have found it to be very stable, very easy to use and very good. I would try using it first, as I've had issues with VMWare's workstation software before (though I know it's very popular, I've never had much success with it).

3) As far as needing another license for Windows, if you wish to virtualize a Windows OS, you will need a license specifically for any install you do, including virtualized installs. So your host Windows 8.1 workstation has a Windows key and you will need a separate, unique Windows key for your virtualized Windows install.

4) The biggest gotcha is that your solution just really isn't the best solution for the problem you're addressing. If you have gone through and changed a bunch of settings and are afraid your settings will be lost, you might be better off simply creating a recovery image (or using something like CloneZilla to create a complete image of your machine). If you're just wanting to make sure your files will never be lost and can easily be retrieved, you would be better off with a backup script and a scheduled task.


These are the types of things I do for a living and for fun, so if you have any questions, let me know.
 
Slyfox696 said:
No offense, but while your idea is understandable, it's also not a good solution. If you're worried about hard drive failure, you need to backup your files to a secondary drive anyways, so why limit your computing to a virtual machine, which will be inferior to your physical machine? A better solution would simply to create a simple backup script (which is easy to do...I could even get you one if you wanted), create a scheduled task and have it backup the files you wanted. Then it would be a simple process to move them to a new computer from your backups.

However, it bugs me when people ask for advice and people give their opinion without providing advice on the subject asked for, so here's my answer to your question:


1&2) I've never used VMWare's workstation virtualization software. I always use VirtualBox and have found it to be very stable, very easy to use and very good. I would try using it first, as I've had issues with VMWare's workstation software before (though I know it's very popular, I've never had much success with it).

3) As far as needing another license for Windows, if you wish to virtualize a Windows OS, you will need a license specifically for any install you do, including virtualized installs. So your host Windows 8.1 workstation has a Windows key and you will need a separate, unique Windows key for your virtualized Windows install.

4) The biggest gotcha is that your solution just really isn't the best solution for the problem you're addressing. If you have gone through and changed a bunch of settings and are afraid your settings will be lost, you might be better off simply creating a recovery image (or using something like CloneZilla to create a complete image of your machine). If you're just wanting to make sure your files will never be lost and can easily be retrieved, you would be better off with a backup script and a scheduled task.


These are the types of things I do for a living and for fun, so if you have any questions, let me know.
Click to expand...

Thank you for both sets of replies. My concern isn't with losing files as I backup with Carbonite. It really is coming up with a good solution to getting my environment back up and running for the inevitable hard drive failure. I had never heard of Clonezilla but it looks like a Linux app and I'm not swift in that area and wouldn't even know where to begin.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
I have heard of Hyper-V, but from the link, that looks like it lets you run VM's in your environment, but not that it makes a VM of your environment. Did I misread that?
Click to expand...

for backup, I reccommend:

Automated Unlimited Backup for Home Users - Less than $5 per month - Nordic Backup Home


Once you virtualize your machine,. then run it on a host, (your machine), how do you plan on keeping it backed up? you left a large part of your plan out.



<----- VCDX6-DCV, CMA, NV, DTM shop.
 
If it's for playing around with VMs, you may want to consider http://VirtualBox.org. I run this and it moves seamlessly between Windows hosts and Linux hosts (export appliance / import appliance).

If you want to consider an easy way to keep a set of directories backed up from your PC to some other media, one of the best free tools that I've run across is SyncToy from Microsoft. It comes with the advantage that it only copies over files that have been changed or added, and if you use 'Contribute' sync methodology, you can even delete files from the source (freeing up disk space) without matching delete on the target (which is exactly what you want for backing up data files and such).

Figuring that if you system hard disk blows up, you'll have to re-install Windows and all the apps anyway, but it's the data files that are the key.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
I have heard of Hyper-V, but from the link, that looks like it lets you run VM's in your environment, but not that it makes a VM of your environment. Did I misread that?
Click to expand...

Oh that is what you want to do? Well that is a whole other matter and impossible at least legally. You are only allowed to run your windows on your machine and not at the same time virtually... license wise.
 
PeteEU said:
Oh that is what you want to do? Well that is a whole other matter and impossible at least legally. You are only allowed to run your windows on your machine and not at the same time virtually... license wise.
Click to expand...


Microsoft doesn't care if you run the same copy on your own system.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
Microsoft doesn't care if you run the same copy on your own system.
Click to expand...

Well not too sure to be honest. Normally if you install Windows that is already activated for a machine then, you can not install it on another machine. Now the question is if the activation system at Microsoft sees the virtual machine as another machine or the same machine..
 
PeteEU said:
Well not too sure to be honest. Normally if you install Windows that is already activated for a machine then, you can not install it on another machine. Now the question is if the activation system at Microsoft sees the virtual machine as another machine or the same machine..
Click to expand...


I think it lets you install it twice, you can then call them and say you are simply re-installing....
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
I think it lets you install it twice, you can then call them and say you are simply re-installing....
Click to expand...

No no.. you can install Windows as many times as you want, as long as the machine specs have not been changed.

What happens with activation is basically this. Your computer specs are transmitted to Microsoft and as long as they are the same.. especially the motherboard and processor, then everything is okay. But if too many "bits" are changed, then the activation fails. I have changed harddrives and graphics cards without a problem, but as soon as the motherboard or processor is changed then the hammer falls and you have to call Microsoft. Of course that only works if it is a non OEM version of Windows.

For example, I had a situation where a bios upgrade invalidated my Windows license because Microsofts system thought I was running windows on a new PC. This was easily fixable by calling Microsoft and explaining that no I had not changed my motherboard, but only updated the bios. It was a freakish thing, as other bios updates have never done it before or since.

Now the question is of course, what will activation on a virtual PC do.. as the virtual PC is not the same configuration wise as the real PC. I dont know, as I have always run either an illegal copy of windows in a virtual machine or a copy with its own license.
 
PeteEU said:
No no.. you can install Windows as many times as you want, as long as the machine specs have not been changed.

What happens with activation is basically this. Your computer specs are transmitted to Microsoft and as long as they are the same.. especially the motherboard and processor, then everything is okay. But if too many "bits" are changed, then the activation fails. I have changed harddrives and graphics cards without a problem, but as soon as the motherboard or processor is changed then the hammer falls and you have to call Microsoft. Of course that only works if it is a non OEM version of Windows.

For example, I had a situation where a bios upgrade invalidated my Windows license because Microsofts system thought I was running windows on a new PC. This was easily fixable by calling Microsoft and explaining that no I had not changed my motherboard, but only updated the bios. It was a freakish thing, as other bios updates have never done it before or since.

Now the question is of course, what will activation on a virtual PC do.. as the virtual PC is not the same configuration wise as the real PC. I dont know, as I have always run either an illegal copy of windows in a virtual machine or a copy with its own license.
Click to expand...




under hyper-V as well as VMware, you create a virtual hardware environment, it's different as far as MS sees between the actual hardware layer and the virtual hardware layer.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
Thank you for both sets of replies. My concern isn't with losing files as I backup with Carbonite. It really is coming up with a good solution to getting my environment back up and running for the inevitable hard drive failure. I had never heard of Clonezilla but it looks like a Linux app and I'm not swift in that area and wouldn't even know where to begin.
Click to expand...
If you have a hard drive failure, you will have to re-install Windows anyways, correct? It just seems like instead of doing one step (re-installing Windows), you'll have two steps. Additionally, backing up a virtual disk (which is what you install a VM to) is going to be a very very large file (it could be as large as the virtual disk size you created).

As far as Clonezilla goes, it isn't a Linux app as much as it is a version of Linux which is custom fit for a very specific purpose. It can be a little daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's really not bad.

What is so important about your environment that you need a virtual disk? Honest question, I'm trying to figure out what's going on.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
As a means of backing up environment and having the flexibility to move it to another PC whether by choice or in case of a physician hard drive failure.
Click to expand...
I think that some of the other posts cover why this isn't the optimal solution for the problem you're attempting to solve.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
I'm interested in virtualizing my home PC but I'm not sure which product to get.
I'm running Windows 8.1 and it appears as though I need to get VMWare Workstation 11 for Windows.
1. Is that the right product.
2. Is it pretty easy to run?
3. I think I've read somewhere that I need another license for windows--no problem as I think I have another one somewhere.
4. Any gotchas?
Thanks for any helpful replies.
Click to expand...
Iirc, headless hyper-v is available for free
Try Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 | TechNet Evaluation Center
 
One of the cheapest places to back your data up to is Amazon Glacier. This is particularly true if you have terabytes of data you need to backup. It does require some knowledge of their APIs though.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
I'm interested in virtualizing my home PC but I'm not sure which product to get.

I'm running Windows 8.1 and it appears as though I need to get VMWare Workstation 11 for Windows.

1. Is that the right product.
2. Is it pretty easy to run?
3. I think I've read somewhere that I need another license for windows--no problem as I think I have another one somewhere.
4. Any gotchas?

Thanks for any helpful replies.
Click to expand...

The solutions mentioned by others are all too complex for my liking. You can just simply buy a backup software and have that on an external hard drive or other computer somewhere. At work we have used various combinations of these. Easeus To Do Backup and Acronis. Easeus To Do Backup is better for different types of PCs. These even come with server versions but I haven't played around with those. Burn the software to a CD and you can run it on any PC. We have standard PCs for all users at work. If you get a crashed drive. We simply take your backup. Pop it into another HP desktop (WITH STICKER ON IT) type in the activation number and voila!

So as long as you have an activation sticker on your computer. You should be good to go using this method.
 
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