VPC Questions...

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Since when I get a Mac, I want VPC so that I can have any programs that aren't on mac. I do have a few questions about it:



What happens when you do DiskDefrag?

When you save a file in any VPC app, does it display C\, or the Mac HD?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    I think, first, that you have some general misconceptions about what Virtual PC is.



    VPC is a self-contained computing environment. Its files also are contained in a special disk image that is essentially separated from the rest of your Mac's filesystem. The PC's hard drive is just one giant file on your Mac's hard drive.



    So, when you access C:, you are accessing the top level in that disk image file. When you defragment, you are defragmenting the data inside that disk image file.



    You can, however, set up "shared" points from VPC's controls. You can set a folder (or a whole hard drive for that matter) from your Mac's filesystem to appear as a networked drive on your PC.



    To get data in the other direction, VPC's disk images can be mounted like any other disk images in your Mac so you can access the its contents like a normal drive. This image, however, cannot be mounted on the Mac side while it is attached to a running PC in VPC.



    This probably sounds very alien without actually experiencing it first hand. I'll toss together some screenshots that should illustrate my explanation...
  • Reply 2 of 7
    VPC is a standalone environment...







    Hard drives in VPC are actually single, whole files on your Mac...











    These files can be mounted on your Mac like a disk image...







    If Windows barfs, it still has to repair its hard drive (within the file)...







    Directories on your Mac can be shared to the virtual environment...



  • Reply 3 of 7
    Ahh. That makes a lot more sense...
  • Reply 4 of 7
    I'm glad it helped. Any other questions?
  • Reply 5 of 7
    OK. I want to try Linux sometime. Since it itself is free, is it free to run on VPC? What would you do to install it?
  • Reply 6 of 7
    Yup, you shouldn't have any trouble with linux. I've seen everything from Windows to Linux to NeXTSTEP to Rhapsody in Virtual PC.



    I've never installed Linux myself, though. So, I can't comment on the install process. It shouldn't be any different than setting up a regular OS, though.



    I'll try to get some screenshots of the OS setup process for you in a bit...
  • Reply 7 of 7
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by psgamer0921

    OK. I want to try Linux sometime. Since it itself is free, is it free to run on VPC? What would you do to install it?



    If you get the bootable ISOs, burn them, and just put the CD in the drive and start up VPC. When you do that, you'll automatically be booted into the installer for Linux and the install process works just like it would on a PC. That said, I'm not sure how limited you'll be in terms of configurations because I don't know what kind of support there is for the hardware VPC emulates in the various Linux distros. Given that MS now owns VPC and aren't supporting OSes other than Windows, chances are they made it as incompatible as possible. but I don't know that for sure.... Post back if you get things working.
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