Dual booting linux and window xp

VMware Workstation 3.0 for Windows operating systems shipped on November 5th, 2001, after a 2 month public beta trial. Web distribution is priced at $299, and packaged distribution at $329. While VMware Workstation 3.0 comes in two Host OS versions, one for Windows operating systems as the Host OS, and the other for Linux systems as the Host OS, we'll focus mostly on VMware Workstation 3.0 for Windows. Many of the same concepts apply to the Linux version, and you can still run Linux operating systems as Guest OSs under the Windows-hosted version.

Per VMware's FAQ: Here's a list of what's new or improved in Version 3.0

Enhancements to existing features include: Performance improvements: faster disk I/O, better video performance, faster CPU and networking performance, and smoother mouse movement Updated user interface on Windows hosts with better wizards for creating new virtual machines and adding devices to virtual machines Easier VMware Tools installation with improved SVGA driver Bigger virtual disks

New features include: Support for Windows XP Virtual machine list in the UI (Windows hosts only) make it easier to keep track of virtual machines Virtual machine names now allow users to create names for virtual machines, displayed in the Window title bar and elsewhere Automatic saving of configuration changes Network Address Translation to make it easy to connect to the Internet or other TCP/IP network using the host computer's dial-up networking connection, wireless LAN adapter, or Token Ring adapter USB device support Generic SCSI device support Connect virtual CD-ROM drives to either a physical drive or an ISO image file using the Configuration Editor Support for multiple networking configurations, making it easier to use a virtual machine on a notebook computer that is sometimes used in a docking station and sometimes used standalone Screen capture option on the File menu (Windows hosts only)

From our perspective, we believe Workstation 3.0 is a big improvement from Workstation 2.0, which had some technical problems and limitations, a non-intuitive user interface, and required users to edit config files at times to gain added features (much like configuring Linux). It also presented misleading messages occasionally. On Windows hosts, Workstation 3.0 brings a big change to the UI, with a cleaner more intuitive look, and more descriptive messages. The Linux host version retains a Workstation 2.0 user interface with changes to support new features. The help system has been expanded, with far fewer references to the Web (which was a real problem in Workstation 2.0).

VMware 2.0's UI was accused of being a bit of a wasteland of screen real estate. It had no clear way to see available virtual machine files. Additionally, the older method of starting a VM required you to go through the wizard or menu system, and the VM starting shell was just a large logo. The new version makes better use of the screen with a list of available VM files, and the option to open a new or existing VM. VMware 3.0 also has a "Windows XP" style UI, with a more rounded look and feel.

The "new virtual machine" wizard is similar in function to the earlier version, but cleaner in execution. It steps you quickly through creating a basic virtual machine. You can look at it as if you just put together a machine from parts yourself, with the only software being the BIOS. The wizard lets you take either a "typical" path, or a "custom" path. The typical path asks you to specify the guest operating system you will be installing, a directory or folder to contain it, and the type of networking to use. The custom path lets you tweak the memory setting, use an existing disk or create a new disk, set the virtual disk size, and set the disk type (IDE or SCSI). Once the VM is created, you can't change the hard drive size, though you can add drives, or change the disk file it uses.

One new feature that many users may overlook, but product reviewers, tech-writers and documentation professionals will love--is the built-in screen capture. This allows you to install a supported OS, including DOS based products, and get screen captures during times when you have no access to your machine--such as during the boot phase of an OS. From the File menu in the VMware Workstation shell, selecting "Screen Capture" grabs the screen and pops up a file save dialog. It can be stored anywhere on you system, though it goes to the VM directory by default.

Installing an operating system is almost exactly like installing on a raw hard drive. VMware Workstation provides the virtual machine, along with a Phoenix BIOS v.4.0 release 6.0 that you can get in and tweak. Depending on the OS you're installing (see list of supported OS's), you'll need to have either a boot floppy, or if your PC supports it, a bootable CD. VMware has announced preconfigured Guest OS Kits to be launched in January 2002, but they were not available during our test period. VMware competitor, Connectix Virtual PC, includes PC DOS with their product, as well other operating systems for an extra cost. The bundled PC DOS helps jumpstart installing other operating systems, but we'll explain a work-around for Workstation a little later.

The most common way to create a guest VM is by using a virtual disk. The virtual disk looks like a hard drive to the guest OS, but only takes as much space as it needs on your physical hard drive. It will grow as you install applications and data, but only to the limit you set when you created the VM. The virtual disk is unformatted and unpartitioned, so you'll either have to FDisk and Format your drive from a floppy before installing an OS, or install from a bootable CDROM. You can start by booting from a DOS or Windows 9x emergency floppy, or if running Windows NT or 2000, boot from the CDROM. Another way is to download a boot disk image from www.bootdisk.com.

We first installed Windows 98 the hard way, using a physical boot floppy and the CD. Once the OS was installed, we reconfigured the Floppy drive A: to point to a blank virtual floppy. From within Windows 98, we went to Add/delete applications, and selected the startup disk tab, and clicked on the "create disk" button. This created a bootable floppy image, complete with the option of starting with or without CDROM support. The image was then saved and can be used for future operating system jump-starts.

Windows Me will also create a bootable floppy, but Microsoft in their infinite wisdom, removed the ability to do Format c:/s to create a bootable drive, limiting its usefulness for us in formatting our virtual hard drive. Just as a side note, for PC users who only know Windows, we recommend using the /u (unconditional) switch to keep Windows from doing a quick format or from saving any backup information.

Like any other Windows operating system, you can install Windows XP in a virtual machine. However, because of the Windows Product Activation scheme, you need to take a little extra care. Unless you have a site-licensed version of XP that doesn't use WPA, when setting up a virtual machine for XP, there are some precautions to take.

As Windows XP needs to be activated to run more than 30 days, if you're planning on using it in a VM, you need to be sure about your configuration before activation. Since you can change your VMs configuration at any time, you should take advantage of XP's grace period to work out the memory, drive, sound, and network settings. Additionally, you should install the VMware Tools before you activate. VMware Tools installs an improved video driver, which depending on other changes, could trigger a new XP activation.

Once you're happy with the configuration, go ahead and activate. We activated Windows XP Home edition in a VM without a hitch. While it does break the license agreement, you can move your Windows XP virtual machine files to another machine and run without reactivation. Because the virtual environment is completely encapsulated, Windows XP does not see the real hardware and doesn't know it has moved to another system. We tested our Windows XP Home Edition on three machines, a 700MHz laptop running Windows XP Professional, a 1GHz desktop running Windows 2000 Pro, and a 300MHz desktop running Windows 2000 Advanced Server. The roving VM worked fine on all machines, though it was a little slower on the 300MHz setup.