A great tool for mounting Disk Image (*.iso) files

A great tool for mounting Disk Image (*.iso) files so they can be accessed through the Windows file system is Virtual Clone Drive from SlySoft. While not specifically related to Virtual PC, I’ve found that as I’ve used more virtualization, it’s more common to store or move software as
ISO’s vs. ever burning to a physical CD or DVD. In a situation when you need to access those on a host (non-Virtual PC) computer, the traditional way was to burn the ISO to a CD, then run software from a CD. Virtual Clone Drive allows the ISO to be mounted.

The console is very minimal, allowing you to create up to 8 ‘drives’. Each of these shows up as a new drive letter in Windows.

On each new drive letter, simply right-click:

Choose Virtual Clone Drive ->‘Mount…’ and browse to your ISO

Plus, the drive letter has a wacky sheep icon as a conversation starter… what’s not to love?

Virtual PC Resources

Resource for getting started with Virtual PC

Because I just introduced Virtual PC to a few new colleagues at work, I've collected here various resources used in the last year or two in my use of Virtual PC, from emails, favorites, etc.


Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 Technical Reference

A good starting point for setting up your first Virtual PC, using a established, supported OS such as Windows 98, 2000 or XP


TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Virtual PC Technical Overview - Level 200

I’ve previously used this webcast to introduce Virtual PC to teams new to the product, It’s a 2004 version, but other than slight differences in look-and-feel in 2007, as an end-user, the features hold true.


Virtual PC Guy

Good blog about issues with Virtual PC, setting up uncommon scenarios, alternative OS's, etc.


Specific Platforms

Microsoft VHD Downloads
Microsoft makes available a number of platforms as pre-build virtual hard drives, typically as an time-limited evaluation, but in some situations, I've been able to then authorize them with the MSDN product keys when using for dev or test purposes. The Server 2003/2008 VHDs especially are great for starting off an eval of a server product, rather than stepping through the OS install...every...time.

Installing a New Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Portal: Step-by-Step Instructions
Not specifically addressing Virtual PC installations, but a common task for within a Virtual PC/Server (Download the evaluation edition)

Installing Microsoft Virtual PC and a DOS Virtual Machine
Haven't came up with an actual useful need for the DOS VM yet, but just having it and being able to boot it quickly drives the point home about being able to use Virtual PC for legacy support.

Linux
Installing Ubuntu 8.04 under Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
This was the most painless Linux distribution to install from scratch on a Virtual PC. But because if you're far from a master of the Linux, but need a test bed for some web apps - the LAMP Virtual Appliance was a great out of the box solution. This is a prebuilt Virtual Hard Drive you can add as Virtual PC, and is preconfigured with a very light-weight Linux no GUI, Apache web server, mySQL database, and the PHP, Perl, and Python engines. (To fully access it from your host relies on some reverse DNS configurations I didn't know, but it for my purposes, was easy enough to alias the IP address and use that)

Remote Desktop Gadget 2.1

Remote Desktop Gadget 2.1

Grabbed the updated version of the Remote Desktop Gadget for the Vista Sidebar. The 1.x version was really the only alternative I found that worked for me. Other tools out there that have features for looking up an OU, etc.: great concept, but they always seem to lockup. This tool seems very simple and clean. The 2.x version added 'History', in the form of a drop-down box when you expand the gadget. Still very lightweight, with this new feature.