[Ubuntu-US-NM] Time to Virtualize

[Andrew Parker]

Thanks Eric.  And I would like your support when the time comes.

Purchasing VM Workstation is a non-issue.  I also qualify for the 
educational discount.

I have two USB drives.  One is for incremental back-ups.  The other one 
contains an image of my Windows system.  I also have Restore CDs created 
from the ThinkVantage suite. 

I am not sure if I want to tranfer my existing Windows set-up; its time 
to do my yearly spring cleaning.  And the existing Windows system has 
all of the ThinkVantage stuff which slows the OS down and takes up 
space.  I am thinking of doing a minimal Windows  XP install in the  VM. 

Lastly, if I do capture my current system as a VM, will the MBR be 
copied as well?  I want to do away with my dual boot.

Andrew Parker
Source3 Computing
505-350-5535
www.source3.com



Eric Krieger wrote:
> Go with VMware. Do you have an external USB Hard Drive? If you do then
> this is going to be easy.
>
> 1. Download VMWare's P2V (Physical to Virtual) Converter from...
>
> http://vmware.com/download/converter/
>
> 2. Install it on your Windows Laptop.
>
> 3. Connect the hard drive to your laptop.
>
> 4. Fire up VMWare Converter and Follow this how to...
>
> http://www.pringle.net.nz/Blog/PermaLink,guid,4f2ccdae-0825-4b87-8b84-4050172fb033.aspx
>
> Dumping the virtual image of your laptop to the USB drive. Now you have
> an exact copy of you laptop as a VM.
>
> Now the hard part. Are you willing to part with $200 for VMware
> Workstation? There are a couple advantages...
>
> https://www.vmware.com/products/ws/new.html
>
> The USB support is a big one...it allows your VM's to access USB devices
> directly. I purchased Workstation and I think it's worth it.
>
> Also before you blow away your windows partition and install Ubuntu I
> would really recommend that you create a backup "image" of your laptop
> with something like...
>
> http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
>
> ...that way if something goes very wrong you can alway restore your
> laptop to it's former XP self....
>
>
> With the VM and Image of your laptop created install Ubuntu and your
> flavor of VMWare... If you need help with the VMware let me know.
>
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Andrew Parker wrote:
>   
>> Folks:
>>
>> I am gearing up to redo my laptop in preparation for my Capstone Project 
>> at Penn State.  Below is a short discussion on what I want to do.  Any 
>> words of wisdom is appreciated.  I want to perform the transition soon 
>> after March 18th.
>>
>>
>>   Objectives
>>
>> For my Capstone project in the MGIS program at Penn State, I want to use 
>> Open Source software only. However, I use the same laptop for school and 
>> work. While at work, I need to run programs that only run in Windows (ie 
>> ArcMap, MS Access, gotomeeting). In addition, I connect to a Windows 
>> Domain (Windows Server 2003) while at work.
>>
>> My proposed solution is to run Ubuntu 7.10 as host and use Virtualbox, 
>> VMserver, or VMworkstation to run Windows XP as a guest. I do not want 
>> to dual boot as I need the functionality of both Linux and Windows at 
>> the same time and drive space is limited.
>>
>> I also use a docking station at work with an external monitor.  I have 
>> played around with the external screen but never got it to display 
>> properly.  I will need help configuring the display settings when the 
>> time comes.
>>
>>
>>   System Configuration
>>
>> Computer
>>
>> 	
>>
>> Thinkpad T60
>>
>> Processor
>>
>> 	
>>
>> Intel Centrino Duo 1.83 Ghz
>>
>> RAM
>>
>> 	
>>
>> 3 GB
>>
>> Hard Drive
>>
>> 	
>>
>> 80GB
>>
>> OS
>>
>> 	
>>
>> Dual Boot, Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu 7.10
>>
>> (within Windows, I am also running Ubuntu within Virtualbox)
>>
>>
>>   Programs to Run
>>
>> I need to run the following programs. To my knowledge, they only run in 
>> Windows XP:
>>
>>    1.
>>
>>       ArcView 9.2
>>
>>    2.
>>
>>       MS Access
>>
>>    3.
>>
>>       Acrobat Reader Professional 7.0
>>
>>    4.
>>
>>       gotomeeting, gotoassist
>>
>>
>>   Questions
>>
>>    1.
>>
>>       Would it be better to run Windows XP as host and Ubuntu as guest?
>>       I am worried abut connecting to our work domain.
>>
>>    2.
>>
>>       Are there any advantages to partitioning the HD and use the extra
>>       partition for data storage that both the host and guest can access?
>>
>>   
>>     
>
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>