[Ham-Computers] RE: Virtual PC 2007

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

I actually discovered that there's a bug in the "Core Duo" series of processors or the way Windows XP's power management handles the VT bit.  I thought the "Core Duo" in my personal laptop (an HP NC4400) supported VT (the Virtualization Technology bit), but when I installed VPC2007, it stated that VT was not available.  Some quick searches showed that some laptop manufacturers disabled VT in BIOS, but that was not the case for the NC4400 as there is specifically a setting in BIOS to enable or disable VT.  Further research on the 'net (Google is great!) revealed that VT may not work "through" a "standby" session (when you put your PC into "standby" power management mode).  Since I often put my laptop into standby rather than full power-off, I rebooted and voila!  VPC2007 allowed me to turn on hardware assisted virtualization.

So, did this make a big difference in virtual sessions.  Yes, but not so much that its all that much better.  It seems to be a bit faster in some things, but on a laptop, the limiting factor is hard drive throughput (2.5" drives are slower than 3.5" drives due to linear density).  So, overall, it's a bit faster.  Haven't had a chance to update VPC on my home Core2Duo yet, but I'm hoping performance on a desktop is a bit faster.

For reference, I also run virtual sessions with "undo disks" enabled, so that adds to drive access and performance decreases.  If running without "undo disks", then performance is typically noticably faster.  Additional RAM in the HOST computer also helps a lot.

As for Vista, I've only played with in on "real" hardware.  I've used three "beta" versions and Vista Business edition.  Haven't had a chance yet to install it as a "guest" in VPC2007, but it should work as VPC2007 added Vista "host" and "guest" support.  Nice "eye candy", but not worth the upgrade if you ask me.  Too many incompatibilities (hardware and software) and it's slower than XP.  With that in mind though, I'll still have to install it on something to use on a daily basis sooner or later...I'll eventually get support calls as it's out there.

73,

  - Aaron, NN6O




-----Original Message-----
From: ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of jandlmiller at bellsouth.net
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 5:30 PM
To: ham-computers at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Virtual PC 2007

Aaron, thanks for the 03/15/2007 post on Virtual PC 2007.  Did it work any better at home than at work?  Do you have Vista Business both at home and at work, or did you use Windows XP Professional as the virtual host in both locations?

John W0IKT

______________________________________________________________
Ham-Computers mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-computers
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
Post: mailto:Ham-Computers at mailman.qth.net