W7 with VMware (formerly Virtualbox)

I also like the ability to access the USB drive with VMware. Unfortunately not well enough to use readyboost though.

fink, a couple of things I like about VMware are, you can create backup copies of your VM's by just copy/paste into a backup folder, and I can keep little used VM's on a USB harddrive. They seem to boot and perform just as well from there as when on the main HDD.

Ya might also try some linux distros in premade VM images. All ya do is download 'em, unzip 'em, and fire 'em up.

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/

Thanks, didn't know that. I've only used the Linux live CD's for the most part. I'm def interested in a virtual Linux OS..

Any idea why I sometimes get an error message about the VMware/W7 file not being "locked" along with a boot failure? If it weren't for the snapshots I took I'd have to reinstall windows 7. Can't find anything about that in the help file.

Occasionally, if the shutdown doesn't go perfectly, it'll leave some folders/files with an *.lck extension in the W7 VM folder. When it won't boot, you've got to delete those.

Sometimes it's only one but more often it's 3 of them.

Thanks, I deleted them.

Is there any particular reason why I wouldn't just always leave it in a suspended state? Does that use any resources on my host PC?

EDIT- Never mind, I see that it uses RAM, about 450megs worth.

Some issues I've noticed...

The homegroup icon on the desktop duplicates itself on boot. No matter which one I select to delete the newer one always dissapears. Doesn't effect function though.

Trying to open Solitaire freezes the computer completely had to cold reboot.
(edit- other games too... tried one more and it froze.. won't try any more)

IEX8 isn't very cooperative in trying to move the toolbars around but that may not be a specific W7 problem.

As a side note I tried extracting the W7 version of MSpaint to XP but it isn't recognized as a valid program. Too bad, I like it.

I have to wonder though, if running it as a virtual PC officially invalidates the problems I encounter since it may be possible that may be contributing to any errors I experience.