Virtualizing Windows 7

This week I received a new computer at work.

My old one, sadly, is not very organized and there is tons of stuff spread out all over.

I do not want to have to keep both computers since the old one could be put to much better use elsewhere and while I could simply backup the machine and hope to not miss anything I would not firgive myself if I did.

The solution, of course, is to virtualize the old machine on the new one. I usually do this when migrating to a new machine and so far it has been simple enough.

When I virtualized my older Windows XP box a few years back, it would not start up. Simply running a repair operation from the CD solved this issue.

This time I wanted to virtualize a Windows 7 machine and ran into significantly more trouble.

So here's a quick guide on how to do this, which may save you a couple of hours.

1. If your source disk is bigger than 127GB, you won't be able to use Microsoft Virtual PC. This has nothing to do with the size of the VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) file, or with the amount of content on the disk. Virtual PC implements disk images on a virtual IDE controller that is only capable of handling disks up to a certain size.
   
   The simple solution was to switch to virtualization software that supports bigger disks. I tried VirtualBox, and I will never go back! VirtualBox has some very cool features not available in Virtual PC, such as perfect dual monitor fullscreen support that allowed me to work on my old computer as if nothing had ever happened.
   
   
2. VirtualBox implements the SATA controller in AHCI mode, while my source machine did not. Windows disables drivers for this mode if it is not used, which will cause the virtual machine to fail to a bluescreen during boot. Install this "Fix It" on the source machine to prevent this error:
   
   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
   
   You do not need to check your SATA mode prior to installing, it will simply enable ACHI support - no change if it is already enabled.
   
   
3. Create disk images of your source machine. Sysinternals has a great little piece of software that will allow you to do this with the press of a button:
   
   http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415
   
   
4. Install VirtualBox on your target machine, click "New" and follow the guide to set up your machine. When asked, point the boot drive to the VHD-file you've created.
   
   
5. If you have additional VHD-files you can mount them under Settings, Storage, SATA-controller.
   
   
6. I would recommend also increasing your Video RAM to max and enabling acceleration for 2D and 3D.
   
   
7. Boot your virtual machine in safe mode and install VirtualBox Guest Additions.
   
   
8. Reboot into regular mode and everything should be up and running!
   
   

Now, you can get rid of your old machine without worrying.

Once you have your machine going, you'd probably want to set up some shared folders so that you can begin transferring data to your new machine.