Installing Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2) Build 5744 in Virtual PC 2004

Installing Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2) Build 5744 in Virtual PC 2004

I was hopeful that Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2) Build 5744 was going to speed right along and install in Virtual PC 2004 with very little trouble, and truthfully, for the most part it did. I still received some error messages I'd seen before and had to use a Virtual CD/DVD emulation program again, just as I did with some previous builds, to complete the installation. That's explained in the following tutorial. Obviously if you are considering this method you need to have Virtual PC 2004 w/SP1 installed on your system. If you don't have Virtual PC you can download it free from the Microsoft website.

	Fire up the Virtual PC 2004 program and start the New Virtual Machine Wizard either by using the [ New ] button or selecting [ New Virtual Machine Wizard ] from the [ File ] option.
	Nothing to do here but click Next.
	Select the Create A Virtual Machine option and click Next.
	Give the new virtual machine a name and then click [ Browse ] to select a location where the files will be saved.
	Since Virtual PC 2004 hasn't been updated to include a Vista option, select Other for the operating system and click Next.
	By default, the RAM allocation is going to be set to 128MB. It's essential you change this to at least 512MB at the very minimum, preferably 1024MB, and more if you have it available. In spite of the fact that it looks like the RAM allocation is set to 024MB in the screen capture at left, it is really set to 1024MB. The problem is the display area can only show 3 digits at one time.
	If you already have an existing virtual hard disk you want to use, that's acceptable, but for this tutorial I'm using the New Virtual Hard Disk option.
	It doesn't make any difference where you store the virtual hard disk as long as there is sufficient drive space available.
	That's it for the New Virtual Machine Wizard. Click Finish.
	At this point the new Virtual Machine has been created. Select the new Virtual Machine and click Settings to verify everything is as you expected. The next logical step would be to click Start, but logic doesn't always work. There is another step that must be completed first and then we'll come back to the Start button.

Way back when Build 5308 was released I covered the necessity of using a Virtual CD Image tool to install Vista in Virtual PC 2004. That still holds true today. This isn't an optional step and the installation will not be successful unless you use the following procedure. The best known Virtual CD Image tool is Daemon Tools but another option is Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel v2.0.1.1 available from Microsoft. Either one will do the trick. In this case I happened to use the Microsoft product because I already had it downloaded and ready to create the virtual CD/DVD drive. The procedure is as follows.

The first step is to download the file to your desktop and extract the files into a folder. It makes no difference what you name the folder. There will be three files in the folder; readme.txt, VCdControlTool.exe, and VcdRom.sys. Open readme.txt and follow the instructions.

The only thing you really need to be careful about is to make sure when the drive is added you don't select a drive letter that is already in use on the system.

This is the Virtual CDRom Control Panel that executes when VCdControlTool.exe is double clicked. As you can see, Drive Y has been added and has the Vista image mounted. If you wanted to change to a different image, just click [ Eject ] and the currently mounted image is removed. Click [ Mount ] and select a new image. Ignore the Special Mount Options dialog box that appears when mounting the images. Once the image is mounted, click [OK] to close the control panel.

Now that the image is mounted go ahead and restart the virtual machine, select [CD] from the menu, point it to the new virtual drive which in this case happens to be Y, and wait for the Vista installation to begin.

	The [Windows Is Loading Files...] screen will appear for a few moments. Just be patient.
	The Vista (or what I assume will eventually have a Vista logo) splash screen will appear. Again -- be patient.
	Eventually the Install Windows screen appears where you specify the Language to Install, Time and Currency Format, and the Keyboard or Input Method. Click [Next] to continue.
	Finally, your patience will be rewarded and this is what you'll see. Click Install Now.
	Things are looking up. It's time to type in the Product Key. Once again I have to say this; if you don't have a product key, don't write me begging for one, telling me your dog ate it, or that you're really Bill Gates and that 'everybody' in Redmond lost their activation keys and you need mine to save the future of computing. In the past it has always been necessary to enter the product key at this point, but RC1 and RC2 have allowed the installation to proceed without the key. If you choose not to enter the key at this point you'll see two additional screens shown below. I strongly recommend you enter the product key at this time.
	The License Terms screen. Accept the terms and click Next or decline and have a good day without Vista.
	At this point in this type of installation the only choice available is a Custom installation. Click it and move on.
In many prior builds this was the point where you had to go through all sorts of nonsense to get a partition prepared and ready to accept the Vista installation. Thankfully that is no longer the case in Vista RC2. If you want to refresh your memory on what happened in previous builds at this point, look here and it explains how to get the previous builds running.
	As you can see in the screen capture at left, there is only one disk (Disk 0) and it is all unallocated space. You 'could' at this point use the Drive Options (Advanced) to format and size the partition but I didn't bother. I just clicked the [ Next ] button and moved ahead.

Finally ! Installing Windows... appears and the installation begins.

From here on out it really is a automatic process. A few restarts will occur but you can go about your business until you see the screen appear in the next section.

	Eventually you get to the point where Vista is getting ready to start for the first time. How long it takes before you arrive here is pretty much a crapshoot at this point. There has been a lot of talk about installation times. I've done a number of installs on different systems and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how long an install takes. On average, I'd say they have been running in the 30 - 45 minute bracket.
	Entering a User Name isn't optional. You can't proceed until you supply a name. The password and password hint fields are optional. As long as you don't enter a password for any accounts -AND- there is only one user account (not including the Guest account) the system will start up and load without pausing at the Welcome screen, or what used to be the Welcome screen. It doesn't have a name that I'm aware of in Vista. If you want to change the account picture you can do so now or wait until later and change it via Control Panel.
	You may have noticed in the earlier installation steps that naming the computer was eliminated. That has now become a part of this setup process. By default, Vista is going to supply a name based on the User Name you entered in the previous step. You can change it here or go with their suggestion. Choose a desktop background and click the [ Next ] button.
	Ever since SP2's debut for Windows XP there has been a chance to protect windows automatically during the setup phase. Obviously Microsoft wants you to choose the Recommended Settings as is evident by the size of the shield but the choice is yours to make. Select one and the setup will continue.
	Standard fare for the Time and Date settings. Click [ Next ] when you have adjusted them to your location. If you have no idea what time, day, or even month it is you probably write about technology too. Click Next.
	One last screen where you need to select the computer location. Just to be on the safe side I'd suggest you choose the Public location. This will afford some added protection until you have a chance to examine each setting more carefully after Vista has finished installing.
	That's all, folks. When you get here it's simply a matter of clicking [ Start ] and waiting for setup to complete. This step may take a while so be patient. Eventually the system will restart and you'll be brought back to the desktop assuming you didn't enter a password for the user account. If you did, you'll have to enter it on the User Name screen before the desktop appears, as shown below.

Default Display and Virtual Machine Additions

In some previous Vista builds you may remember when they first booted after installation the display was rendered in 4 bit color, a truly hideous experience. To get a decent display it was necessary to install the Virtual Machine Additions. With the RC2 build the screen displays as shown in the screen capture above, a huge improvement.

The display improvement is only one aspect of the Virtual Machine Additions. Just because the display is vastly improved now without installing the additions that doesn't mean they should be left uninstalled. Without them the overall performance of Vista in a virtual machine will suffer and the user experience will be absolutely miserable.

Installing Virtual PC 2004 Virtual Machine Additions in Vista RC2 - Build 5744

Each time a new build of Vista is released there is always a lot of talk about the Virtual Machine Additions supplied with Virtual PC 2004 w/SP1 working (or not working) in Vista builds. My experience up to this point has been that they do work and provide a noticeable performance increase. I've had no problem installing them at all in previous Vista builds; that continues to hold true in Vista RC2 Build 5744. Understand that I'm not saying they make a virtual machine Vista installation fly or perform like it can on a dedicated desktop or laptop installation, but they do improve performance.

However, if one version of Virtual Machine Additions works well there is a possibility that a different version might work even better. Fortunately, there is another version of the additions available that ships with a product called Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. It also uses Virtual Machine Additions to boost performance; a different set of additions than those supplied with Virtual PC 2004 w/SP1.

I'm going to break this tutorial down into two sections. The first section will show how to install the Virtual Machine Additions that are supplied with Virtual PC 2004 w/SP1. The second section will explain how to obtain the Virtual Machine Additions supplied with Virtual Server 2005 R2 and how to install them in a Vista RC2 - Build 5744 virtual machine installation.

Installing Standard v13.306 Virtual Machine Additions Supplied with Virtual PC 2004 w/SP1

	With Vista loaded, click on CD in the menu bar and make sure that none of the physical drives or Capture ISO Image entry have a checkmark next to them. If they do, use the [ Release ] option to remove them.
	On the Action menu, select Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions. Give it some time after you make the selection. It can take a little while to get things started.
	When the AutoPlay screen appears, click on Run setup..exe to start the install. Note on the AutoPlay window it lists VMADDITIONS13.306. The 13.306 designates the additions that are part of Virtual PC 2004.
	In past builds of Vista and other versions of Windows the .exe file would have just gone ahead and executed without further attention. However, a new part of Vista is User Account Control (UAC) and this is your first taste. In order for the file to run you have to grant it permission because it could be a security risk. Because you are logged in with an Administrator privilege account, just click [ Continue ] to permit the install to move forward.
	Again, give it some time, but eventually the InstallShield Wizard will appear. Click [ Next ] to continue. The Virtual Machine Additions will go ahead and install.
	Eventually the additions will finish installing and you'll be prompted to restart the system. Do so, log back in and finally you'll be brought back to the desktop with more responsive system.

Installing Standard v13.552 Virtual Machine Additions Supplied with Virtual Server 2005 R2

The first step in installing the v13.552 additions is getting your hands on a copy of them. Since they aren't available as a separate download this means you need a copy of Virtual Server 2005 R2. When I first put together this guide for Build 5308, Virtual Server 2005 R2 was available as a 180 day trial download. Since that time, the 180 day restriction has been lifted and it's now available as a free download. Grab the download, install Virtual Server 2005 R2 and then follow along below to complete the installation.

Fire up the virtual machine and go to CD on the menu.

Click the [ Capture ISO Image... ] option to open the Select CD Image to Capture window.

Navigate to where you installed Virtual Server 2005 R2. If you accepted the default install location it will be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\Virtual Machine Additions and select the VMAdditions.iso file and click [ Open ] button

Once the .iso file has been selected in a few seconds the AutoPlay window will open.

When the AutoPlay screen appears, click on Run setup..exe to start the install.

Note on the AutoPlay window it lists VMADDITIONS13.552. The 13.552 designates the additions that are part of Virtual Server 2005 R2.

From this point on the installation is exactly the same as installing the v13.306 extensions described above. Just follow along, clicking the appropriate prompts and eventually restarting the virtual machine after the extensions are installed.

That's it. If you don't want to go to all the trouble of downloading and installing Virtual Server 2005 R2 to get the improved extensions, at the absolute minimum install the additions that are supplied with Virtual PC 2004. Don't expect by installing either of the extensions that Vista is going to perform like a dedicated installation to a workstation or laptop, but they do help to speed things up a bit.