NewSID is no longer available!!
What files do I need to copy as there appears to be multiple files associated with one VM ?
Thanks
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Question
Make a copy of a Virtual PC 2007 VM
I cannot find a category for Microsoft Virtual PC (on a pc not mac) so I hope this question is in the correct area!!
I am running Win 7 Ultimate with Virtual PC installed.
I have created a XP Pro VM, activated and all Updates installed.
I would like to use this image for one task but I would also like to have another 2 copies of this VM to use for other tasks. (not all running at the same time)
Is there a way to create copies of this VM instead of having to re-make the VM from scratch?
Thanks
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Answers
It is very easy to make a copy of a virtual machine. You first go to All Programs -> Windows Virtual PC on the Windows 7 Start Menu and click it. That brings up a folder containing one or more files with a file extension of ".vcmx". These are ASCII text files specifying certain characteristics of the corresponding virtual machines. I have one that I have called Windows XP Mode.vcmx You can open them up in any ASCII text editor, such as Windows Notepad, and you will find lines showing where the virtual hard disk file is for the virtual machine. I stored my Windows XP Mode virtual hard disk file on another partition on my Windows 7 machine, namely H:. Here is the contents of my Windows XP Mode.vcmx:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<!-- Microsoft Virtual Machine Description and Registration Settings -->
<vm_description>
<ram_size type="string">512 MB</ram_size>
<vmstate type="string">Powered down</vmstate>
<primary_disk1 type="string">H:\WinXPmode\
<secondary_disk1 type="string">E</secondary_d
<notes type="string" />
<vmc_path type="string">H:\WinXPmode\
</vm_description>
Your virtual hard disk file (ending with a file extension of ".vhd") will probably be at another location than drive H:. You merely use Windows Explorer to copy that .vhd file somewhere else; if you have it in the same folder as the original, you will of course have to rename it since you can't have two files in a folder with the same name. To have a separate virtual machine, you would then use Notepad to modify the contents of another copy of the .vcmx file to point to that virtual hard disk file and then double click it to create the .vmc file and start the second virtual machine.
I have followed your instruction and it worked to a certain degree.
My new VM is called XPProMaster
I have renamed all the files I copied.
I now have a copy of the .vhd,.vhc,.vmx.vpcbackup and I copy and pasted the .vmcx (which is in a different folder) then renamed and edited the new .vmcx
The problem now is whenever I run the new .vmcx it chages the path from XPProMaster.vhd to ActiveVM.vhd
??
I managed to fix that glitch - I had to change the path to the .vhd in the settings with the VM powered down.
Appears to work now :-) Thanks, however 2 glitches have appeared on both VM's
1. It now asks for login credentials even tho I have no password set (I have to click cancel)
2. It wont open in full screen unless I click the maximize button. (It doesnt seem to remember it was in full screen)
These 2 glitches were not there before I copied
Thanks
I took a look at my .vmc file, and I see that it has one reference to the correspondng .vhd file, so you may need to edit that also (besides the .vmcx file that you've already edited.) Otherwise, I would think that both the request for login credentials and the full screen mode are probably in the registry somewhere, which means they are part of the virtual hard disk (.vhd) file.
Kenan (and others):
NewSID is gone because it's not needed. You don't need unique workstation SIDs when you use sysprep - it will be changed accordingly. When a machine joins the domain, it gets a RID added to the SID making it unique. The only thing you can't do is "copy" a VM while it's connected to a domain.
See Mark Russinovich's blog from November 3. (creator of the NewSID utility and now works for Microsoft)
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by: KenanPosted on 2009-11-08 at 06:12:30ID: 25770519
If your licences are in tact, you can just copy the VM files to a second folder and start the new virtual machine from there. You can also download NewSID application and run it a a second VM in orders to clear the machine of any specific files and settings wich would conflict with the first machine.
NewSid: http://technet.microsoft.c