Windows 7 x 64 bit & Virtual Machine

[BobB 58]

I have a new computer with Windows 7 x 64 bit OS. It is runnin g really well and have had virtually no problems so far. The 32 bit mode works really well also for all programs so far installed. I have installed my Omron CX-One in the main OS as I normally do. It is working fine so far and as the machine will only be used for development I do not have any driver issues at all.Iit installed in 32 bit mode fine. It installed in 32 bit mode successfully. It is the only PLC software I will install directly in Windows as it causes no problems at all and fully shuts down when one exits. I have Windows 7 x 32 bit mode to install on my laptop where 64 bit drivers are not available for communications and there would probably be issues. I have other PLC software to install and it will be installed in XP Mode - shut down XP Mode and shut down drivers. No problems with Siemsns, AB and Unity Pro not getting on with each other. I clicked on 'XP Mode' and set XP up. I then wnet into Users/Bob/AppData/Local/Microsooft/Windows Virtual PC/Virtual Machines and changed the file names (.vhd & .vmc extensions) to Schneider Unity Pro. Opens and works successfully. When I click on XP Mode Windows now opens Schneider Unity Pro and does not start a new XP Mode Virtual Machine. I wish to start a new XP Mode for other bPLC software - any ideas or do I have to just make a new Virtual Machine and set it up from scratch and fully load XP Pro? I have tried copying, pasting and renaming but it does not work. I have tried moving the Virtual Machine to another folder but then the Virual Machine does not work. I have tried moving the Virtual Machine back to the original folder but it does not work. Any help appreciated.

[paulengr 44]

The system you are fooling with is only intended to do a single machine. Try switching over to either Vmware or Virtualbox (which I prefer over Vmware). Both allow to run as many virtual machines as your processor(s), hard drive space, and memory can stomach.

[Crossbow 294]

I'm running Vista 64-bit, and have no problem running multiple machines using VMware. I've got all the Mitsu software (which is not 64-bit ready) working fine in a virtual machine. I run my VMs with either Windows 2000 (good for old old old software) or Windows XP (32-bit).

[BobB 58]

I have long been a fan of Virtual Box - right back to the early days when it used to fall over, had very little functionality etc. I have now installed the latest version and am having a look at it. Do not dismiss Windows 7 XP Mode - it is really very good. The integration is superb - it will even pick up and make available hard drives, USB drives etc and make them immediately available to the Virtual Machine when they are plugged in. I do not know if Virtual Box has got that far yet - accessing a USB hard drive used to be an absolute pain in the you know where - Microsucks has really got that right. You can also install as many Virtual Machines as you like with different OSs etc - same as Virtual Box. Then run integration tools from within the Virtual Machine and integration appears to be absolutely as good as in XP Mode. No using the right control key to take the mouse out of the Virtual Machine - the mouse and keyboard operate wherever the mouse focus is - really good. My only issue with setting up a Vrtual Machine in Windows 7 is that the maximum screen resolution appears to be 1024 x 768 - like a pimple on a pumpkin as I am using a Dell 30" monitor at a resolution of 2550 x 1600!! The XP Mode runs about the same resolution as Virtual Box and is fine. If Microsoft fix it so that there can be more than 1 XP Mode Virtrual Machine, they have got me for sure. Even if they up the resolution in a manually configured Virtual Machine they have got me for sure due to the fact that the integration is, quite frankly, brilliant. Guess I either have to live with 1 XP Mode Virtual Machine for the moment or use Virtual Box until they make multiple XP Mode machines available or fix the screen resolution in the manually configuredf Virtual Machine. I will have to have a look and see if there is anything I can do with the screen resolution and up it substantially.

[JesperMP 2]

I use VMware Workstation a lot. It easily integrates networking and USB devices from the host. Screen resolution can be changed from small to huge. One of the best investments I ever made.

[BobB 58]

I decided to stick with Virtual Box for the moment (free) and see how I go. I have USB hard drives I use all tyhe time for backup, transferring data etc. I cannot disciver how to add a USB hard drive in the hard drive section of Virtual Box. Have any of you guys discovered how to do this? I can see it as a generic USB device and Virtual Box picks up the attributes from the drive OK but there does not appear to be a way to add it as a hard drive. I can remember long ago that was one great annoyance I had with Virtual Box. XP Mode can pick up USB hard drives whenever you plug them in and recognises them as such - same as Windows does. Wish they would fix this in Virtual Box.

[paulengr 44]

Won't quite do it automatically. However... In a Linux host OS, you can trivially link the location where the USB drives get automounted to the shared folder and this works quite well. In addition, Linux distributions come with rdisplay-vrdp which with a little configuration automatically brings along it's USB drives to the party. MSTSC (the Microsoft version) doesn't do this even though their server software supports it! Last but not least, you can always point to "shared" folders on your Windows machine and get to your devices that way. It's not automated like Virtual PC or VMware though. Sorry...this is one area where the weaknesses of the Windows file system really start to show up. The third way to do this is with the virtual USB drivers in version 3.0.6 (non-open source edition only). Unlike the Linux versions it actually takes over control of your USB device because it does a low-level interface to support pretty much ANY USB device, not just specific ones such as hard drives. See the manual on page 59 for instructions but essentially you enable the virtual USB device driver and put in a "filter" to capture the appropriate devices.

[RussB 22]

If I understand your problem correctly, you want to install additional applications on this WXP Virtual PC. 1. Minimize or shutdown Schneider Unity Pro. 2. Use Windows Explorer in the VM to locate and install the rest of your VM applications. Once the XP Virtual machine is up and running you can install and uninstall apps to it as though it were a hardware system. I generally hibernate mine instead of shutting it down, faster. You may need to do a little research to get your serial port(s) and drivers working but most will work.

[BobB 58]

I should explain myself better. I want to put Allan Bradley, Siemens and Unity Pro in separate 'boxes'. Unity Pro will not be a pronblem as I can enter the licence number at a later time manually. Have not tried AB yet. Siemens is a real problem. I wish to transfer the licence to the VM. The licence is on a USB hard disk. I have found that in XP Mode I can see the USB drive and access it but as XP Mode does not install it as a hard drive Siemens licence manager does not see it. Similarly, in Virtual Box I can obtain access to the USB hard drive by share and low level access as decsribed above but as VB does not install it as a hard drive, Siemens licence manager does not see it. Ideally, with Siemens I would like to transfer the licence back and forth between the desktop and the laptop but it seems that if the licence is not on one of the special Siemens licence floppy disks, it cannot be done. I will continue to investigate and see if I can set up XP Mode with the USB drive plugged in and see if will install as a hard drive but I doubt it. Even with XP Mode the main Windows 7 hard disk is not installed as a hard disk but is usable by XP Mode on the 'other machine' - basically network drive. However, it would be useless installing the licence manager in Windows 7 as the Windows 7 hard drive is not installed as a real hard drive so the Siemens licence manager would not see it as a hard drive. I wish to keep these all apart as I have had problems with them all in the past not closing down drivers, owning serial ports etc. Also, the Siemens software Step 7 puts rubbish all over the hard drive. Sleepy Wombat describes it as 'infecting the hard drive with rubbish'. I have even tried transferring the Siemens licences to a USB stick but the same applies to all USB devices - they are not real hard drives. I even tried transferring the Siemens licence to a standard floppy disk but it destroys the floppy disk and you lose the licence numbers - thank heavens for Acronis clone disk or I would have lost the licences and had to re-apply. I clone my hard drive every week to a USB drive as well as run backups. I cannot see any way around it at the moment other than keeping a separate XP Pro machine and laptop just for Siemens software.

[BobLfoot 301]

BobB just a thought will license manager see a Network Mapped Drive {x: as //server/drivefolder/} if so map your usb drive connected to a Netowrk machine as a network Drive in Virtualbox. Just MHO. Caveat Emptor.

[JesperMP 2]

BobB. No solution to your troubles with Win 7 "XP mode" and Siemens licenses. Just want to say that I have no such problems with VMware Workstation. Maybe the problem is because your Siemens licenses are the old style "single licenses" and not the newer "floating licenses". The older single licenses would require either the yellow floppy diskette or a "genuine" hard drive. Can you attach a floppy drive to the XP mode VM machine ? Even a USB floppy drive should work. But you need to use the original Siemens yellow floppy diskette.

[BobB 58]

Jesper, I believe that is the problem - floppy disk died years ago. May have to update to a new licence - darn!!! Virtual Box I have found is as good as VMWare to be honest and have never had a problem with it. It is just the Siemens licence system causing the problem. Have tried networking drives but the licence manager will only see real drives on the host and nothing else. May buy the upgrade as I have the licenec and see if the new licence manager will give me more oprtions. Have even tried shared drives, shared folders etc. I have tried everything else I can think of and what you guys have suggested too. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have one more thing to try - set up XP Mode with the USB drive plugged in but I doubt it will work - worth a try though. Edited 1 Jul 2010 by BobB

[JesperMP 2]

BobB, be sure to read this: http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?showtopic=19779 It would be too bad to buy an upgrade to 5.4, and then immediately thereafter Siemens releases 5.5. For the upgrade from 5.3 to 5.5, I am not sure if you just need the old "single license" to be on the harddrive when you do the upgrade, or if you must use the yellow floppy diskette.