Running SharedView on Windows 7 RC 1

SharedView is one of the best desktop sharing applications I have ever used. The reason I like it is because its SIMPLE. Download, install, login, share. Rinse and repeat up to 15 times (because 15 concurrent users are allowed per share). This works so well, its just one of those tools I always install on my machine (and I’m picky about what’s running on my machine).

But hey, its Windows 7 RC 1. You want use SharedView….well too bad! It won’t install!

So Josh Hesey at Catalyst wrote this little life-saver of a blog post and modified the ShareView MSI to allow you to install it. Download it here.

Thank you Josh!

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Running an existing VHD Image in Windows 7 RC 1

In my previous post, I showed the difficulty of running Virtual Server 2005 on Windows 7 RC 1 due to the “Hard Block” and I vowed to try to get an existing VHD running inside Win 7. Here is a screenshot showing my VHD running in all its glory in Windows 7 Release Candidate 1. Its a SharePoint (MOSS 2007) image that I created a long long time ago.

 

In order to get an existing VHD running, the option you can use is Windows Virtual PC.

1. Download and install Windows Virtual PC from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx.
2. Navigate to a folder that contains the VHD and VMC file like the image shown below and double click on the VMC file.

   

3. This will start up the Virtual PC and ask you to install the integration module. Click ok and after a restart, you should see the login screen for your VHD image.

 

For now this method will get you running in the environment. However, I am finding that it is painfully slow, much like using the Remote Control Client that ships with Virtual Server 2005. Next thing to find out is how to set this up efficiently and in a way that allows you to get things done.

 

 

Update (6/1/2009) 

I setup a Microsoft Loopback Adapter on my machine, bound the Network Adapter for the VHD to it and was able to RDP to that IP. However, it is INSANELY slow! This is NOT a way to run a VHD and do local development. I tried using Windows Virtual PC itself instead of RDP and that was just as slow. Here are the settings for the VHD. As you can see, I am using 2560 MB of RAM. My machine is a dual core CPU with native virtualization support.

 

 

So to summarize, Windows Virtual PC BLOWS, RDP into Windows Virtual PC BLOWS, making the VHD bootable BLOWS (because its complicated and requires you to exist in the VHD OS at all times).

 

MICROSOFT! Just what is a Windows 7 RC 1 (x64) user supposed to do?

Virtual Server 2005 and Windows 7

Wanna install Virtual Server 2005? Wanna install it on Windows 7? “Big Whoop, Wanna fight about it!”	Paddy Tanninger the Caddy Manager
Ok I know, I promised you all this post a long time ago. 2009/01/21 to be exact. So without much further ado, here is Virtual Server 2005 running on Windows 7.   That’s Windows 7 BETA.
When I tried to install this again on Windows 7 RC 1, I ran into this NASTY little thing. I say nasty with all the venom, hate and loathing I have in every fiber of my body.           To quote Microsoft: Hard Block: The software must exhibit the following behavior to qualify for a hard block: The OS is rendered unusable and unrecoverable (includes bug check). The hard block is preferable to the alternative user experience, including: a. The OS would be left partially functional, and no in-context guidance can be given to the user, and the hard block can provide steps to remedy the problem. b. An application would be left unusable and unrecoverable (can’t be repaired by uninstall or upgrade). This should be an extremely rare case, since recovering from an application installation should be possible through install/uninstall software. The vendor would need to prove that that is not an option.       Hard blocks are EVERYTHING that is wrong with our software industry today. The proverbial PRE KILL SWITCH, the DRM SQUARED, the “I know what’s good for your machine mentality.” If Virtual Server 2005 works with the Windows 7 Beta build, then what have you done to make this program FAIL in the RC version. If all Microsoft is trying to do is encourage people to use the Windows 7 native VHD support, then do so by telling me that in a soft block format but give me the option to do things my way too.
Frustrated, my next step was to try to put a stop to Program Compatibility Assistant (henceforth known as ASS) by using gpedit.msc, disabling services and even installing some updates etc. BTW. What the hell is Program Inventory (PDU), Application Telemetry “The PDU inventories programs and files on the system and sends information about those files to Microsoft. This information is used to help associate files to programs and diagnose application compatibility problems.” Hmm. Seems to me like this could be an invasion of privacy waiting to happen.           Frustrated again, I emailed the SharePoint team asking for some sense of sanity. How do they want us developing on SharePoint if we can’t use Virtual Server. Virtual PC? Scoff! That’s for kiddies and your grandma! Ha!   Thank you to Dave Pae for that email.   So now to go to the following URL and read up:  http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/14/native-vhd-support-in-windows-7.aspx

 

 

My next post should come up with a solution for how to make your existing VHD files work with Windows 7 RC 1.