For automatic identification and scsi & raid devices drivers, we strongly recommend to download and install the Driver Update Tool – it will help you to get the correct latest drivers for all of your devices and avoid conflicts and improper work of your system. Note: Improper or outdated drivers in your system may cause system failure, blue screen also known as “Blue Screen of Death. VBoot port driver and development kit allows you to quickly develop virtual and real disk drivers for Windows XP and above, 32- and 64- bit systems. The VBoot Port Driver (vbootport.sys) implements the latest specification by Microsoft Windows 7 storport.sys, however.
VMLite VBoot 2.0 Instructions
updated on Nov-17-11
Copyright © 2011, VMLite Corporation
Contents
1. Download and Extract
After download, unzip the package to vboot folder on your boot partition. It must be inside vboot folder. Usually c:vboot, or d:vboot folder. The boot partition is the partition that contains the ntldr file for Windows XP, or the bootmgr file for Vista, Windows 7 and 8. For Vista and Windows 7 and 8, vboot directory should be installed in the same partition as the Boot directory that installed by Windows. Boot partition is not necessary same as your Windows partition.
After extraction, the directory structure should look like this:
C:.| vbootldr
| vbootldr.mbr
|----- vboot
|
|-------- fonts
|
|-------- grub
|
|-------- tools
...........
The tools directory contains tools that are not needed to boot the virtual disks, so you can move this tools directory to somewhere else.
2. Install VBoot Loader
After you extracted the vboot zip file, you need to install it in order to boot from VBoot. There are two ways, the first and safest way is to chainload from your existing Windows boot manager, which keeps all of your Windows boot entries, and VBoot appears as an extra boot entry from the Windows boot manager. The second way is to install VBoot directly to the hard disk or to a USB drive, so VBoot Loader will be the first program to run after your PC powers on, which bypasses Windows Boot Manager, so you don't need Windows Boot Manager at all.
2.1 Chainloading from Windows Boot Manager
If your current host is Windows, then you already have Windows boot manager, which is the first software program to run after your PC powers on. We need to add a boot entry to Windows boot manager for VBoot, so you can click this entry and go to VBoot boot menu.
2.1.1 Automatic Setup by running VBootEdit.exe
It's highly recommend that you use this method to setup VBoot on Windows, since it's extremely simple and automates everything. You simply run the following command:
vbootedit.exe install on 32-bit Windowsor
vbootedit64.exe install on 64-bit Windows.
This utility will install VBoot Loader, and configure the Windows boot loader to contain an entry for VBoot.
After the above command is successfully run, you reboot the computer, and you should see a 'VBoot' entry as the last one.
2.1.2 Manual Setup
If somehow the automatic setup doesn't work, then you can perform the following manual steps:
2.1.2.1 Copy VBoot Loader Files
The VBoot loader is based on GNU GRUB2, and its files are located in vboot sub directory.
- vbootldr.mbr and vbootldr are the two critical boot loader files that must be copied to the root directory of a drive, typical C:.
- The fonts directory contains font files to be used by our boot loader.
- The grub directory contains grub2 modules, and the very import grub.cfg configuration file.
For example, if you want to copy the files to C:, you need to copy the vboot directory to c:, so you will have c:vboot directory. Then you must copy vbootldr.mbr and vbootldr to c:.
The following commands can be used to copy the files. Make sure to run from the extracted dir. Obviously, if you have already extracted the vboot zip file to c:vboot directory, then you don't need to copy most of the files except vbootldr and vbootldr.mbr, which must be present at the root folder of the boot partition.
2.1.2.2 Configure Windows Boot Loader
Once VBoot Loader files are copied, you need to configure Windows boot manager to have a VBoot entry.
2.1.2.2.1 Windows XP
You need to append the vbootldr.mbr entry to the [operating systems] section. The following is sample boot.ini file with VBoot entry added at the very last. Shown in red is what you need to add to boot.ini. Change C: to whatever drive you have copied VBoot Loader files.
2.2.2.2 Windows Vista/2008/7
Windows Vista and above use a different mechanism other than boot.init to boot, and you need to run bcdedit.exe to make changes to the boot manager. The following are the commands to run if you have copied VBoot Loader to drive C:. You must rum these commands as Administrator. Go to Windows Start menu > All Programs > Accessories, then right click on 'Command Prompt', then select 'Run As Administrator'. Once command prompt window is open, you can enter these commands.
2.2 Installing VBoot Loader directly to a hard disk or external USB drive
VBoot Loader is an independent piece of software, it does not depend on Windows boot manager at all, VBoot itself can boot your virtual disk files or cdrom ISO files. However, in this case, you need to install VBoot Loader directly to the first few sectors of the hard disk, or external USB drive. This way, VBoot Loader will be the first program to run after your PC powers on. From here, you can also chainload to your Windows boot manager, please refer to GRUB2 user manual for more info.
Note that once you installed VBoot Loader to a hard disk, your original Windows boot manager will no longer start up, so be very careful about installing VBoot to your real hard disk, unless you are absolutely clear in what you are doing. Otherwise, chainloading from Windows boot manager is the safest way to go.
To install VBoot Loader to a hard disk or external USB drive, you run this command:
Obviously, you need to replace the drive letter with your hard disk or USB drive's drive letter. Once installed, when you power on your PC, you will first see VBoot boot menu appears. If for some reason, it does not show up, you can hold down Shift key while your PC is booting up.
2.3 Chainloading from other boot loaders
It sIt should be very easy to chainload from other boot loaders.
Chainloading from GRUB2:
3. Install Windows XP to a virtual disk file
Once you have VBoot Loader installed, you can now proceed to install a fresh operating system to a virtual disk file.
(1) On your host disk, create a virtual disk file. VBoot support VHD/VMDK/VDI formats.
For example, you can use this command to create 40 G dynamic VHD:
c:vboottoolsx86vbootctl.exe createhd c:winxp.vhd /size 40
You can use /format option to specify other virtual disk formats.
(2) Edit and configure grub.cfg file, a sample grub.cfg should exist in vbootgrub folder. You need to follow these 3 steps to install Windows XP/2003 to the virtual disk, then boot from it. Note that you must adjust all of the paths according to your own files.
First step:If you don't want to manually edit grub.cfg file, or have trouble getting the correct paths, you can also run this command to add the entry automatically. Note that you have to use Windows paths as input to vbootedit program.
After you boot to this entry, you will see the normal Windows XP setup screens. At one step, you need to select a disk to install XP, make sure you select the virtual disk, usually the last disk labeled as VBOOTMP. After first reboot, you select this boot entry:
If you don't want to manually edit grub.cfg file, or have trouble getting the correct paths, you can also run this command to add the entry automatically. Note that you have to use Windows paths as input to vbootedit program.
After another reboot, your virtual disk is ready to go, and finally, you can boot to XP virtual disk using this entry:
If you don't want to manually edit grub.cfg file, or have trouble getting the correct paths, you can also run this command to add the entry automatically. Note that you have to use Windows paths as input to vbootedit program.
For Windows 2003, you do the following with the same floppy image.
For Windows XP/2003 64-bit, you do the following with a different floppy image, vboot-x64.img. You can also use the same vboot.img as the 32-bit, but you will need to press F6 and select 64-bit driver. vboot.img and vboot-x64.img are same except for the default driver, so you don't need to press F6.
4. Install Windows 7/2008 R2/Windows 8 32- and 64-bit to a virtual disk file
Once you have VBoot Loader installed, you can now proceed to install a fresh operating system to a virtual disk file.
1) On your host disk, create a virtual disk file. VBoot support VHD/VMDK/VDI formats.
For example, you can use this command to create 40 G dynamic VHD:
c:vboottoolsx86vbootctl.exe createhd c:win7.vhd /size 40
You can use /format option to specify other virtual disk formats.
(2) Edit and configure grub.cfg file, a sample grub.cfg should exist in vbootgrub folder. You need to follow these two steps to install Windows 7/8 to the virtual disk, then boot from it. Note that you must adjust all of the paths according to your own files.
First step:After you boot to this entry, you will see the normal Windows 7 setup screens as booted from a physical cdrom.
Once you see the Install button, make sure to press Shift F10 key to launch the command window. You need to run the following command to load the VBoot virtual disk drivers:
After this, you proceed the installation as usual. At one step, you need to select a disk to install Windows 7 or Windows 8, make sure you select the virtual disk, usually the last disk.
After reboot, your virtual disk is ready to go, and finally, you can boot to Windows 7 or Windows 8 virtual disk using this entry:
5. Install Vista/2008 32- and 64-bit to a virtual disk file
Once you have VBoot Loader installed, you can now proceed to install a fresh operating system to a virtual disk file.
1) On your host disk, create a virtual disk file. VBoot support VHD/VMDK/VDI formats.
For example, you can use this command to create 40 G dynamic VHD:
c:vboottoolsx86vbootctl.exe createhd c:win7.vhd /size 40
You can use /format option to specify other virtual disk formats.
(2) Edit and configure grub.cfg file, a sample grub.cfg should exist in vbootgrub folder. You need to follow these 2 steps to install Vista to the virtual disk, then boot from it. Note that you must adjust all of the paths according to your own files.
First step:After you boot to this entry, you will see the normal Vista setup screens as booted from a physical cdrom.
Once you see the Install button, you need to click it first, then you will be able to press Shift F10 key to launch the command window.
You need to run the following command to load the VBoot virtual disk drivers:
After this, you proceed the installation as usual. At one step, you need to select a disk to install Vista, make sure you select the virtual disk, usually the last disk.
After reboot, your virtual disk is ready to go, and finally, you can boot to Vista virtual disk using this entry:
6. Install Vista, 2008, Windows 7, 2008, Windows 8 32- and 64-bit to a virtual disk file from a physical cdrom
First, boot your computer using the physical cdrom.
Once you see the Install button, on Vista/2008, you need to click it first, then you can press Shift F10 key to launch the command window. On Windows 7/2008R2, you can press Shift-F10 without clicking the Install button.
Once the command window appears, you need to run the following commands to create a virtual disk and the mount it:
After this, you proceed the installation as usual. At one step, you need to select a disk to install Windows, make sure you select the virtual disk, usually the last disk.
After reboot, your virtual disk is ready to go, and finally, you can boot to the virtual disk using this entry:
7. Install Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 2008 to a virtual disk file using a simple command line
To make the installation experience really simple, we have created a command line to help you. You can simply run this command line using your Windows CD/DVD or .ISO file as input, by the end, you will have a bootable virtual disk file that you can add to VBoot Loader, and boot to it.
For example, you can run the following commands to create a 80G Windows 7 VMDK file, then add a boot entry to VBoot Loader.
After reboot, you should see an entry named as 'Windows 7 VMDK Boot', and you select it to boot to Windows 7 VMDK.
Note that this command does not work for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003.
It's recommended to run this command on Windows Vista and above hosts. If you run this command on Windows XP, you will have trouble booting to the virtual disk file, and you need to run 'bootsect.exe' utility to correct the NTFS boot sectors.
The full syntax is described as follows:
8. Converting virtual disk files to become bootable via VBoot
If you already have a virtual disk file, such as Windows 7 or Windows 8 Native boot VHD file, you can run the following command to make it to become bootable using VBoot. This command will install the correct components to your existing virtual disk file.
For example, you can run the following command to prepare the vhd file so it can boot with VBoot.
9. Virtual disk paths
VBoot Loader is is the first software program that runs when your computer starts. It is responsible for loading and transferring control to the operating system kernel software. When VBoot first starts, Windows or Linux has not started yet, so you can't use Windows or Linux paths, such as c:win7.vhd, or /boot/win7.vhd.
VBoot Loader is modified from the popular GRUB2 boot loader, in particular, VBoot Loader supports loading operating system from virtual disk files in various disk formats, including VHD, VMDK, VDI, ISO and raw images, and you can use the same format as GRUB2 for file paths.
There are three formats:
- (hdx,y)/path/file.ext
- (UUID=16-hex-bytes)/path/file.ext
UUID is a 16 bytes hex digit id for the volume. For example, you can use (UUID=c6803bae803ba439)/vboot/win7.vhd to represent the same file as mentioned above format.
Each volume usually has a unique id after it has been formated. If you perform a reformat on the volume, this id will change.
To find the uuid for a volume on Windows, you can run this command:
Inside VBoot Loader, you can enter this command to get the uuid for a volume:
- (LABEL=volume-label)/path/file.ext
x is the disk number starting from 0, and y is the partition number starting from 1, the rest is the absolute path in UNIX format.
For example, the path (hd0,1)/vboot/win7.vhd indicates the file win7.vhd is inside /vboot folder on hard disk 0 and partition 1.
The label format is similar to UUID format. You can find a volume's label by right click the properties dialog on Windows host.
For example, you can use (LABEL=OS)/vboot/win7.vhd to represent the same file as discussed in (1) and (2) above.
Most of the time, you can choose your favorite format. However, when error occurs, you may want to try the others. In particular, when you boot from a USB drive, the first format may give you problems, because at boot time your USB drive is (hd0), but after Windows boots up, it becomes (hd1), so in this case, you always need to use UUID or LABEL formats.
10. Converting virtual disk files between different formats
VBoot natively supports a variety of disk image formats that you can find from popular virtual machine software, including VHD, VMDK, VDI and Raw. If for some reason you want to convert from one format to the other, you can use the vbootctl program that ships with VBoot to convert virtual disk files between different formats.
For example, the following command converts VDI file to a VMDK file:
The full syntax of the command is listed below:
11. Differencing disk files and snapshots
VBoot fully supports differencing files and snapshots. You can use ';' separated file names to specify a child disk and its parent, or use nested menu entries to represent a snapshot, for example:
When you use nested menu entries, the boot menu will display a tree like structure, as shown below:
The easiest way to create a snapshot is from the boot menu, you can simply press 's' key to take a snapshot, and press 'r' key to perform a recovery. You can also press 'i' key to boot as immutable session.
You can also create a snapshot manually, and you need to follow these two steps:
(1) to create a differencing file, you can use the following command:
(2) add a boot entry for the snapshot:
parent=1 indicates the boot entry index for the parent entry, you can run 'vbootedit enum' to display a list of boot entries along with their indexes.
12. Offline Virtual Disk Access
VBoot provides a command utility to mount virtual disk files. This way, you can access your files offline while the virtual disk file is not running.
Be very cautious if your disk has snapshot child disks. When you mount a parent disk, it might get modified, and cause the child disks not consistent with the parent, this will most likely result in data loss because all of its child disk become invalid. If your disk file has a snapshot, make sure to mount the deepest child disk, or mount parent disk files as readonly to prevent modifications.
You can use the following command to mount a disk file in VHD, VMDK, VDI format, cdrom ISO file, Microsoft WIM file and floppy images.
For differencing disk files, you can use ';' separated file paths to specify the child and parent disk files.
To dismount the mounted virtual disk, you can use this command:
13. Merge, Compact and Expand virtual disk files
VBoot command utility supports merging child disks to it parents, compacting and expanding virtual disk files. These are examples:
14. Updating VBoot
If you already have a working virtual disk file and want to update to the latest VBoot drivers, you only need to update a few driver files (vbootmp.sys, vbootfs.sys and vbootbus.sys for xp and above, or vbootdsk.sys for windows 2000).
There are two ways of doing this, automatic or by hand.
Update by command
The first and recommended way is to use 'vbootctl update' command, as described below: The first is used to update the current running Windows instance if it's booted from a virtual disk file, whereas the 2nd is used to update a virtual disk file that is offline.
Update by hand
The second way is to do it manually. If your computer is currently booted using the virtual disk file that you want to update, you can simply copy the drivers to overwrite the current version, for example, If your virtual disk file is not current running, you will have to mount it first, then copy the driver file, for example,
On Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 2008, you may get a message complaining device driver not installed successfully after updating, you can get rid of this message by running the following command after booting to the virtual disk file.
The above examples assume Windows XP 32-bit is installed inside the virtual disk file, so vbootmp.sys is copied. For other operating systems, you need to copy different driver files:
- Windows 2000 (32-bit) uses vboottoolsx86driversvbootdsk-w2kvbootdsk.sys
- Windows XP (32-bit) and above use vboottoolsx86driversvbootmpvbootmp.sys
- Windows XP (64-bit) and above use vboottoolsamd64driversvbootmpvbootmp.sys
15. VBoot command options
To use VBoot Loader, you need to insert a command into the grub.cfg configuration files. VBoot Loader passes these options to vboot virtual disk drivers inside the operating system. The VBoot virtual disk drivers utilize these options to perform the corresponding operations, such as mounting the disk files, taking a new snapshot, restoring to a snapshot and delete the child differencing disks, updating the grub.cfg file, etc.
The full syntax of vboot command is as follows:
vboot harddisk=disk_path cdrom=file_path floppy=file_path floppy_b=file_path boot=harddisk|cdrom|floppy parent_dir=folder_path take_snapshot=differencing_disk_path boot_entry=index config_file=grub_config_file new_menu_entry=title hide=disk_or_volume_list restore immutable recover_mbr pause
Options:
This option specifies a hard disk file, the path format is described here.
This option specifies a cdrom ISO file, the path format is described here.
This option specifies a floppy image file, which usually contains vboot driver, the path format is described here.
This option specifies a 2nd floppy image file, which usually contains a 3rd party SCSI driver, the path format is described here.
This option specifies which media to boot. The default boot is harddisk.
This option specifies a folder to search for base images, and should be only used for differencing hard disks.
This option is used to take a snapshot with the specified path as the differencing disk file.
This option is reserved for VBoot Loader to specify a boot entry. You should not use it explicitly.
This option is reserved for VBoot Loader to specify the full path of the grub.cfg file. You should not use it explicitly.
This option is used to create a new menu entry inside the grub.cfg file. The virtual disk driver inserts an entry based the specified disk paths and the specified menu title. This option is typically used after you have entered some options manually using the VBoot Loader edit screen, i.e., you have pressed 'C' or 'E' . This way, you don't have to edit the grub.cfg file by hand after the operating system is booted up.
This option protects real hard disks from access. It is used to hide disks or volumes, e.g., hide='0,1,C:,D:', where 0,1 indicates disk number, C:, D: are volumes. When a disk or volume is in the list, its access will be denied, and becomes invisible.
The following is a typical use to restrict all access to the vhd only:
vboot harddisk=(hd0,1)/xp.vhd hide='0'
The hide option is implemented using a file filter driver (vbootfs.sys). It's much more than just hiding the disk, it actually checks all access to the disk, and denies all access other than vboot itself.
This option is used to restore to a snapshot. When a disk file contains child differencing disks, you can use this option to thrown away the child disks, and bring back to the same state before the snapshot was taken. Since the VBoot Loader does not support write access, it is the virtuald disk driver that performs the real task of deleting the snapshot and its child disks when the operating system kernel boots up. If the disk has another child disk after restoring, a new snapshot will be taken, with a new child differencing disk file created. If the disk has no child disks after restoring, then the disk will operate as a base image without taking a new snapshot. The grub.cfg file will be automatically updated to reflect the change.
When this option is used, the operating boots as immutable, meaning that all system changes will be discarded after reboot. This is done by automatically saving all system changes to a differencing disk, and the delete the differencing disk after reboot. Note that you can still permanently save files to your real hard disks or external disks. Only those changes that are saved to the virtual disk, including system registry entries, will be thrown away.
Immediately remove VBoot Loader code from MBR sectors and recover the original boot code.
Pause before booting, and the user needs to press a key to continue. This provide a chance to examine some messages.
16. Troubleshooting
VBoot is complex piece of system software, so be prepared for problems and bugs. These sections list common problems and errors.
16.1 [VBoot] Can't load vboot to the specified memory address 00090000
VBoot Loader loads itself to the real mode memory address 0x90000 (576k), and it occupies 64k, i.e., 576K-640K is used by VBoot, this memory region is most likely free to use. However, if you are getting this error, it indicates there is something else already using this region. Make sure you don't have other boot loaders, don't chainload to VBoot from other loaders, don't use VBoot on encrypted hard disks, etc.
16.2 Black screen or other boot loader issues
VBoot Loader reserves a memory region for use, this might have conflicts with other devices. For example, there are reports that ATI graphic cards cause black screen during boot. If you get into this problem, you can try to use a different boot file. We provide a file 'vboot-black-screen' in c:vboot folder, you need to rename this file to 'vboot'. Make sure you backup the original 'vboot' file.
More information is available on our website, http://www.vmlite.com
Updated: June 5, 2010
Desktop users with geeky tendencies are mostly familiar with the VMware line of products and VirtualBox, which has changed parenthood three times in the past few years, from innotek via Sun to Oracle. Then, Linux users also have KVM and Xen, which are a little more complicated and not quite so mainstream; a big thing in the enterprise world to be sure, but not something most home users will try. Microsoft also has a product called VirtualPC, but it's not quite on par with VMware or VirtualBox. Now, there's another competitor on the rapidly growing virtualization market.
It's called VMLite. Truth to be told, it's not a brand new technology; VMLite is based on VirtualBox. But its goal is a bit different. Rather than being an all-around virtualization program, VMLite caters mainly to Windows users looking for an improved productivity, sandboxing applications securely and bridging compatibility issues between Windows XP and Windows 7, all without having a fancy, modern CPU with VT extensions.
Moreover, VMLite is nevertheless a fully fledged software package, with all of the goodies that VirtualBox has, including 3D support for virtual machines, both DirectX and OpenGL, an ever-improving network stack, Seamless Mode, and many additional, cool features. Well, sounds quite interesting. Let's have a look at VMLite.
Get VMLite
To download VMLite, you will have to register. The registration is free. Next, you will have to choose from a range of VMLite products available, which, at the first glance, can be a little confusing.
VMLite offers VMLite XP Mode, VMLite Workstation, MyOldPC, VirtualApps Studio, and a few other solutions. What we want is the VMLite Workstation, the virtualization software package.
Still, as a brief overview, let's mention some of the other candidates; we may have additional reviews soon.
MyOldPC lets you convert old Windows XP installations into a virtual machine that you can run on more modern operating systems like Windows 7. In this regard, it's similar to VMware Converter. VirtualApps Studio is similar to VMware ThinApps and is mainly intended for businesses and developers. VirtualApps Player is a sandbox utility that lets you run individual applications sandboxed from the rest of the system. VBoot has not yet been released, but it is intended to allow you to boot physical machines from virtual hard disks. Lastly, VMLite XP Mode offers the same functionality as the Windows 7 XP mode, except that it works on any processor, including those without virtualization extensions.
As you can see, VMLite is more than a single program. It's range of interesting, exciting technologies, which we shall definitely explore in the future. In the introduction article, we'll focus on the Workstation - and the built-in XP Mode.
VMLite Workstation reviewed
Let us begin with the installation.
Installation
The installation is very simple. It's point and click. A no-brainer, by all means.
After you install the program, the real fun begins.
VMLite XP Mode Setup
The first thing the program will offer for you is to setup the VMLite XP Mode. This is not a mandatory step, so do not feel obliged to complete the wizard. You can close it and then launch the main program as you normally would. You can always restart the setup if you want.
This step is intended only for Windows 7 users, who want to try the new feature or replace the built-in XP Mode with the VMLite solution. After we complete this step, we'll go back to playing with the main program, the Workstation.
Get XP mode package
This sounds confusing, I admit. This package is an official Microsoft solution that can be downloaded from the Microsoft site. It is intended to work with the VirtualPC, but it will also run with VMLite.
Note: Please remember that the XP mode package is not an additional operating system that you can use for free. It is meant to allow you to run incompatible software with your installation. It will use the same hostname and license as your installed machine. The EULA specifically lists the package as intended only for users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.
You have three options to choose - specify a folder containing the package, specify an existing disk or download from the Internet. The last option is only available for Windows 7 users, and only if you're not behind a proxy. Like VirtualBox, VMLite does not cope well with proxies, an inherited flaw.
I have started testing the software on Windows XP, but since demonstrating the XP Mode requires Windows 7, I repeated the step with the appropriate operating system in place.
After you select the package, the wizard will extract it and convert the machine. You will be asked to accept the EULA, provide your password and configure updates.
The setup will take a few moments:
And that's it, you have Windows XP running:
Well, it's Windows XP all right. However, there were a few things amiss. Take a look at the System Tray. It's alight with warning signals, which do not bode well for less experienced users.
There were three separate problems. From left to right, the NAT did not work well and the virtual machine was unable to obtain an IP address. Whether this is an issue with unsigned drivers and Windows 7 or another thing, I can't say. Trying other variations of networking did not work, either. Checking the host machine, I noticed the network adapter was too have a problem obtained an IP address. Not sure why this happened, but it got me a little baffled and less confident in VMLite Workstation capabilities.
The second problem was the duplicate host name. This could be the fact XP Mode is not a separate license, but an extension of the existing system, hence the duplicate entry. In fact, this could be the reason why the virtual machine was unable to obtain the IP address.
The third problem is the usual warning from the Security Center. Not a problem per se, but it could alarm people expecting a smooth, unattended setup. Well, at least you're spared the rather useless Windows XP Tour. On a positive side, you do get the VirtualBox Guest Additions installed, albeit rebranded with the VMLite logo.
Other things
You can also run isolated applications outside the virtual machine using the Seamless Mode. The setup creates an icon for Internet Explorer. You can identify it by a green border, which signifies this is a sandboxed, virtual application.
But it is VirtualBox Seamless Mode through and through. While sandboxing Internet Explorer does seem like a nice promo stunt, it misses the point of running the XP mode, since Internet Explorer 8 is already provided by the host operating system, which offers tabs, better built-in support for CSS and W3C standards and some extra security features. But if you've seen it once with VirtualBox, you've seen it all.
The question is, why should you go through all this trouble?
Well, if you do have a valid Windows XP license that is currently unused, you can setup your own Windows XP virtual machine any which way you want, regardless of which product you are using, without the additional restrictions. The benefit of the XP Mode is to permit users without an extra license to enjoy max. backward compatibility. The installation is also much easier.
I do think the emphasis on security misses the point slightly, especially since sandboxing Microsoft components kind of undermines the whole concept of not being able to run legacy applications.
VMLite Workstation proper
Back to our product. VMLite is VirtualBox, almost to the last bit. It looks and behaves the same. And even suffers from the same ailments, like the proxy issue. When it comes to virtualization, the added benefits of VMLite are in the extra features rather than the ability to create and run virtual machines.
Problems, summary
The added layer of functionality comes at a price. More complexity, which in turns leads to more problems. VMLite has all the problems VirtualBox does, which are, frankly, not that many, namely the proxy and unsigned drivers issue, but it adds a few new ones.
Vmlite Scsi & Raid Devices Driver Download 64-bit
The networking was not working properly. On top of that, if you're not very versed with VirtualBox, you might get a little alarmed by several system tray icons indicating this or that problem. There was the Security Center icon, which is expected considering the fact I have set the Windows Updates off, but then there was the duplicate host warning and the network problem icon, both of which could frighten away a new user.
If you're asking me, I think a combination of a fully licensed Windows XP plus the compatibility mode in Windows 7 seem like the best idea. If you need help learning how to install Windows XP, I do have a long tutorial available. Lastly, VMLite can be installed alongside VirtualBox, but you may experience unexpected behavior.
Conclusion
VMLite Workstation seems like an interesting concept. It is not a revolution. However, it aims to become a refinement of an already fine product. The additional features make VMLite line of solution an appealing idea for less knowledgeable users who want quick and easy setups as well as advanced users looking to squeeze more juice from their VirtualBox package. However, network-related issues do pose a problem, especially for the intended audience of less skilled users.
VMLite bears keeping an eye on. I shall definitely be exploring its features and abilities and report back with additional reviews and tutorial as time and opportunity permits. Oh yes, I do hope the problems get smoothed out. Well, this review was kind of a baptism of fire. I was not sure what to expect.
Vmlite SCSI & RAID Devices Driver Download
If you're a Windows user fond of virtualization, you should definitely give VMLite a try. It seems fairly stable and robust and works well, although it requires some polish. The unique angle of extra capabilities is surely a bonus. Who knows, the new kids may grow into a handsome neighborhood bully. Only time, further development and bug fixing will tell. See ya around.
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Cheers.