How to use Virtual Machines / VMWare / Virtual Box - Free Online Tutorial

A Virtual Machine (VM) is an emulation of a particular computer system. Virtual machines operate based on the computer architecture and functions of a real or hypothetical computer, and their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination of both.


Various different kinds of virtual machines exist, each with different functions. System virtual machines (also known as full virtualization VMs) provide a complete substitute for the targeted real machine and a level of functionality required for the execution of a complete operating system. A hypervisor uses native execution to share and manage hardware, allowing multiple different environments, isolated from each other, to be executed on the same physical machine. Modern hypervisors use hardware-assisted virtualization, which provides efficient and full virtualization by using virtualization-specific hardware capabilities, primarily from the host CPUs. Process Virtual Machines are designed to execute a single computer program by providing an abstracted and platform-independent program execution environment. Some virtual machines, such as QEMU, are designed to also emulate different architectures and allow execution of software applications and operating systems written for another CPU or architecture. Operating-system-level virtualization allows the resources of a computer to be partitioned via the kernel's support for multiple isolated user space instances, which are usually called containers and may look and feel like real machines to the end users.

VirtualBox (Freeware)

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction.

Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4, 2.6, 3.x and 4.x), Solaris and OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD.
VirtualBox is being actively developed with frequent releases and has an ever growing list of features, supported guest operating systems and platforms it runs on. VirtualBox is a community effort backed by a dedicated company: everyone is encouraged to contribute while Oracle ensures the product always meets professional quality criteria.
VMware Workstation (Paid Software)

VMware Workstation is a hosted hypervisor that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems (an x86 version of earlier releases was available); it enables users to set up virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine, and use them simultaneously along with the actual machine. Each virtual machine can execute its own operating system, including versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux, BSD, and MS-DOS. VMware Workstation is developed and sold by VMware, Inc., a division of EMC Corporation. An operating systems license is needed to use proprietary ones such as Windows. Ready-made Linux VMs set up for different purposes are available.

VMware Workstation supports bridging existing host network adapters and sharing physical disk drives and USB devices with a virtual machine. It can simulate disk drives; an ISO image file can be mounted as a virtual optical disc drive, and virtual hard disk drives are implemented as .vmdk files.
VMware Workstation Pro can save the state of a virtual machine (a "snapshot") at any instant. These snapshots can later be restored, effectively returning the virtual machine to the saved state, as it was and free from any post-snapshot damage to the VM.
VMware Workstation includes the ability to designate multiple virtual machines as a team which can then be powered on, powered off, suspended or resumed as a single object, useful for testing client-server environments.
Configure a Virtual Machine
To configure a Virtual Machine, first we have to install any of the Virtual Machine Software on our PC. Then we should create a new Virtual Hardware on the PC on which we are going to install a new Operating System which is called a Guest Operating System. The guest OS is completely independent of the Host OS (The Currently running OS on which Virtual Machine is being Set-Up). Which means we can setup any platform on the Virtual Machine (Windows, Linux, Mac, Unix etc). Now let us do this with VMWare Workstation...
Install VMWare Workstation on your PC as usual and open the application. Now click on Create a New Virtual Machine. It will create a new Virtual Hardware for you...
 
Now, on your new Virtual Machine Wizard, select I will install operating system later so that we can configure the OS later as we do it on the usual Desktop/Laptop. Then select the platform and the OS as which you are going to use on your Virtual Machine.
 
Now select the location where you would like to save the Virtual Machine files, and give a name for your Virtual Machine here. Then it will create a default hardware configuration for the selected OS. You can customize it by clicking the Customize Hardware button here or later by clicking the Settings on the virtual Machine context menu. Now click on Customize Hardware to insert the CD as an ISO file.
 
Now click on the CD/DVD option in the Hardware Setup and select Use ISO Image file, then click on Browse to select the OS ISO Image on your PC. So that, it means you have inserted your OS CD on the new Virtual Hardware. Now close this window and click Power on this Virtual Machine to power on the virtual hardware. Now you can continue installing an Operating System on the Virtual Hardware as you do like on your actual Desktop or Laptop PC. Enjoy...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Boost Performance on Windows? - Free Online Tutorial

Image
In this Topic, we are going to see what are the ways we can boost our system performance and what are the major causes of loosing performance in our windows computer.
1. Disk Defragmentation... (While using Hard Disk Drive, not for SSD)

Disk defragmentation is the process of consolidating fragmented data on a volume (such as a hard disk or a storage device) so it will work more efficiently.
Fragmentation happens to a volume over time as you save, change, or delete files. The changes that you save to a file are often stored in a different place on the volume than the original file. This doesn't change where the file appears in Windows—only where the bits of information that make up the file are stored on the actual volume. Over time, both the file and the volume itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in different places to open a single file.
Disk Defragmenter is a tool that rearranges the data on your volume and reunites fragmented data so your comput…
Keep reading

Advanced reboot for Windows 8/8.1/10 - Free Online Tutorial

Image
In this tutorial we are going to see the advanced reboot options including safe mode and disabling driver signature enforcement on Windows 8/8.1 & 10.
To do this go to Start, Power and then Restart before clicking restart you have to press and hold shift.



If you do so you will get an advanced reboot menu which includes continue, troubleshoot, and turn off your PC.


Select Troubleshoot,  Under troubleshoot you will have refresh your PC, reset your PC, and advanced options.


Refreshing and Resetting is for completely Re installing your operating system with and without deleting your personal data.

If you're having problems with Windows 10 on your PC, you can try to refresh, reset, or restore it. Reset your PC prepares the PC for recycling or for transfer of ownership by reinstalling the OS, removing all user accounts and contents (e.g. data, Classic Windows applications, and Universal Windows apps), and restoring preinstalled customizations to their factory state.
A Reset will only affe…
Keep reading

List Of Most Useful Run Commands - Free Online Tutorial

Image
In this tutorial, we are going to learn some of the Run commands that we can use on Windows Computers to do some special tasks, here we have some of those useful commands with their work and descriptions listed here. This will be helpful for the learners and the people who are looking for a job in IT Industries.
On the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Run command is used to directly open an application or document whose path is known. It functions more or less like a single-line command line interface.
In the GNOME interface, the Run command is used to run applications via terminal commands. It can be accessed by pressing Alt+F2. KDE has similar functionality called KRunner. It is accessible via the same key binds.
In the BASIC programming language, RUN is used to start program execution from direct mode, or to start a overlay program from a loader program.

Sl. No.Area to Access…Run Command1 Accessibility Controls access.cpl 2 Accessibility Wizard accwiz 3 Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl 4 Ad…
Keep reading