Frequent Installation of Software programs and Uninstalling  them  makes the System Slow and it performs poorly after some time.It is highly recommended to experiment on a Virtual PC rather than Experimenting on your Main System.

Download Virtual PC for Windows

What’s The Use of a Virtual machine ?

• Frequently Installing and Removing Software Applications From your Main PC may decrease its performance after some time.But Installing the programs on Virtual PC Keeps your Main System fresh and fast.
• Vista Users can Try out XP compatible Applications Without Having to format The System.Just Install XP on the Virtual PC and Try the  Software,Games that are Compatible with XP but not with Vista.
• Browsing  the Web using Virtual PC ensures that Your Main System Is safe from Malware or Trojan Horse attacks from the Internet.
• Experimenting with registry Hacks can Sometimes cause your System to Crash.Do not try them on your main System .Try them on the Virtual PC Instead.
• Whenever You want to try out a New Software or a game or a browser add-on first install It in The Virtual PC.See whether the Application Meets your needs or not.If you are happy with the Application and Wish to Use it Regularly then go ahead and install It in your main System.

Installing Virtual PC and Setting Up the Virtual machine

1.From Start Menu Click On “Microsoft Virtual PC” to open the Virtual PC Console.

2.Create a Folder In Your Hard Drive( e.g “My Virtual machines”) to Store Your Virtual machines and Virtual hard Disks.If possible Do not Create the Folder on the Same partition where your OS is installed.It would be better if you Create the Folder on a Separate partition.

3.Start the “New Virtual machine Wizard “ from the Virtual PC Console and Select “Create a Virtual Machine”.

4.Next Enter The location where you want to save the Virtual machine File.Remember you created a Folder in Step 1.Browse to the Folder location and Enter a name of your Virtual machine ( e.g Vista ).

5.After that Select The operating System that You wish to Install In that Virtual machine.Virtual PC will allocate the necessary memory Requirements for the OS.You can manually allocate the HD space,RAM allocation etc in the Next Step.

6.Now specify the amount of RAM that You wish to allocate to the Virtual Machine you have created. Use the Recommended Settings.You can manually allocate the RAM later.

7.Now you need to Create a Hard disk for this virtual machine.The existing hard Disk in your machine Won’t work for your Virtual Machine.So create a Hard disk,Specify its Size ( e.g 5GB ) and location ( it is recommended to keep the location same as that of your Virtual Machine……See step 2 above).The Wizard Will Now End.

Installing Operating System on the Virtual Machine

Now that you have Successfully Created the virtual Machine it’s time to Install Your Operating System in it.Carefully follow the Following Steps :

1.Start the Virtual Machine from the Virtual PC Console.You may Get an error Message “The Virtual Machine could not be started because there was not enough Memory available To the Host “. If so, reduce the RAM allocation From Settings.

2.You will See the Following Screen when you First Start The Virtual machine.

Insert The operating System CD in Your CD drive and Select “ Use Physical Drive G ” by clicking On “ CD” from The Menu panel.

3.Click on Action and then Select “ Ctrl + Alt + Del “ from the Menu panel.The Virtual Machine Will Boot and you will see the Installation Instructions of the operating System you are trying to Install.

4.Install The operating System as you Usually do.This will take 30-40 minutes.After the installation is Complete Install The required Drivers.

This Concludes the Installation Of Operating System On Virtual machine.

Sharing Files and Folders Between the Host and The Virtual Machine

To share Files and Folders Between Host and the Virtual machine you need to Install Virtual machine Additions.Start The Virtual machine and Select “ Install Virtual machine Additions “ from “Action”  in the Menu panel.When the Virtual Machine Additions is Installed you can Share Folders (or even complete Hard Drives ) by Clicking the Folder Icon as Shown below :

You can add additional Virtual hard drives,Connect the LAN of the Host and do Possibly everything with Virtual PC. As obvious,if you Format your main System all configurations of the Virtual machine Will be Lost.