Virtual Machine for Mints 18.1. VMware virtual machine

Computer users are sometimes faced with the situation when it is necessary to work with old programs that functioned successfully on previous versions of Windows. It is not always convenient to manage two computers at once. But it is possible to install a different edition of the operating system on a working laptop. Parallel operation of two systems can be provided by a virtual machine for Windows 7 (VM). From this article you can find out:

what is VM;
what programs exist for this purpose;
how Windows 7 is installed and configured in a VM.

The second computer is real

Virtual machine- software. It creates a copy of a real computer with:

hard virtual disks;
optical software drive;
analogue of network adapters;
BIOS, etc.

A virtual laptop with its operating system runs in a separate window and takes up a certain amount of space on the physical hard disk. It looks like this:

The example shows how in a real operating system with Windows 7 Professional installed, a program runs with a virtual Windows XP operating system. And it performs the same actions as on a real device.

VM tasks

Almost everyone is faced with a situation when a program loaded from the network and installed pulls a loop from unnecessary applications. That is why more advanced users prefer to install the downloaded application in a virtual system and check it, both for operability and for unexpected surprises.

In addition, other tasks are being solved:

The ability to test the program.
Avoid harmful effects from suspicious programs.
Emulate a second computer network.
Check the consequences of changing the settings in the system.
Safely perform autosurfing over the network.
Reduce the likelihood of infection of a real laptop with computer viruses.
Launching programs incompatible with the real operating system.

Most popular emulators

You can find many programs with which it is possible to create a virtual Windows. But it's best to check out the most popular ones.

This is the most common free program that emulates the most popular operating systems:

Windows(with support for different versions).
MacOS.
Any operating system from the family Linux.
Supports interaction with VM from the paid version of the emulator VMware Workstation.

Windows 7 and the created virtual machine can be easily configured by an ordinary user. The program differs in both performance and stability. In addition, despite its free-of-charge, it has ample opportunities and an intuitive interface. It is better adapted for home use than others.

VMware

Also a well-known and popular program. Found its main application in large corporations.

There are two versions of this product:

Workstation;
Player.

Version Workstation will be able to fully satisfy the needs of the user, but this is a paid program. Regular users can use a free analog Workstation - VMware Player.

The paid version supports work with systems 32 and 64, sees USB 3.0, various operating systems work quite successfully. VMware Workstation- an advanced version of a computer emulator, but due to its cost, it has found its application mainly among large companies, and not among ordinary users.

Microsoft Virtual PC

A similar virtual machine for working in Windows 7. It has a wide range of functionality and a clear, convenient and practical interface. But there is also a significant disadvantage - it can only work with operating systems of the Windows family. Other operating systems, such as Linux or Mac OS, will not run on it.

This quick overview describes three of the most popular virtual machines. Now you can see that it is best to use the program for home needs. Next, we will consider the procedure for installing and configuring it.

Mounting Windows 7 in a VirtualBox virtual machine

The process of installing a virtual operating system can be divided into several stages:

Install the program .
Download a file with an image of Windows 7 for VM.
Installing virtual Windows 7.

Let's consider all these processes separately.

Install the VirtualBox program

First of all, you need the virtual machine itself. As already mentioned, there are several of them. We are interested in . You can download it from the official website https://www.virtualbox.org. From the proposed list, select VirtualBox 5.1.14 for Windows hosts.

The process of how to install a virtual machine is described in other articles, but there are a few points:

After the Internet connection is restored, you can start downloading and installing the finished VM file in Windows 7.

Finding a finished VM

In order to test various versions of Internet Explorer (8, 9, 10, 11), Microsoft has specially prepared several options for downloading VMs with preinstalled Windows versions (7; 8.1; 10) from its website https://developer.microsoft.com/ru- ru / microsoft-edge / tools / vms /. If this link is not available, the browser will automatically redirect to the English version of the site https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/

So, first you need to select a Windows 7 image with any version of IE (8, 9, 10, 11).

Select from the drop-down list the item which virtual machine will undoubtedly be used. In our case, it is.

And click on the Download .zip button. The zip file download process will begin.

It remains to install and run the virtual machine on Windows 7.

Adjusting virtual Windows 7

The virtual Windows file itself is extracted from the "IE10.Win7.For.Windows.VirtualBox.zip" archive.

After the file is extracted, right-click on it
and from the drop-down list we choose “ To open with».

In principle, nothing needs to be changed in the import parameters. You can leave it as it is and click the Import button.

The configuration process starts. The "" window looks like this:

After the process is over, the new 7 and VM will appear in the program list. To start it, you just need to either double-click on the VM itself, or click on the button with the arrow “ Run". The process of starting the operating system will begin immediately. If you install it for the first time, it will take a little longer, however, the same happens when installing a real OS. Once the installer has completed all the necessary steps, a desktop with a working Windows 7 system appears.

Windows 7 in English and the created virtual machine are ready to start.

Configure a virtual system

All VM controls are intuitive. But if you have any questions, you should carefully read the pop-up tips in Russian. You can turn to help for help, where you can find answers to all questions.

Usually, both the mouse and keyboard work only in the VM and are blocked in real Windows. But it is possible to switch between the two systems using the Right Control host key.

Now that the virtual machine is installed and running, you can configure Windows. The first step is to install software components (drivers) for all virtual devices. The process is fairly straightforward. You need to go to the main menu and in the line “ Devices" click on " Install guest OS add-ons».

After the installation is complete, the VMs are rebooted. Now the picture has become clearer, the VM window can be dynamically changed, support for mouse integration will be connected, and access to the Internet will open.

It also has the ability to expand the function of the displays. In this mode, the windows that open in the VM will be displayed on the real desktop, and not in an independent program window. This makes it possible to facilitate access to all controls and installed VM programs.

Shutting down virtual Windows 7

As in a real laptop in a VM, the installed Windows requires a certain order to be completed. You can quit by pressing the button to quit. A menu will open, which will offer three options for closing the VM.

« Save machine state"- before shutting down, the machine will save all running applications at the time of shutdown. When the VM is turned on again, work in it can be continued from the moment it was turned off.

« Send shutdown signal"- all applications can be closed, and the machine will turn off automatically.

« Turn off the car"- in the same way as if a real computer were de-energized.

Conclusion

From this small overview, it can be seen that working with virtual machines, such as, makes it possible to connect several different operating systems at once on one device. Naturally, the more powerful the real device (RAM and CPU), the faster virtual computers will also work. Disabling the antivirus on your own machine or adding a virtual directory to the list of exclusions of the antivirus program will also help speed up the work.

What is a virtual machine?

A virtual machine is directly software (software / program) that is installed on your operating system, and then with its help it is possible to work in another operating system.

Using restrictions. Reducing the cost of connecting in the "virtual machine" mode, in addition to the provision of preferential tariffs, possibly also due to the establishment of restrictions on the work of users on the Internet in terms of time, types of services and access to resources. Any structure can use these opportunities, regardless of the field of activity. For example, a financial company may allow its employees access only to electronic exchanges or servers of relevant topics, a travel company - to the sites of transport agencies, a news service - to information portals, etc. restrictions on the time of work in the network. Perhaps just try the program by renting it for a certain period, for example.

And if you don't need access to the network, you can use e-mail. In this case, you will be charged for the volume of mailboxes, and not the connection time.

Mail servers and individual mailboxes

E-mail is a convenient and efficient means of communication between people. In modern conditions, e-mail is becoming an integral part of business. With the help of a "virtual machine", a mailbox of the required size can be opened for each employee of the company. Access to mail is carried out using mail programs using the POP3 / IMAP4 / UUCP protocols or interactively via the WEB interface. In addition to the usual individual mailboxes, the required number of mail domains and distribution lists can be opened. Customizable mail filters allow you to regulate the flow of incoming mail. Incoming message notifications can be sent to users' mobile devices.

The "virtual machine" is especially useful for creating mail servers. If a company has registered domains, such as company. ru, then for each domain its own set of mailboxes or mailing lists can be opened.

To pay for postal services on a "virtual machine", preferential tariff plans are provided.

Opening WEB-pages and WEB-servers

Opening a website on the Internet is the key to the success of any organization. The "virtual machine" connection mode will not only allow the company to place a corporate website on the Internet, but will also provide each employee with the opportunity to open their own WEB-page. The personal WEB-page will have an address on the www. dol. ru / machine_name / subscriber_name or can be accessed through a virtual WEB server. Users of the "virtual machine" get access to the rented space via FTP and can post information on the server themselves. For any site, the use of interactive applications is provided. You can host WEB-resources with a minimum volume of 1 MB. The cost reduction occurs due to rounding of the total volume of all WEB-pages and WEB-servers. Several options for tariff plans are offered. Each WEB-page can be linked to a WEB-server. All the necessary features are provided: CGI, SSI, PHP, Perl, MySQL, log analyzers.

Organization of an FTP server If there is a need to create a single information space for a certain circle of people, for example, employees of one company, the administrator of the "virtual machine" can organize an FTP server.

Information on the FTP server is stored in the form of files. These can be programs, text documents, images, music, videos, etc. Usually, such sites store large materials that require differentiated access rights. Storing information available via FTP will cost you significantly less than information available via WEB. By using the "virtual machine", access to the FTP server can be granted to each user of the virtual machine.

To have several operating systems at once with a separate workspace and applications, you do not need to buy a second (third, fourth, etc.) computer. Because it all fits into your only PC. How? Thanks to virtual machines (VM) - special programs that create (emulate) imaginary (virtual) computers inside the main operating system.

The virtual PC is almost like a real one. It has its own processor, memory, hard drive, network adapter and everything else. Of course, these are not physical devices, but they are made in such a way that operating systems consider them just like that - real.

Several virtual ones can run on one physical computer at the same time. How much depends on hardware resources: the faster the processor, the larger the RAM, the more spacious the drive, the more. A typical mid-range home PC running Windows 10 can handle three to five lightweight operating systems (such as Windows XP, Android and Lubuntu + base system) running simultaneously. Or two or three relatively heavyweight ones (for example, basic Windows 10 + virtual Windows 7 and Mac OS X). As you already understood, virtual computer emulator applications allow you to install and run a wide variety of operating systems on them.

General purpose virtual machines (as opposed to specialized ones such as, for example, VM Java) use:

To run applications that the main system does not support.
To protect the system from potential harm from unverified programs.
As an additional barrier against viruses when visiting questionable web resources.
To create an isolated environment for studying malware activity.
As a testing ground for debugging your own developments.
To master the technologies of building networks.
For double authorization on some game portals and much more.

And of course, virtual machines are widely used to distribute server working resources.

Today we will not touch upon the industrial application of VM, but consider only what can be useful for home users of Windows.

Oracle Virtualbox

Let's take a look at the process of creating a new virtual machine and starting the installation of Windows 10 into it.

Click the "Create" button in the top panel.

In the first window of the VM creation wizard, we will indicate the OS name (it will be displayed in the list of guest systems), its type (Windows, Linux, etc.) and version. In our example, this is Windows 10 32 bit (you can install 64 bit, but it will need more resources). Click Next to proceed to the next step.

Next, we will indicate the size of the RAM of the VM. By default, Windows 10 x86 is allocated 1 GB, but you can increase this amount by moving the slider to the right. If your PC does not have a lot of RAM, do not give the VM more than 2-3 GB, otherwise the main system will slow down due to lack of memory.

Next, we create a virtual hard disk. If you are installing the system for the first time, select the "Create new" option.

Leave the default virtual disk type.

A storage format is an area on your computer's physical storage that is assigned to a VM. It can have a constant or dynamically expanding volume within the limits that you define further. To save space, we will choose a dynamic format.

Next, we will indicate the name of the volume (virtual disk C) and its size. The default is 32 GB.

After clicking the "Create" button in the last window, a new virtual machine will appear in the list. Its parameters are shown in the frame on the right.
To proceed to the Windows installation, click the "Run" button in the top panel.

In the window that will open after that, the window "Select a boot disk" will appear. Click on the folder icon and specify the path to the system distribution kit. It can be an image in .iso format or physical media (DVD, flash drive). After choosing a distribution, click "Continue".

The further course of OS installation into a virtual machine does not differ from its installation on a physical computer.

Some VM and guest settings

Clicking in the virtual machine window captures the mouse cursor (i.e., it will only move within the virtual screen). Press Ctrl + Alt to return the cursor to the main OS.

To access the entire set of functions of the guest OS, you need to install special add-ons. Go to the "Devices" menu, click "Mount Guest OS Additions Disk Image" and follow the further instructions.

To connect a folder to the guest system for sharing files with the main one, click on the "Devices" menu item "Shared folders". Click on the "folder +" icon in the window that opens and through the "path to folder" field specify it in the explorer (it shows the directories of the main system).

If you want the setting to work all the time, check "Auto connect" and "Create persistent folder". The shared folder will be accessible from the virtual machine explorer as a network folder.

To change the order of polling boot devices (for example, to boot a virtual machine from DVD), shut down the guest OS, open its settings (in the main Virtualbox window) and go to the first tab of the "System" section. In the Boot Order list, mark the media you want and use the arrow buttons to move it up.

VMware Workstation Pro

Some options for Hyper-V virtual machines

To take a snapshot of a running guest OS, open the top menu of its Action window and click Checkpoint. Or press the combination Ctrl + N.

Access to the settings of an individual virtual machine is opened from its context menu in the list of the main manager window and is hidden behind the "Settings" button.

Other features of the program are also very straightforward and are mastered without much difficulty.

A huge number of programs that appear every day make downloading and installing unknown software on a computer more and more dangerous for the system and important files on the computer. In addition, many programs that have the functions necessary for the work of programmers, artists and other PC users are available only for a small number of operating systems. If earlier you had to take great risks downloading a suspicious file from the Internet, or reinstall the system just for the sake of one necessary program, now there is such an OS for this as a virtual machine.

What is a virtual machine

Virtual machine- a special program that is installed on the user's native operating system and, when launched, begins to emulate, that is, reproduce, the functions of any other operating system specified in the settings. The main convenience of such programs is that there is no need to switch between OS and access to all the functions of the reproduced system. In addition, all actions performed inside the virtual machine will not affect the operation of the main system, which prevents possible computer failures.

At the moment, the developers of virtual machines have created programs that allow you to emulate any operating system, from early versions of Windows to Ubuntu, OS X and lesser known axes, and also work with ready-made servers, for example, Bitrix virtual machine.

There is one more, narrower, understanding of the term "virtual machine", which is widespread among musicians - virtual drum machine that plays the sounds of the drum kit. Such a program allows you to record parts of percussion instruments without using a live setup, but in special recording programs or "animating" a pre-recorded midi-track, placing the recorded samples of each beat under the electronic sound.

What is a virtual machine for?

The range of actions that can be performed using a virtual machine is actually very large.

The simplest thing you can do with it is to use programs that are not available for the user's operating system or even for a PC in principle. For example, the emulator of the Android operating system is essentially a virtual machine that people use to run applications or games.

In addition, virtual machines are often used by programmers to test written programs. For example, to check how correctly a written algorithm works in different versions of Windows. The same applies to the developers of applications for iOS and Android, who check the functionality of the development exactly inside the emulators. For this, there is a virtual machine on a USB flash drive, so that you can always check the functionality of the written code.

For such checks, machines are also used by less advanced users. The fact is that when emulating related operating systems, the machine can reproduce all the information that is contained on the computer. Therefore, if a user has to download a file from the Internet that may contain viruses, then he should first check it in a virtual machine. If it plays normally on it, then you can safely open it on your native OS.

In addition, they help in corporate work, say, Bitrix virtual machines.

If we talk about virtual drum machines, then they are used in order to record drum parts with high quality in conditions of a lack of funds, for example, for renting a studio. Of all the instruments, the drums are the most sensitive to recording, and they are the ones on which the most time is spent. In addition, the drummer may not have enough skill to play them exactly, which significantly increases the amount of rent money. In such a situation, the best way out is to record the part in the program and then play it back.

What are the virtual machines

Virtual Machine for Windows 10

Especially for advanced users familiar with the concept of "virtual machine", Microsoft made built-in emulation of other operating systems -. Initially, its functionality is blocked, but its components are easily enabled through the Control Panel.

Go to the Control Panel and go to the subsection " Programs and Features". There in the window " Turning components on and off Check the box next to the name of the Hyper-V service. After that, the virtual machine will be installed on the PC, and in the future it will be possible to start it through the menu “ Start».

Key benefits of Hyper-V:

built into the system, no need to download and search for anything;
has full functionality for emulating different versions of Windows, for example, 98 and other operating systems;
supports Windows versions of different bit sizes;
simple and intuitive interface.

In general, thanks to the presence of Hyper-V on Windows 10, users have no need for other similar programs. Although the utility does not require special configuration skills, you can read more about it in the related article.

Virtual Machine for Windows 7

The most popular virtual machine for Windows 7 users is Windows Virtual PC... Initially, its main functionality was intended to emulate Windows XP, so that developers could comfortably transfer programs developed for this OS to the new seven, which was just coming out at that time. In the future, its capabilities have expanded, and now Virtual PC is a separate platform that can reproduce almost all existing operating systems.

Like Hyper-V, this service is built into the system from the start. In order to install it, you need to go to " Start"And the submenu" Programs". There you need to find a line with the name of the program, click on it. A window will open in which you can freely create, delete and perform other manipulations with the emulator of operating systems.

Virtual machines for Mac and other operating systems

In addition to the virtual machines built into the seventh and tenth Windows, third-party developers have created many other, independent utilities that have approximately the same capabilities, but differ in details. The most popular one is Oracle VirtualBox, which will be discussed in this part of the article.

This virtual machine can emulate all currently existing operating systems, and is also available for the most popular operating systems at the moment - Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris. You can download it from the developer's website, having previously selected which system you need it for.

This Oracle program differs from its other counterparts in its wide functionality, which includes support for USB ports and their launch from an emulated machine, the ability to save the state of the system for its instant rollback in case a critical error occurs. In fact, from the huge list of all supported features, we can conclude that by downloading Oracle VirtualBox, you can comfortably work with any operating system without any restrictions at all.

For most users, VirtualBox is a very good choice because of its practicality, reliability, and functionality.

After the distribution kit with the application is on your computer, double-click on it. This will launch the installer. In it, you will need to choose which features, in addition to the Oracle machine itself, are installed with it. The list includes: internal Python programming, customized Internet support, and USB port integration. After that, it is enough to follow the instructions of the installation file until the installation of Oracle VirtualBox is complete.

Virtual drum machines

Virtual drum machines are present in the form of additional plug-ins that are installed and run through the program for recording or writing music - FL Studio, Ableton, Cubase and others. The most popular drum machine emulators are Ez drummer and Addictive drums... In free access to them there are large libraries of samples for every taste, recorded by famous drummers.

Creating your own virtual machine

In addition, there is also a company VMWare, which also offers users programs to create their own virtual machines. The most famous of them is called Workstation and is distributed on a paid basis. However, there are tons of resources that offer free use of this virtual machine for both Windows, Mac and Ubuntu. It is worth noting that the company offers a ton of additional utilities that expand the capabilities of the base program, adding desktop management, broadcasting and much more. Let's consider why this virtual machine is needed.

Workstation allows you to create virtual machines that will be managed from a single center. For the most part, this tool is of interest to large companies that need to configure the same functionality of devices on a large number of computers.

One of the most important features that the VMWare virtual machine has, the so-called vSphere, which allows not only to create and configure a virtual machine, but also to implement a whole infrastructure of such devices, interconnected. And if you have to choose, then such functionality will be very useful for large companies whose employees need to exchange data and information with each other.

All the functionality of the developed VMWare programs is based not on a single use of a virtual machine, but on the formation of a grid from them and a single place from where this network is controlled.

Virtualization 1C-Bitrix

Another program created for comfortable work with 1C-Bitrix products is Bitrix virtual machine, this time from domestic developers, which can also work with any PHP applications... In fact, this program is an emulation of the site server, which contains all settings for comfortable work... The finished machine can be opened at VMWare Player or other applications from this developer (there are also versions for VirtualBox and HyperV).

The program allows you to save time and get started immediately after the main platform is ready for use. At the same time, the Bitrix virtual machine is installed directly into the main emulation system, integrating into its functionality and operation, which allows you to start interacting with 1C projects immediately after installation and launch.

Which virtual machine to choose

There is no clear comparison here. It all depends on the user and his needs. To emulate games and check third-party software, the usual Hyper-V services and the like, built into the operating system itself, are quite enough. A well tested, reliable and free option is VirtualBox. For organizations, the best virtual machines are definitely VMWare products or the Bitrix virtual machine, since they simplify business and employee interactions.