Virtual PC 2007 also supports Windows Vista as a guest operating system. You can install the Business, Enterprise or Ultimate version within a virtual machine. As you did when you installed Windows XP, make sure that you select Windows Vista as the operating system you plan to install.

If your virtual machine is set up, proceed with the steps that I describe below.

  1. In the Virtual PC Console, select the virtual machine you just created and click Start. The prompt shown in the figure will appear.
  2. If you have Vista on a DVD, insert it into your drive and press Enter (if you have an ISO, click Capture ISO Image from the CD menu.)
  3. Setup will start loading the files.
  4. Select your language, time, currency and keyboard language settings.
  5. Click Install Now when prompted.
  6. Enter the product key (this should be located on the DVD case). If you skip this step, you must provide the information within 30 days.
  7. Accept the license agreement to continue.
  8. Select the Custom installation option.
  9. Choose the partition on which you want to install Windows Vista. Click Drive Options Advanced if you want to re-partition, format your hard disk or load RAID and SATA controller drivers.
  10. Setup will copy the necessary files. Your computer may restart several times during this process. Continue with the steps below after Windows Vista boots for the first time.
  11. Choose your Country or Region and keyboard layout settings
  12. Create a user name and password.
  13. Type in a name for the computer and choose a background for your desktop.
  14. Select your Automatic Update settings.
  15. Review the time and date settings.
  16. Select your network location, such as Public Location.
  17. Click Start.

At this point, the setup of Windows Vista within the virtual machine is complete. The final installment of this series will describe how to install the Virtual Machine Additions.

[tags]virtual pc, virtual machine[/tags]