MIR
on Windows XP
(sorta)
Options available
• PartitionMagic w/ BootMagic
– Have used this with a few MIR cooperators
with good success
• Microsoft Virtual PC
– We are still learning about it but it appears
very promising
• Others ???
Similar purposes
• Both of these products have their primary
use in the tech support field.
• Support personnel don’t need to have
multiple machines available in order to
support software designed/developed
under/for different operating systems –
they can simply change between operating
systems on the same physical machine.
PartitionMagic
• Partitions Hard Drive into at least 3 logical
hard drives
– One contains BootMagic info
– One contains operating system files and data
for Windows XP
– One contains operating system files and data
for a different operating system
– These logical hard drives are visible only by
the system you are operating under at the
time
PartitionMagic (cont.)
• Can set up drives that are shared by the
various operating systems
• Can set up more drives and operating
systems as needed
Installation of PartitionMagic
• Installation is quite tedious and not
something to be left to a novice
• Data on the drive is quite volatile during
the partitioning process. (I’ve not
experienced any problems but have read
and heard about people who have).
• Installation can take a couple of hours –
mostly time spent waiting
Virtual PC
• Virtual PC allows you to make what
appears to be another complete computer
within the computer you already have.
Mainframe computers have used this
operating system setup for years.
• The entire operating system is contained
in one file on the hard drive and each of
the virtual machine’s hard drives are
contained in another file.
Installing Virtual PC
• The file to download is a little over 18 MB
so depending on your internet connection
that may take a while.
• You then Unzip the file and launch the
installation routine which walks you
through the process. You can accept
defaults for all the options you are given
and probably be in fine shape.
Installing Virtual PC (cont)
• After installing Virtual PC you can set up
several Virtual Machines (limit?)
• Decisions made regarding machine
memory allocations and “hard drive” size
can be modified after a virtual machine is
set up
• The hard drive for each virtual machine
looks like a single file on the real
machine’s hard drive but can be read only
by the virtual machine.
• Files can be “dragged” from one
machine’s hard drive to the other – not
sure about limitations on this
Common issues
• You will need an installation disk/cd for the
secondary operating system you choose
to use.
• You will need printer drivers for this
operating system for the printer you wish
to use
• This is true of other hardware as well – CD
rom drives, mice, etc.
Cost & other items
• PartitionMagic is in the $69 range
• Microsoft Virtual PC is free to download
• The company that developed and
marketed PartitionMagic for several years
has sold the product and we all know what
typically follows the sale of a successful
product.
• I’m quite sure that Microsoft will be around
for a while!
Personal experiences
• I have used Windows 98 2nd edition in all
the setups I have tested.
• I have encountered no problems running
MIR in these systems that I didn’t
encounter when running MIR on machines
that had this operating system installed
from day one.