Creating a Virtual Machine

[XPostFacto]

I'm running Windows 8, 64 bit Professional. I checked out creating a virtual machine by activating Hyper V and clicking the right box in my BIOS, enabling Virtualization. I thought it would be a great idea to create a virtual hard rive so I could install an old copy of Windows XP 64 bit Pro and play Half-Life again. I followed the instruction wizard showing me how to set up everything. I installed the software, and I even put the machine on an external internet connection by clicking the virtual switch, so I thought, but I never got it connected to the Internet, and my main system on Windows 8 no longer had Internet connection. To make matters worse, I only had a small windowed screen. Now, I was dreaming of being able to replay Half-Life, but not on a small windowed screen. Try as I might, I couldn't make that small window expand to full screen, nor could I ever regain Internet connectivity. Frustrated, I went back into Control Panel and un-clicked the Hyper-V boxes.
After re-booting, I discovered that my Internet connectivity had returned. I then reformatted the other hard drive, eliminating all trace of Windows XP.

I will have to further study this virtual stuff, but as for my recent experience, I can't say much for it and wouldn't recommend it for anyone, at least using the embedded Windows 8 tools. Maybe it's better with 3rd party software. Thoughts anyone? I'd love to hear from other geeks, who have had success with it.

 

[Bleipriester]

I'm running Windows 8, 64 bit Professional. I checked out creating a virtual machine by activating Hyper V and clicking the right box in my BIOS, enabling Virtualization. I thought it would be a great idea to create a virtual hard rive so I could install an old copy of Windows XP 64 bit Pro and play Half-Life again. I followed the instruction wizard showing me how to set up everything. I installed the software, and I even put the machine on an external internet connection by clicking the virtual switch, so I thought, but I never got it connected to the Internet, and my main system on Windows 8 no longer had Internet connection. To make matters worse, I only had a small windowed screen. Now, I was dreaming of being able to replay Half-Life, but not on a small windowed screen. Try as I might, I couldn't make that small window expand to full screen, nor could I ever regain Internet connectivity. Frustrated, I went back into Control Panel and un-clicked the Hyper-V boxes.
After re-booting, I discovered that my Internet connectivity had returned. I then reformatted the other hard drive, eliminating all trace of Windows XP.

I will have to further study this virtual stuff, but as for my recent experience, I can't say much for it and wouldn't recommend it for anyone, at least using the embedded Windows 8 tools. Maybe it's better with 3rd party software. Thoughts anyone? I'd love to hear from other geeks, who have had success with it.

VM´s are not good to play games, they emulate weak hardware, need a lot of CPU-Power to do it. I can´t use Windows 8 VM utilities, cause my old CPU isn´t supporting it. Meanwhile, you can try the free remake of HL1, that is available out there

 

[XPostFacto]

Thanks for the info. I will check out HL1 I looked into setting up my HP laptop for virtual machine, but since Windows 8.1 is the basic package, it doesn't even give me virtual machine capability. I can see a use for VM if I was testing out Windows 10, but after hearing the horror stories about those beta testing 10, looks like I will stay with Win 8/8.1 for a long time.