I don't know why I can't stop playing with computer stuff & alternative OS's etc. Partly its because I hate throwing away perfectly good software, like my Maple 8. It runs on XP but not Vista.

So I've got Windows Vista Ultimate on my laptop, and I can't figure out the virtualization software that came with it.-- Meaning it doesn't just work on its own. I try the Virtualbox from Sun, which isn't that much simpler but it works, and its free. I decide to install (for having lost my other OS disks) a copy of NT4, for which I have a license. It does go nicely into the VirtualBox computer, which runs inside Windows Ultimate on my laptop. Computer within a computer -- its sickeningly cool. Why I have an unused copy of NT4 is a boring story involving a 90's computer show, so skip it. I'd have used Windows 98 but all I've got are upgrade licenses and lost my Windows 3.1 floppies (though I kept the license codes). Additionally, I've never really used NT4, but I get it installed after a couple of tries.

The reason I'm doing all this is that my Maple 8 won't run, and I paid good money for Maple 8 about 10 years ago. So I'm making it work, and I get the Maple 8 to run inside Windows NT inside of VirtualBox on my Windows Ultimate super-fast Toshiba duel processing double clutching 409! I'm THE man.

Then, tragedy strikes. My system's acting slow and a little weird, and I'm paranoid so I reinstall from Windows from scratch. I can't explain why I'd be willing to do that, but I do it. It involves running the restore on my Toshiba to Ultimate Premium, then running my Ultimate Upgrade CD (losing the Hybernate feature on my laptop in the process). And I have to download 1 million patches, because it can't just do 1 big patch (as it ought). Also the patches are persnickety, but I've done it before and can get it done right. Probably I should have tried the Windows Ultimate total restore feature, but nah.

Finally I install virtualbox again. It works, and I get to use the virtual machine that I have backed up. I'm happy about this small break, except that my NT password doesn't work; so I'm thinking that I'll have to reinstall NT again, inside of Virtual box! Yuch. Aha! Recent versions of Knoppix OS live CD's can edit NTFS file systems! Bright Idea is to download Knoppix, boot the same virtualbox with that which can write to the virtual NTFS and hack into my own NT4 system to reset the admin password! Am i clever or what?!

So I download a Knoppix image, run it with Slysoft's free 'CloneDrive' (a virtual CDrom device that uses CD image files), and set the VirtualBox to boot from the virtual drive. Ha ha that's so sweet! I boot into my Virtual Box system, from the virtual CDROM running Knoppix, and I replace the system file 'logon.scr' with CMD.EXE!!! I'm like a hero cowboy, just riding the range. I reboot my NT and wait for the system to come up, timeout, and try to run the logon screensaver -- triggering an admin command prompt CMD.EXE But it doesn't run. I probably didn't set permissions on the file or something. Then I realize that I typed the password incorrectly, and everything works.

That is the end of the story. In the near future laptops will be running a computer, within a Virtual box computer, within another Virtualbox computer, so learn not to forget your passwords. Think of the possibilities. Also, don't throw away your OS's disks. Forget not your passwords and upgrade regularly.

Actually, running a virtualization program inside a system which is itself already virtualized (for example, VirtualBox within Virtualbox) will probably not work, because the virtualization features of the CPU are already committed to the outermost one. I wanted to try out VirtualBox on a Windows image which was itself already running on Xen, and it was a no-go.
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Stephen

You left out one of the most important steps. BACKUP!

Wouldn't an image backup of your laptop AND your VirtualBox installation have saved you a lot of grief?

Maple 13 is available for $130 or so on eBay, BTW.

And there are easy-to-find tools to replace the Administrative password if you have problems with it, on any Windows version.

I once ran a Mac with VMWare Fusion installed which was running Windows XP--and within that virtualization I ran a hacked VMWare Mac clone. Fun and games! I've got an MSI Netbook with a drive partitioned to Win7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard...

Jeff/CompGuy

It certainly would have. There are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1. Windows Vista Ultimate edition has an imaging feature, however it does not produce a plain drive image. It does image and encode a copy of itself up onto DVD's or if you have an external drive that is NTFS formatted it'll backup onto that. Strangely, in order to retrieve the backup, you must already have working installation of Windows Vista Ultimate already on the system that you're restoring! You also must have the Windows Vista Ultimate DVD to start the process. I did backup my system onto DVD's, but I decided in the end not to try it because....

2. This particular laptop has a hidden partition to restore the system, and the laptop is boobie-trapped so that you can only install beginning from there. If you boot up with a plain DOS OS or bootstrap CD or sit too long in the configuration menu it resets after about 30 seconds. Try it multiple times in a row, and the system will refuse to come back on at all. It would shut down for Linux live CD's, or the Windows Ultimate CD. It powered off repeatedly when I was trying to bootstrap it, then it angrily decided not to turn on at all. I reseated the battery, which caused it to forgive. Even then it allowed restoring ONLY from its hidden partition. Its truly weird and unpublished behavior, and I think it is a hardwired feature. I don't know how the system would react to being re-imaged. It might simply refuse to boot ever again, to the degree that I wouldn't even call it IBM compatible. I certainly don't feel like I own the laptop. It belongs to Toshiba. Well, at least its fast.

Thanks for the tip. Maple 13's pretty much the same thing as 8, and I've got mine working. Whats new is MapleSim, but I haven't seen a student offering for that.

quote:

Actually, running a virtualization program inside a system which is itself already virtualized (for example, VirtualBox within Virtualbox) will probably not work, because the virtualization features of the CPU are already committed to the outermost one. I wanted to try out VirtualBox on a Windows image which was itself already running on Xen, and it was a no-go.
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I'm not sure that my machine has the virtualization extensions. Maybe it does, but I'm not knowledgeable about it. Running one virtual within another seems wasteful, except that we may get to a point where even Windows machines are no longer being sold. At that time, it really will be an emulator within an emulator in order to run the old stuff.

Oh, I wasn't talking about using the built-in imaging features of Vista. There are many other ways to image a system. I like Acronis True Image Home 2010--great backup, great imaging, restore in many ways, inexpensive (under $50). A System State backup is useful sometimes using the built-in Windows backup tools, and for data backup the free CrashPlan is ideal.

External USB drives are so darn cheap these days. You can buy a 250 GB external drive for under $50--I've seen them as low as $30. Makes total sense to hook one up to your computer and schedule daily image backups. Set it and forget it, basically, until you need it.

The VMware Player is free for the downloading, and it's easy to find standard drive files for everything from DOS to Windows 3.1 on forward. I even have two DVDs with ALL Windows and DOS versions (yes, even Windows 1.0) that I could use to create such virtual machines with.

Jeff/CompGuy

Ok, if you have those DVD's then I guess I am jealous. I have briefly used Windows 2.0 on a system that was too weak to run it, however it takes true dedication to accumulate a collection like yours. I suppose you used to keep them on zip drives? Man, those were popular. Everybody wondered whether floppies would be replaced by zip drives. They weren't; because of USB TWO!!! I think USB 2.0 is the greatest thing, probably the very thing that will bring about world peace and harmony. I do not think that there is any need for a USB3, unless it is for some specialized use. I suppose that I could be convinced to move over to a wireless USB standard if I felt it was as secure. I'd feel comfortable using a usb thumbdrive as a front door key instead of a metal key, and for an automobile key.

Different subject, but do you collect AOL cd's, too?

A lot of this stuff is available for downloading for free if you know where to look. I simply downloaded those DVDs.

Yes, we need USB3--and USB4. More speed is always good for computer use. The forthcoming SuperInternet was demonstrated this week in a town near me, Monterey CA.

quote:

Network leaves the Internet in the dust

The Internet—the one we use to shop online, read news and update our Facebook status—isn't the only Internet around.

A second, ultra-high-performance network, called the California Research & Education Network (CalREN), connects schools and research institutions throughout California and can achieve speeds 1,000 times faster than typical broadband.

At the annual Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) conference, researchers came together to discuss the impacts this network can have on public education and research. The conference ran Monday through Wednesday at the Naval Postgraduate School and the Monterey Hyatt.

Members showed off the network's power during a lecture Monday at NPS. Researchers demonstrated a teleconference with a colleague in Japan using 4k video, which has four times the resolution of high-definition television.

Each frame of 4k video is equivalent to an eight megapixel photograph, so transferring at 60 frames per second ate up tremendous bandwidth. But it made the image crisp and clear enough to see each hair on the colleague's head.
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The network's quick transfer speeds could also benefit those who need to quickly share large amounts of data. It only takes a fraction of a second to download an entire DVD movie using the fiber-optic network.
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Will the average consumer gain access to the blinding speeds afforded to education and research?

Companies such as Google are already building and testing high-speed Internet in various locales. But research institutions are not likely to open up their networks, said Jim Dolgonas. They need to reserve bandwidth to transfer necessary information rather than give priority to the latest video of cats on YouTube.

Source:
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_14662076
Jeff/CompGuy