jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Thu Mar 27 12:23:59 CDT 2008
Ahh... Good job, teach me to READ the original post closely. 8-0 Yep, yep and yep. You can make them locally, then copy them to the external drive, and yes, delete the originals on the main machine once they are moved. As long as the host machine has the VM server software installed you can even move them from machine to machine for processing. I have two fairly hefty servers and a laptop. I have installed the server software on all the machines so I can just execute the VMs wherever I need to. External drives are really pretty speedy. Often the USB channel can read / write as fast as the disk so there is no apparent effect of running external. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Tina Norris Fields Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 12:51 PM To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] VM for different versions of Access Hey John, Thanks for the reply. It's not a thumb drive, it's a powered 120 GB external hard drive, USB connected to my main computer, which is a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop. Let's see if my thinking is fitting in with what you have just told me. 1) I install the VM Server software on my host machine (already done). 2) I create my VM with WindowsXP Pro as the OS. 3) I install onto my VM the "stuff I gotta have." 4) I copy my VM to provide one each for whatever versions of Office I need. 5) Now, I copy my completed VMs to my external hard drive. 6) Can I then delete the original VMs that I made on my main machine hard drive? For the class I'm taking on Linux, I installed a VM for Fedora-7 on my external hard drive, and it ran. I'm wanting to put as much as possible off on the external drive to keep the main computer as free as possible. So far, the difference in speed hasn't been a real factor. I don't deal in "humungous" databases the way you do. Could happen, some day, though, so I take your advice seriously. Thanks again for the reply. Am I thinking straight, here? Tina jwcolby wrote: > Tina, > > The first question is why the thumb drive? They are small and slow. > IIWM, I would do it on a normal external disk. Remember that you need > not only office but Windows itself. Plus you likely want other apps > that you use all the time such as 3DFTP or UltraEdit or FireFox. > > Once you have the VM created and all set up with these "also gotta > haves", then copy the VM and install Office97 on one copy, Office 2K > on another copy, Office 2K3 on another copy etc. They will be small > but still probably at least 10 gigs or so each. Having done that, buy > a small laptop hard drive and an external USB driven container to put > it in. Place all the VMs on that and carry that around in your briefcase or laptop case. > > As for whether the VMs will run over a usb, AFAIK they will. The HOST > machine has to have the SERVER software installed to run it however. > This is another reason to bring along your laptop. Install the server > software on that and then just plug in the disk to your laptop and go. > You can of course also place the server install package on the disk > along with the VMs but then you have to do the VM server software > install on any machine that you want to run the VMs on. > > John W. Colby > Colby Consulting > www.ColbyConsulting.com > -----Original Message----- > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Tina > Norris Fields > Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:55 AM > To: dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com; accessd at databaseadvisors.com > Subject: [dba-Tech] VM for different versions of Access > > Hi All, > > Double-posting, since this is a technical virtual machine question but > involves Access. > > The database I wrote about that got corrupted has been mostly repaired. > That is to say the tables are intact, all the data are there, and the > table relationships are good. However, there are bits and pieces that > definitely are out of whack. I am going to remodel the database, to > use only the features the client actually uses and wants, to restore > the switchboard interface the client likes, and then split the sucker > into a proper BE and FE. Client agrees. Here is the puzzle: client > uses Access97. My machine is WinXP Pro with Office 2003. > > I would like to install a virtual machine and run Office 97 in that > machine (yes, I still have a licensed copy on the shelf - > unbelievable!). I would like that machine to reside on my USB external drive. Is this do-able? > What are the gotchas I need to watch out for? > > I have Microsoft's VirtualPC installed as well as VMWare's Server. > The MS VirtualPC seems the better candidate for making a virtual > machine to run another version of Office. > > Suggestions? Ideas? Watch-out fors? > > Thanks, > Tina > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com