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Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:16 pm
by Chris Corbyn
This is a bit crazy I guess, but nonetheless I don't see a better way of doing this.

I have a Mac. I don't have access to a windows PC but I want to test my work in IE 6 and IE 7.

So I installed VirtualBox and got a copy of Windows XP from my employer.

All works great, but the problem is that the Windows XP installation is running IE 7 and I still need to be able to test my work in IE 6.

Now, Microsoft offer these VPC images that contain IE 6, 7 and 8 for developers to test their work in each browser. So I downloaded VirtualPC and installed that, then grabbed the IE6 image from their site.

Whenever I start the VPC image inside VirtualPC it immediately errors with "An internal error occurred (13). VirtualPC will reset now." or something to that effect. It restarts and emits the same error in a continuous loop.

I'm guessing this is because the Windows Installation is not actually running on real hardware (since it's running in VirtualBox). Trying to run on virtual machine inside another causes bad things to happen I suppose? Have any Mac owners got any ideas for how the heck I can test my work in IE 6 *and* IE 7?

Right now I'm considering copying my Windows XP VirtualBox image (thus having two identical images) and then downgrading the version of IE in one of them (if that's possible?). However, I'm pretty sure this would be in violation of Microsoft's EULA...

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:48 am
by matthijs
You don't want to install http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE? Works pretty good for me. I also have a Mac and use VMware fusion to run XP.

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:55 am
by Chris Corbyn
I looked at that but was put off by the fact that (apparently) conditional comments don't work properly if you use version numbers in them [if IE lte 6]. That made me think that there will be other problems with them that don't reflect what your actual users will see.

I haven't tried them though, so I will :) Unfortunately I just accidentally rm -rf my windows VMDK image. I'm trying to recover the files but not hopeful so will probably have to do it all over again when I get to the office next week :P

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 1:06 am
by matthijs
Yes you might be correct about the conditional comments. Can't remember exactly.

Setting up multiple virtual machines would be the solution then, as you already mentioned. But I'm certain it violates microsoft's EULA. Not even sure it will work. Doesn't XP tell you that you need to register before 30 days or it quits working?

This is a real annoying problem. I don't understand why microsoft can't just develop a test set of the different browsers for us developers. I mean, it was Steve Balmer himself screaming "developers developers developers" ...

I mean, it won't be long before IE8 comes out (officially), then we have to install yet another crappy browser somehow :evil:

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 6:58 am
by Chris Corbyn
OMG, this totally works:

http://www.10voltmedia.com/blog/2008/12 ... irtualbox/

You can run those MS Virtual PC compatibility images directly inside VirtualBox if you get rid of processr.sys :)

Works in my VirtualBox 2.1.4 install. And of course, those images are free for this exact purpose (testing IE) (but they expire every 3 months).

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:50 am
by josh
What about one of those browser screenshot websites that'll show you a URL in many different browsers & versions & OSs

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:14 am
by matthijs
The draw back of having to reinstall those MS Virtual PC compatibility images every 3 months is a big one (or at least very annoying). Why is that?

The browser shot sites are a last option I think. But for me it would never be very practical. It takes too much time to submit an url and wait. And having a screenshot is often too little information. I also want to be able to resize the window, click a few things, etc. I've seen enough IE6 bugs who only appear until at that moment.

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:27 pm
by Chris Corbyn
matthijs wrote:The draw back of having to reinstall those MS Virtual PC compatibility images every 3 months is a big one (or at least very annoying). Why is that?
I'm not sure I've got that right, but somebody else told me they expire every 3 months. The reason seems clear to me... they're completely free and they're fully functioning Windows installs. If they didn't make them expire then you could basically get hold of windows completely free from the MS site ;) I don't customize them in any way so if they expire then that's fine... a freshly download one will be the same. I don't think they're intended to actually "use" as an every day operating system.

You don't actually have to re-install them. Just download them. They're already installed images that just run when opened.
matthijs wrote:The browser shot sites are a last option I think. But for me it would never be very practical. It takes too much time to submit an url and wait. And having a screenshot is often too little information. I also want to be able to resize the window, click a few things, etc. I've seen enough IE6 bugs who only appear until at that moment.
I couldn't agree more. You can't test functionality. Stupid things like float rendering errors that only reveal themselves as you begin to scroll etc. Moreover, using those screenshot sites takes *ages* to get your screenshots and if there are bugs you have to wait ages to see if your changes actually fix those bugs. They're really a last resort.

I used to have a copy of IE 6 that runs under Darwine (wine packaged up for OS X) but that had some many of its own bugs that it was difficult to make any judgements about behaviour half the time. Virtualization is the best way to get a real feel for how things actually work.

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:10 pm
by Benjamin
Is there a way for me to get these images and run them in Linux without having to purchase any licenses? Where do you download the images from?

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:00 am
by Chris Corbyn
astions wrote:Is there a way for me to get these images and run them in Linux without having to purchase any licenses? Where do you download the images from?
I believe that these directions still stand on Linux. VirtualBox is available for Linux too:

http://www.10voltmedia.com/blog/2008/12 ... irtualbox/

The images are provided here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

EDIT | The only bit you'll need to do differently is extracting the archive. The self extracting zip files (.exe) don't open with standard unarchiving tools. No doubt Linux has a free utility for them.

Re: Running VirtualPC in Windows XP, inside a Virtual Machine?

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:40 am
by Benjamin
Cool thank you, I might give those a go.