Installing VPC Additions in a Win7 Guest operating system using VPC 2007
Sometimes (for however what reason) it could be possible that you can't install VPC 2007 SP1 (for example it's possible that you're not a local admin en your company doesn't allow to install VPC 2007 SP1. So you have to work without the Service Pack.
If you Install a Windows 7 Guest Operating System in VPC 2007 you could have some compatibility issues installing the Virtual Machine Additions.
By trying to install the additions you got the following message:
You could solve this issue by fixing the compatibility issue or remove the check. Fixing the issue could only by installing VPC SP1. Since this is inpossible we gonna disable the compatibility assistant.
- Run GPEdit.msc
- This should open the Local Group Policy Editor
- In the tree (on the left) select Local Computer Policy then
Computer Configuration, Administrative
Templates, Windows Components and finally
Application Compatibility
- Locate the entry for Turn off Application Compatibility
Engine and double click on it
- Select the Enabled radio button and then click
OK
- Next locate the entry for Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant
and double click on it
- Select the Enabled radio button and then click
OK
You should now have something that looks like this:
Now you will need to reboot your computer (forcing a group policy update is
not enough in this case (gpupdate /force doesn't work)).
Before moving on I would like to quickly discuss exactly what the impact
of these policy changes are:
- Disabling the Program Compatibility Assistant means that Windows will no
longer tell you when you are about to run a program with known compatibility
problems. It will just sit by quietly and let you try (and most likely
fail).
- Disabling the Application Compatibility Engine means that Windows will
no longer try to correct known compatibility issues. This means that there may
be programs that were working before that start failing – because Windows is no
longer fixing things up for them.
So the summary is that you should really only do this if you are running
a limited set of applications and can confirm that they all can run with the
application compatibility engine disabled.
Once the computer (VPC Image) has rebooted you should be able to run the Virtual Machine additions
installer with no problems.
Note: By using this trick I sometimes have problems by copy - pasting from the clipboard. However, this is better than no virtual machine additions.
Windows 2008 R2 Server tweaks for your development machine
Configure Shutdown Event Tracker on the Local Computer
Source: MSDN
When Shutdown Event Tracker is enabled, users cannot shut down or restart the computer without providing a reason. If the computer is shut down or restarted unexpectedly, either as a result of power interruption or hardware failure, the first member of the local Users group to log in after the restart is prompted to enter a reason in Shutdown Event Tracker.
Shutdown Event Tracker can be enabled on the local computer by editing the local computer's Group Policy settings.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
To enable Shutdown Event Tracker in Group Policy
-
Click Start, click in the Search (or run) box, and type gpedit.msc.
-
The Group Policy Object Editor dialog box appears.
-
In the Local Computer Policy navigation pane, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and click System.
-
In the console pane, scroll down to the list of objects (almost at the bottom?), right-click Display Shutdown Event Tracker, and click Properties.
-
On the Settings tab, click Enabled.
-
In the drop-down box, click Always, and then click OK.
Before:
After:
Disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC)
- Open the Server Manager
- Scroll down to the Security Information Section and click "Configure IE ESC".
- You can turn off IE ESC for Administrators and/or for users.
Turn on Wireless Feature
By default the Wireless LAN service is disabled and turned off. In order to turn on Wireless LAN and WLAN AutoConfig service:
- Open the Service Manager (in administrative tools)
- Go to the features branch and click on Add Features
- Click and tick the check box for Wireless LAN Service.
- Complete the installation wizard to install wireless support.
Create a VHD in Windows 7 and Boot from it - Install windows 2008 R2 on VHD
Creating and booting from VHD's in Windows 7 is a really cool feature of the Windows 7 operating system. However it is possible to install SharePoint 2010 on Windows 7, installing it on a VHD has some pro's. One of it is, that you can easily backup a vhd and run it from another PC.
To Create and boot a VHD (and install Windows 2008 R2):
-
In Windows 7 go to Start > Computer (right click) > Computer Management
-
Right Click Disk Management > Create VHD and follow the wizard
-
-
To install Windows 2008 R2 on the created VHD:
-
Boot from your Windows installation DVD
-
When first installation dialog box appears pres SHIFT + F10 to open command prompt
-
Type diskpart (in command prompt)
-
Next, run select vdisk file=d:\yourvhdname.vhd
-
Run attach vdisk
-
Exit from diskpart and command prompt (type exit)
- Your vhd disk will be visible and Windows could be installed on this location
- After installation you have the choice (boot menu) to launch Windows 7 or your new installed Windows 2008
Install other software (e.g. SharePoint 2010) on your VHD partition (after booting Windows 2008) and you have a great development / demo environment!
Happy Coding!
Create remote desktop shortcut on your desktop
Do you also use a lot of remote desktop connections for your different (SharePoint) servers? A shortcut to your remote desktop computers can make using them easier.
-
Right click on your desktop and select New -> Shortcut
-
Enter: mstsc.exe /v:yourserver /w:800 /h:600
The command parameters are:
- mstsc.exe – this is the name of the Remote Desktop application, and is required for the shortcut to work properly.
- yourserver – this is the name or IP address of the computer you want to connect to.
- 800 – this is the resolution width for the computer that you’re connecting to.
- 600 – this is the resolution height for the computer that you’re connecting to.
Note: the /w and /h parameters are NOT required
Installing Windows 7 on a Netbook from USB Storage
Netbooks are cool! They are cool because they are (relative) cheap, small, and have a long battery life. However most netbooks have Windows XP as operations system. Since most of them have 1 gB of internal memory, Vista was not an option for installing on Netbooks.
Now times changed and Windows 7 has been released! Windows 7 has several editions. From ultimate to starter. And starter is the solution for netbooks! Since (a lot of) netbooks have no optical drive (DVD/CD) we have to install Windows 7 from a USB drive. The steps to follow are described below.
-
Windows 7 uses a loading program called Bootmgr. We have to write code to the boot sector on our USB storage drive which is compatible with Bootmgr. This code can be written to the USB key by using the bootsect.exe program that is present in the Boot folder of the Windows 7 DVD. We can extract this code using the Command Prompt. From the Start menu - All Programms - Accessoirec - Command Prompt (right click run as Administrator!). Once the Command Prompt is open, navigate to your Windows 7 DVD (or folder) by typing the drive letter for your DVD drive, which is usually d:. If you downloaded an image from your MSDN subscription (.iso file). Mounth it using Daemon tools or Virtual CloneDrive and navigate to it in the command prompt. Insert the next line:
boot\bootsect /nt60 g:
In this line, we are telling bootsect to use the /nt60 command to write the compatible boot code to our USB drive, which is the g: drive. Substitute the letter of your own USB drive for g:.
- Now you can copy your extracted image files to your USB Drive (so not the .iso, of .img file but the root/folder structure you see if you boot from a CD or DVD.
- Before installing Windows 7, your netbook will need to boot from your USB key, rather than its hard drive. If you have a boot sequence option by booting your system, select it to USB. Otherwise (if you don't have boot options on startup screen, you have to change them). To change this, you need to enter the BIOS and alter the boot settings. How this is accomplished varies depending on the make and model of the netbook. In general, to get into the BIOS you have to press either the DEL key or one of the Function buttons. Look for a message on the screen when you first switch on the netbook; often there will be an indication of which key or key combination you should press in order to enter the BIOS.
Plug in your USB key, and switch on the netbook. Once in the BIOS go to the Boot menu and look for the ‘Boot Device Priority’ setting. In this setting, change the ‘1st Boot Device’ option to ‘USB’.
- Once you’ve changed the boot device, save your changes and exit the BIOS. The netbook will now boot from the USB key and proceed to install Windows 7. When the installation reaches the point where it restarts the system, be sure to remove the USB key, otherwise the netbook will boot from the USB key once again and will restart the installation.
Note: using Boot Sector Explorer 1.0 allows you to quickly and easily read from and write to both the boot sectors of your logical drives such as PhysicalDrive0 and the Master Boot Records (MBRs) of physical drives such as C:, D: etc. It can even examine drives that aren't hard drives, including CD-ROMs, DVDs, USB sticks and more: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/Boot_Sector_Explorer_53209_p/. You want to make your USB drive "unbootable". Try: HDD Low Level Format tool: http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/
Installing a MOSS 2007 VPC Local Development Environment on Windows 2008 Server Enterprise
Installing Operation System
1) Download and Install Microsoft VPC 2007 SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=28C97D22-6EB8-4A09-A7F7-F6C7A1F000B5&displaylang=en
(Service Pack Update for Virtual PC 2007 qualifying Windows Server 2008, Vista SP1 and XP SP3).
2) Start Virtual PC Console and choose new
3) A New Virtual Machine Wizard starts
- Choose create a virtual machine
- Give it a name and location
- Create a new virtual harddisk
- Optional you can increase the RAM memory of the VPC
Note: For the best performance choose installation on an external harddrive (Best a 7200 RPM drive, mostly with external power wich are faster than the small 2,5 inch laptop drives without external power supply)
4) Try to boot your Virtual PC (of course it will not because it is empty)
5) Select CD-> Capture ISO image
6) Mount your Windows Server 2008 Enterprise ISO
7) Follow the installation Wizard and install the Window Server 2008 Enterprise Operation System
Configuring Operation System
1) Windows needs to reset the Administrator password at the first boot
2) The Initial Configuration Tasks screen starts at the startup
3) Add a server role --> Web Server (IIS)
4) Add the requirend features (proces activation service, process model and configuration APIs)
5) Add the Application Development Role services
6) Also add the features required for Application Development (.NET environment)
7) Follow the wizard and finish the Add Roles Wizard
8) Close the wizard
Give your VPC Network Access
1) Select Edit -> Settings -> Networking
2) Select your network adapter
Install or update Virtual Machine additions
1) Select Action -> Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions
2) Follow the Setup instructions
Update your Windows Server 2008 Image
1) Start -> Windows Update
Note: you can install a specific version of SQL-server. This is not necessary since a version of SQL Server 2005 Express is shipped into the slip streamed version of ffice SharePoint Server 2007 Standard and Enterprise Editions with Service Pack 1. You can later do an upgrade to standard or enterprise edition of SQL Server. For more information about upgrading SQL Server Express please visit: http://www.toddklindt.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=55
Installing Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard and Enterprise Editions with Service Pack 1 (Slipstream)
1) Mount your image of Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard and Enterprise Editions with Service Pack 1 (slipstream)
2) Select: Basic - Install single server standalone using default settings
3) Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard
4) Install the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 with December 2008 Cumulative Updates
- December Cumulative Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=960010&kbln=en-us
- December Cumulative Update for Microsoft Office Servers
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=960011&kbln=en-us
Final steps: Microsoft Office 2007 and Visual Studio 2008
1) Install Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise
2) Install your favourite version of Visual Studio 2008 (Professional, Team system etc.)
3) Install Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007 and other programs IEDevToolbar, Infopath 2007 etc
Happy Developing
Windows 7 Resources
Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next release of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft stated in 2007 they were planning Windows 7 development for a three-year time frame starting after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Microsoft has stated that the final release date would be determined by product quality.
Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade from Vista, with the goal of being fully compatible with device drivers, applications, and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.
Recources:
Windows 7 Blog
Windows 7 Preview Video
Product Keys
Windows Optimized Desktop Roadmap
Windows 7 Forum