At the end of my virtual rope.

[kmurdock]

Why am I having so much trouble wrangling my virtual pc? I am NOT using XP Mode.

I have sporadic yet chronic trouble shutting it down.

I use my VPC almost every day -- sometimes it shuts down properly without a whimper, and the next time it just hangs with the "Shutting down the virtual machine" dialog. If I leave it, it simply sits there. I turn off my PC at night, so I need to close the VPC, too.

I'm willing to find out I'm doing something wrong. I've already determined that I should use Ctrl+Alt+Del to properly initiate the shutdown process (I was previously using "Close" -- also set to shutdown in the settings for this VPC). However, when I started doing that I immediately started getting messages that the local profile was unstart-able because another process had it in use, it's now locked, we're using a temp profile... So, in case my user hive was whacked, I restored from an earlier system save and started logging off first, to save my profile. But when logged off, I can't use Ctrl+Alt+Del, so I use Close after all.

I HATE VPC on Win 7 with hardware virtualization. I have a laptop that doesn't have hardware virt and so I'm able to install VPC 2007. It works flawlessly! Never an issue.

I've looked for instructions on how to deal with this but have come up short. I found a lot about how to set it up, but not a lot on how to use/maintain. Again, I am not using XP Mode. But I think I've learned that XP Mode requires a program on my guest O/S. Should I have this installed even if I'm just using Virtual PC?

How can get this under control? I can't afford to lose the data and programs I have on my VPC. I can't stop using the VPC. Can anyone help me get VPC to work? Are there any useful links out there?

Thanks! Kim

[chowur]

The HAV detection tool helps you check if the computer processor supports hardware virtualization. The tool also checks if this feature is enabled on the processor. Here is the link;https://www.microsoft.com/download/e...lang=en&id=592
I hope the link above helps.

[kmurdock]

Hi chowur,

But I already know that my computer supports hardware virtualization and that it's turned on.

My problem is that I start up the VPC. I work on it for four to six hours. (I copy my data files to a flash drive!) I close my applications and then log off from the Start menu. Then I click Actions > Close. This has been configured in Settings to go through the shutdown sequence.

But I'm stuck with the shutdown progress bar into eternity. It's been going for about five hours now.

Virtual PC shutdown.png

Why is it hanging? I'll be clicking the red X in the corner soon, but then I see this:

Force shutdown.png

What does that message even mean in the context of shutting down? I need to know how to gracefully shut down the VPC -- every time.

Aargh,
Kim

[kmurdock]

Well, I got sick of seeing the progress bar and I didn't want to hit the red X.

So I tried something I'd read elsewhere to access the DOS window when starting the VPC -- press Shift+Esc

So I cancelled out of the nasty dialog I posted in the last message, pressed Shift+Esc and the VPC window appeared -- menu along the top, black only in the window (I had logged out).

Then it just... disappeared. Finished closing, I guess. What was going on? More to the point, what was able to close when the window briefly appeared? I'd like to be able to close down gracefully, without all the shenanigans.

I remain,

[wartaaids]

I have tried Windows Virtual PC on an XP host, but not on Win7. But I've also tried VMware Player and VirtualBox (both have free versions) with an XP guest on both XP and Win7, and found VMware simplest to install and use. You might want to give it a try. You should be able to import your existing VM into VMware - I did this without problem for a ME guest.

Chris

[BruceR]

It seems the shut down progress bar is entirely fake anyway, so perhaps you're just hitting the five minute limit?: Shutting down a virtual machine

As you have your data files saved on a flash drive, what's wrong with just hitting the "turn off forcefully" button? Why do you feel the need to be graceful?

Bruce

[kmurdock]

Hi wartaaids,

I had a feeling someone would propose changing VM programs. I recently tried Virtual Box because you can't run the Windows 8 preview in Windows' Virtual PC. All went well until I installed the integration tools, then everything went black and I couldn't bring it back.

In the case of the Win 8 preview, it didn't matter. But I can't afford that kind of experiment with the work product on my VPC. I also can't take the time right now to work the kinks out of a new system. If I have to, I'll move it to my laptop and Virtual PC 2007.

I've used Virtual PC for several years now without a hiccup. The difference here is the flippin' hardware virtualization and the "improved" software that Windows forces me to use. The interface is different and it's harder to get a handle on what's going on in the guest O/S. I suspect the piece I'm missing is small and I'd like to try to find it before throwing in the towel.

But it's very good to know your experience importing into VMware...

Thanks! Kim

[kmurdock]

Hi BruceR,

Thank you for that link. How very refreshing, and it actually contained advice to do exactly what I did last night.

I felt the need to be graceful because I thought the progress bar was actually reflecting something really going on with the VPC. If it isn't, doing what I did last night after five hours of progress bar -- pressing Shift+Esc to see if I could peek at the O/S -- seems to be the right thing to do. It appeared to release the O/S to actually finish shutting down. Not exactly graceful, but if it works, I'll go with it.

Best, Kim (though still somewhat )

[cafed00d]

I recently tried Virtual Box because you can't run the Windows 8 preview in Windows' Virtual PC. All went well until I installed the integration tools, then everything went black and I couldn't bring it back.

Same thing happened to me. I just powered down the VM and started it up again, at which point it was working. The client tools aren't ready for prime time with Windows 8, but I have never had any issue with them when creating a VM for Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, CentOS, Fedora, several others), Windows XP, 2003, 7 and 2008 SR2. Though I do recall having the same shutdown issue with a VM that had the Win 8 developer's preview on it.

[kmurdock]

Same thing happened to me. I just powered down the VM and started it up again, at which point it was working.

I did exactly that -- powered it down and started it up again, and it did not work. When in doubt, reboot. No joy.

I appreciate the testimonials for alternative VM programs, and I hope I'm armed with enough info right now to tame VPC (if not exactly gracefully) in Win 7. I would still welcome any other insights into making MSoft's VPC shutdown a smoother process.

Thanks, Kim

[JoeP517]

Have you changed the virtual environment recently - i.e. added or changed software or hardware?

Have you changed any networking?

Joe

[kmurdock]

Joe, I think you may have put your finger on it.

I haven't added or changed software or hardware, except that I attach the USB flash drive to which I back up my files. It's less convenient using it as shared.

Last night, I attached, used, then detached the flash drive. Then I logged out, and clicked Actions > Close.

At this point in the past, while the progress bar was progressing, I have physically removed the flash drive (after using Safely Remove Hardware... in the host). Last night I decided to keep it connected until (and if) the VM had completely shut down. And last night it shut down completely, quickly, and gracefully.

This leads me to believe the real problem could have been that the VM was trying to release a piece of hardware that was still shared as far as it was concerned, but was no longer there.

In looking back, this may have been true each time I've had a problem -- it has been sporadic. I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm optimistic.

Thank you all,
Kim