96 JANUARY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 383
Wi-Fienabled:manylaptopshavea
keyboardcombinationthattogglesWi-Fi
onandoff,butthesetypicallyonlyworkin
Windows7.SobootintoWindows7and
turnonWi-FibeforeyouinstallUbuntu.
Ubunturunsfastonmostcomputers
andcanbreathenewlifeintoanoldone,
particularlyalaptop.Therearesome
thingstowatchoutfor.First,notallWi-Fi
adaptorsaresupporteddirectlyfrom
Ubuntu.There’snoeasyworkaround,but
thehelpforumsathelp.ubuntu.comhave
lotsoffriendlypeoplethatcanpointyouin
therightdirectiontoupgradedrivers.
ThesecondproblemisthatUbuntu
doesn’tsupportthesamesoftwareas
Windows.Ifyou’vegotoldapplications
thatyourelyon,you’llhavetofindLinux
alternativesforthem,althoughyoucan
runVirtualBoxandrunyouroldcomputer
asavirtualone(seebelow).
TURN YOUR WINDOWS 7PC
INTO AVIRTUAL ONE
PROS
Youget to keep your
old computer
Youcan still run old
applications
CONS
Your Windows 7PCwill
run slower
Oldperipherals arehardto
get working
Ifyou’veboughtashinynewPCbutstill
wanttoaccessyouroldcomputer,you
canconvertyourWindows7PCintoa
virtualoneforfree.Theeasiestwaytodo
thisistouseyourWindows7installation
discandcreateanewvirtualmachinein
thefreeVirtualBoxapplication.However,
youcanalsoconvertyourentireWindows
7PCintoavirtualone,whichwe’llshow
youhowtodohere.
First,you’llneedasmuchfreedisk
spaceastheamountofstoragethat
you’recurrentlyusing:ifyoucandelete
oldfilesandapplications,dothisnow.
Werecommendusinganexternalhard
disktosavetheimageto,ifyouhaveone
tohand,sothatyou’renottakingup
valuablestoragespace.
To convertyourcomputertoavirtual
one,you’llneedMicrosoft’sfreeDisk2vhd
programfromMicrosoft(tinyurl.com/
msdisk2vhd).Downloadthistoyour
computer, thenextractthefilesandrun
theapplication.First,removetheoption
toUseVHDX(aslightlyoldervirtualdisk
imagehastobeusedforcompatibility).
Youcanselectwhichharddisksyouwant
tosave,thenchoosewhereyouwantto
saveyourvirtualimage,andclickCreate.
Yourcomputerwillbevirtualised.
Next,youneedtodownloadand
installVirtualBoxtoyourcomputer(www.
virtualbox.org).Thisisafreevirtualisation
application,whichsupports.vhdfiles.
OpenVirtualBoxandselectNewto
createanewvirtualmachine,thenenter
anameforyourcomputer,suchas
Windows7.Thisshouldsettheoperating
systemastherighttype,butifnot,use
thedrop-downmenustoselectthetype
ofoperatingsystemyouwantandclick
Continue.Youneedatleast2GBofRAM
dedicatedtothevirtualmachine,soyou
canleavethedefaultorincrease
thisifyouhavemoresystem
RAM:4GBmakesWindows7
runsmoothly.ClickContinue,
thenselectUseanexisting
virtualharddiskfile.Selectthe
foldericonandthenclickthe
Addbuttonandbrowsetothe
.vhdfilefromyouroldcomputer
andselectOpen.Choosethis
virtualharddiskfromthelist
andselectChoose.
Onceyou’redone,youcan
clickStarttobootyourold
computerasavirtualone,and
you’llseethatyouhaveyourold
filesandapplications,whichwill
stillrun.Windows7mayneedreactivating,
whichmaymeancallingMicrosoft.Tell
themthatyou’vechangedmotherboardas
thereasonforthis,andyoushouldget
youroperatingsystemactivated.You
shouldnowclearoutyouroldcomputer,
asyoucanonlyhaveoneWindows7
versionrunningononePCperlicencekey.
InVirtualBox,it’sworthinstallingthe
VirtualBoxGuestAdditionsonyourvirtual
computerbyclickingDevices,InsertGuest
AdditionsCDImage,whichwillletyourun
youroldcomputeratahigherresolution.
FromtheViewmenu,youcanevenrun
yourcomputerinSeamlessmode,which
dumpstheWindows7desktopimageand
makesitlookasthoughapplicationsyou’re
runningareactuallyonWindows10.Just
takenoteofthepopupbox,whichtells
youwhichkeycombinationyouneedto
switchbacktoregularvirtualisationmode.
Thismethodishandyifyouhaveold
applicationsthatyourelyon,asyoucan
runthemasthoughtheywerenative
Windows7applications.However,a
virtualcomputercantakeupalotofdisk
space.And,whileVirtualBoxletsyou
shareyouractualcomputer’sUSBports
throughtheDevices,USBmenu,itcan
betrickygettingoldperipheralssuchas
printerstoworkcorrectly.
RIGHT:Running Ubuntu canbeagood wayto
breathe newlife into an old computer
ABOVE:Create a
virtualimage of your
computer with the
free Disk2vhd
BELOW:Youcan run
your oldcomputer as
avirtual machine
THEEND OF WINDOWS 7?
