Weekend ProjectGettogripswithsomeserioustechtinkeringtoboostyourcomputerandotherdevices581 1-26 December 2019
operatingsystems andmacOS. Install
as manyoperating systems asyouwant
and then choose which oneto run from
the VirtualBoxManager.
Essentially,VirtualBoxsetsthe new
operating system to run withinyour
current one.Ito peratesentirely
separately fromyour currentOS,though
youcan enablefeatures such as shared
storage and sharedclipboard, shouldyou
needto.There’ sanadditionalVirtualBoxHowto... Trysoftware safelyusing avirtual machineWayneWilliams explains howto set upasafeenvironment to te st
newsoftwarewithout harming your PC
What you need
Thereare severalprogramsyoucan use
to crea te avirtual environmentinwhich
to run your software, but Oracle VM
VirtualBox(www.virtualbox.org )is
arguably the best. It’s entirely free,very
easytouse and canhandle everyversi on
of Windows –from3.1 to 10 –provided
youhaveacopy of the operating system.
You’renot limitedto runningWindows
becauseitc an alsohandle Linux
Everyissue,werecommendlotsof
greatprogramsinourBestFree
Softwaresection.Ifyoutry
somethinganddecideit’snotforyou,
thenyoucanuninstallitafterwards.
Theproblemisthatremovingsoftware
oftenleavesbehindfiles,folders,
Registryentriesandotherdetritus,
whichovertimecanclogupandeven
slowdownyourPC.
Onetrickthatweusetoavoidthis
istoinstallandrunthesoftwareona
virtualmachine.Notonlydoesthislet
uskeepourcopyofWindowsclean,
butitalsoavoidstheproblemof
softwaremakingunwantedchangesto
theoperatingsystemandbundledjunk
gettinginstalledinthebackground.
InthisWeekendProject,weshow
youhowtosetupavirtual
environmentfortestingsoftware.ExtensionPack (also free)thatyou can
installto provide even more features.
Youcan resizethe operating system
window, running it scaledor full screen,
which cancome in usefuldependingon
the sortof programsyouintendto try on
it. When you’vefinished,youcan sa ve the
currentstateoft he OS befor eexiting
(soyou canquickly pick up whereyou
left off)ors hut it down fully (freeing up
system resources).M T WT FSS