120 MAY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 387
WhateveryourPC,hardware, software,officeapplication
or macroissues,SimonHandbyisheretohelp
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In‘TheEndofWindows7’(Shopper383),
youcoverthepossibilityofturninga
Windows7PCintoavirtualmachine
(VM),andrunningitunderadifferent
operatingsystem.I’veconsidereddoing
this before,but have never been able
to establish whether it’s possible to do
exactly what I’m after.
Rather than createanew virtual disk
forthe virtualised PC to live on, Iwould
like to turn my Windows 7PCintoa
virtual machine,using allofits existing
devices and physical drives. Once I’ve
done this, Iwant to add another drive to
the computer and use it as the destination
forafresh install of Windows10.
Once I’d finished, the PC would boot
intoanew installation of Windows10, and
I’d be able to run my old Windows 7
computer virtualised within it, but using
the old physical disks. Is this possible,and
how would Igoabout it?
Sam Hones
This is an interesting question. On the surface,
it would be afar better idea just to install
Windows 10 alongside Windows 7, but with
support forthe latter nowended this could
pose athreat to the security
of the whole PC. Youcould
minimise this risk by
ensuring you use Windows 7
only when strictly necessary,
and offline when possible.
Virtualising the Windows 7
PC would be much safer,
but less so if you’re using
physical disks rather than
virtual ones.
You’d need to start by
installing the VMware
vCenter Converter
Standalone fromwww.
vmware.comand using this to virtualise the PC.
The first hurdle is that while you won’t need
any virtual disks, the converter won’t work
unless you include at least the system drive
and any system-reserved partitions (the ones
that appear with long string names) in the
conversion process. Youshould also reduce
the VM’s memory to ensure it’s below the
PC’s physical memory.You’ll need to save the
virtualised PC to atemporary
location with enough space.
Once the conversion completes,
you can fit the new drive,run the
Windows 10 installer,and ensure
you choose afresh install situated
on the new,blank drive.Once
Windows 10 is installed and patched,
you’ll need to install suitable
hypervisor software to let you run
your virtual Windows 7PC. While
you could use the free VMware
Workstation Player,itdoesn’t
support snapshots –auseful wayto
recover from disaster,particularly if
you’re using an unsupported
Virtuallythere
operating system. Oracle VirtualBox does, but
it makes it farharder to configure aVMtouse
aphysical drive; you’ll also need to install the
(free) extension pack to use the .vdmkimage
format created by the VMware converter.
The full version of VMware Workstation
would be ideal, but it’s £220.
Whatever software you’re hoping to use,
copythe virtual PC directory to asensible
location on the new system drive,then choose
to add anew VM in your hypervisor software.
Without starting the VM, edit its storage
settings, removing the virtual disk and
replacing it with the physical disk(s) to which
the Windows 7PChad access.
Our tests suggest that this process may
work, but you’ll find multiple limitations. Aside
from the VM not having access to the PC’s
full memory,the VM won’t strictly have access
to the computer’s ‘existing devices’.Instead, it
will talk to most via alayer of abstraction
provided by the hypervisor.This might
particularly mean that you have issues running
games and other software that needs direct
access to hardware acceleration. Given this,
and the difficulty and potential risk of
configuring the VM to use your physical
disks, we’d recommend you createvirtual
disks as we described in the article.
➡You’llneedtodialthe
memorydown,andmakevirtual
disksofyoursystemdrives
⬅Addphysical disks to your
virtualised PC; here we’re using
VMware Workstation
