Opting for VMware Rather Than Throwing Away Your Computer
Virtual Computer will alter your thinking about PC lifecycle management. Thus, if you happen to be a developer testing another Operating System, why not try getting a copy of VMware programs online and prevent putting into garbage a great OS installation.
Stop Trashing Your Computer, Use A Virtual Computer
A while back I wanted to write an e-book about what it takes for the average person or small business owner to setup their own server then create a domain for security and sharing of resources.
I have a nice server and some spare drives so I decide to pull out the 'good' drives
and put in the spare drives and load it up. All the while doing this I was making
screen shots
of my progress. When I was done I removed the experiment drives and inserted the
'good' drives. Oppps, I forgot that I had changed the SCSI controller. This mistake
wiped the 'good' drives clean. Yup, lost it all.
Now as a long time Windows System Admin and knowing about virtual computers this did not dawn on me.
In the past I have used Virtual Computers or Virtual Machines (as VM Ware calls them) but before the Core 2 Duo processor running a Virtual Computer or a Virtual Machines on a desktop or a laptop would take all the processing power that even a P4 running at 3 GHz could muster. So it didn't even cross my mind about using a Virtual Machines to do this experiment.
Since then I have tried two different Virtual Computers, VM Ware and VitrualBox and I am here to tell you that the dual processor setup will run more than one Virtual Machines at the same time with little or no drag on the system resources.
I setup two different Virtual Machine's one VM Ware and one VirtualBox and ran them both at the same time, I also had my normal desktop items open at the same time. My new computer with a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz and two gig of memory did not even blink.
Another thing that I like about using a Virtual Machines for testing is if it gets so bad that it blue screens or fails to start you just delete it and create a new Virtual Machines and then back to what you were doing. Or you can do your troubleshooting with the Virtual Machines, have to restart, no problem while it is restarting read an email, surf the web, or do something else.
So if you are a developer, an experimenter, or just want to test out a different Operating System I would suggest you jump on the internet and grab a copy of these programs and stop trashing a perfectly good Operating System installation.
Monte Russell with over 20 years experience, AAS degree, MCSE, CNA, A+, and hardware certificates. The free monthly newsletter at:http://www.diy-computer-repair.com/newsletter-signup.html always intriguing, full of insights about computing. Read more about this article at http://www.diy-computer-repair.com/virtual-computers.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Monte_Russell