Windows Hood

I was a victim of the Hardware Assisted Virtualization requirement of Windows Virtual PC that runs on Windows 7, and to be quite honest, I don’t want to purchase another laptop just because I don’t have Native Virtualization on my current one.

Eventually I will get a new laptop, but now isn’t the right time for me J

So, If you’re having the same trouble I’ll explain how to run Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 on Windows 7 in 5 steps! Yes it’s possible! with No Hardware-Assisted Virtualization, Yey

but, but, but, what we’re doing here is not supported by Microsoft, do it at your own risk and in non-production environment.

What you need:

1.       The Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 (which we will run on 7).

2.       This patch to extend its ability to support more Guest and Host OS (Vista and Server 2008), for the complete list check KB948515.

3.       Install IIS 7.5 Components.

4.       A test Guest OS DVD/CD  or ISO image J

What I’m running is:

1.       Windows 7 Ultimate X64.

2.       Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 X64

Important Note: Virtual Server 2005 R2 supports both X64 and X86 Architectures for the HOST operating system, however it supports ONLY X86 for the Guest Operating systems.

Let’s Begin!

Step 1: Modify Application Compatibility from the Local Group Policy Editor

1.       Click Start, in the Search box type gpedit.msc and hit enter.

2.       Under “Computer Configuration” expand “Administrative Templates”

3.       Under “Administrative Templates” expand “Windows Components”

4.       Click on “Application Compatibility” and on the right pane:

a.       Enable:  “Turn Off Application Compatibility Engine”

b.      Enable: “ Turn Off Program Compatibility Assistant”

 
Note: my illustrations show not configured because I performed step 5

Now the second part:

1.       Back to “Administrative Templates” this time expand “System”

2.       Expand “Troubleshooting and Diagnosis” and click on “Application Compatibility Diagnosis” pane:

a.       Disable: “Detect Application Failures caused by Deprecated COM Objects”

b.      Disable: “Detect Application Failures caused by Deprecated Windows DLLs”

Read their description if you must know what are they for J

Now that you’ve configured your Windows 7 for the installation, let’s install IIS 7.5.

Step 2: Install and Test IIS 7.5

Here’s what you should see (all illustrations, click to enlarge)

1.       Click Start, in the search box type “Turn Features” and open the “Turn Windows Features on or Off”

2.       Click on “Internet Information Services” and expand to select extra services we need:

Expand Web Management Tools and enable:

IIS Management Console

Expand IIS 6 Management Compatibility and enable:

IIS Metabase and IIS6 configuration compatibility

Expand Application Development Features and enable:

CGI

Expand Common Http Features and enable:

Default Document 

Directory Browsing 

HTTP Errors 

Static Content

Expand Health and Diagnostics enable:

HTTP Logging 

Request Monitor

Expand Performance Features enable:

Static Content Compression

Expand Security and enable:

Windows Authentication

 

Now that you Installed IIS 7.5, test it by visiting http://localhost you’ll see the yellow bar, you can enable Intranet Settings if you want.

 

Step 3: Installing Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 and the KB948515 Update

Install the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 component as you’d normally do, then apply the downloaded update (KB948515) using elevated credentials if your User Account Control is set to Vista equivalent then:

1.       Run cmd using elevated credentials (Run As Administrator)

2.       Type:  msiexec  /p  [The path to the downloaded update]

else, just double click.

Give your computer a restart; it’s not required but recommended.

Step 4: Configure IIS Default Document:

When you visit the http://localhost/virtualserver you might receive a “Forbidden” error, it’s because neither the “virtualserver” virtual directory has “Default Document” configured nor does it allow “Directory Browsing”. You can always type  http://localhost/virtualserver/VSWebApp.exe which isn’t practical for me. I’m lazy.

Here is how:

 

then

Step 5: Change Local Group Policy Settings Back

If you change the settings right away, the compatibility engines will detect the service and turn it off, so what you need to do is change the service’s executable name in Program Files and the Registry.

Go to:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server
Rename vssrvc.exe to anything else, example: vssrvc2.exe

open up your registry editor (Start —> regedit), find all the vssrvc.exe values and change them to vssrvc2.exe (use Ctrl+f and type vssrc.exe and F3 to Find Next)

Now you can change the Group Policy back.

Here is how everything will turn out to be:

Enjoy!

If you guys face any trouble or you have any questions just leave a  comment.