Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

djjava · Mar 16, 2003, 03:01 PM

I plan on saving $120 by buying Connectix Virtual PC 6.0 with ms-dos instead of a preinstalled winOS copy that costs almost $250. I amc urious to know if anyone else is going/or went that route, and how easy was it to install your own copy of a winOS on VPC6 (or earlier). The box says that is what the Dos version is for, but I'm curious to know if it saves a load of hassle buy purchasing it preinstalled. I've forking over $3500 for the powerbook, funds are short for software.

Peter · Mar 16, 2003, 03:25 PM

I got VPC 6 with MS Dos installed, I then inserted Windows 95 disks which installed perfectly. I never got round to installing Windows 98. But I guess it will be fine.

djjava · Mar 16, 2003, 03:32 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
I got VPC 6 with MS Dos installed, I then inserted Windows 95 disks which installed perfectly. I never got round to installing Windows 98. But I guess it will be fine.

I plan to put on win2000. though your success story is comforting to know.

Win95???

Mr. Blur · Mar 16, 2003, 03:40 PM

i bought the dos version years ago...i think it was v3.0....i installed win95 too without problem. i've since upgraded to v6.x and run w98 and w2000 - i installed both of those using microsoft supplied cd's without any trouble at all......

philzilla · Mar 16, 2003, 07:10 PM

from what i remember, as long as you have the Windoze cd in the drive when you crank DOS up, it should detect it and install

95 works about the best, although 98 has more features. 2k ran too slow for me. as for XP. hmm. it took hours to install, then crawled along. it certainly didn't run. that was all on v5.0 though. i never got round to trying v6.0

Truepop · Mar 17, 2003, 12:03 AM

Just so long as it is not ME

One slow and buggy
really that was two
Three No boot from CD option.

Win2000 installed just fine on my friends version 6. Just I guess you need lots and lots of RAM.

Avon · Mar 17, 2003, 01:15 AM

Originally posted by djjava:
I plan to put on win2000. though your success story is comforting to know.

Win95???

I have instaled W2K on VPC. No problems and very straight forward.

bradoesch · Mar 18, 2003, 02:53 AM

Originally posted by Avon:
I have instaled W2K on VPC. No problems and very straight forward.

I've read that Win2K runs fastest/best with VPC? What are you experiences with it?

Cadaver · Mar 18, 2003, 09:11 AM

I've found Win2K runs best with VPC.
I have licensed corporate copies of Win2K and WinXP, which I can install unlimited numbers of times, and I've tested both.
Win2K's GUI runs faster than WinXP, even with all the XP effects turned off.

Installing your own OS on VPC is simple. The only thing the packaged versions give you is a faster, more compact install. Installing your own is slow and ends up using more disk space. But, once it's installed and you install the VPC Additions, it works just as well as a pre-packaged version.

Of course, if you don't have a licensed copy of Win2K or WinXP, then I'd say the pre-packaged copy is the way to go.

djjava · Mar 18, 2003, 09:15 AM

Originally posted by Cadaver:
I've found Win2K runs best with VPC.
I have licensed corporate copies of Win2K and WinXP, which I can install unlimited numbers of times, and I've tested both.
Win2K's GUI runs faster than WinXP, even with all the XP effects turned off.

Installing your own OS on VPC is simple. The only thing the packaged versions give you is a faster, more compact install. Installing your own is slow and ends up using more disk space. But, once it's installed and you install the VPC Additions, it works just as well as a pre-packaged version.

Of course, if you don't have a licensed copy of Win2K or WinXP, then I'd say the pre-packaged copy is the way to go.

More compact install? Seems strange. What does Connectix do differently? How much more "compact" are we talking? and are we referring to how much memory it takes on the hard drive, or is it a matter of what WinOS component you load on.