How to Install Virtual Machine Additions for Virtual PC

Virtual Machine Additions allow you to extend the capability of Microsoft’s Virtual PC software (capabilities listed at the end of the article), however installing these additions can be a little confusing so I decided to post the instructions to install the Virtual Machine Additions for reference. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: I used Virtual PC 2007 on Windows Vista.

1. While you are running one of your virtual pcs’, click on Action > Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions (or hit Right Alt + I)

2. You will be prompted with the dialog box above which states that a CD image will be inserted in the Virtual Drive, the CD-ROM contains the installation files for the Virtual Machine Additions. Click Continue so that the CD-ROM is loaded.

3. The installation will be started in your Virtual PC, click Next to proceed.

The additions install…

4. Once setup is complete, click Finish.

6. Click Yes to restart your Virtual Machine.

Features Available

Improved mouse cursor tracking and control

Greatly improved overall performance

Virtual machine heartbeat generator

Optional time synchronization with the clock of the physical computer

Folder sharing between host and guest operating system

 

More information on Virtual Machine Additions can be found on Microsoft’s Technet website

Article posted on 10 31st, 2008

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1. How to Enable File Sharing in Virtual PC
2. Microsoft Releases Virtual Server 2005 for Free!
3. How to Mount VHD Files Without Virtual PC
4. How to Optimize Vista’s Virtual Memory and Improve Performance
5. Use the Windows Vista Theme on your Windows XP Machine

17 Responses to “How to Install Virtual Machine Additions for Virtual PC”

1. dalbaeb says:

   July 13, 2009 at 12:39 pm

   Thank you very much! Very useful indeed, much more useful than Microsoft’s convoluted help files.
2. Gilberto J Perera says:

   July 14, 2009 at 11:25 pm

   @dalbaeb: Thank you for the kind words. It’s always encouraging when someone appreciates my work. Hope to see you back here soon.
3. prasad says:

   July 20, 2009 at 8:07 pm

   Right said. better than MS help files.Thanks Gilberto !
4. Gilberto J Perera says:

   July 21, 2009 at 5:19 pm

   @prasad: I really appreciate the positive feedback. I look forward to seeing you here more often.
5. mahmoud says:

   August 10, 2009 at 7:20 pm

   thanks a lot .. it was a big help
6. Yukti says:

   August 19, 2009 at 3:00 pm

   Thanks a ton!!!
   I was strugging for more than hour and the solution was right there above the screen!
   Why does not Microsoft makes life easier on their help files??
7. Gilberto J Perera says:

   August 25, 2009 at 12:44 am

   @Yukti: I’m glad you find my guides useful, you are correct sometimes Microsoft fails to simplify things. Do you have any ideas for Virtual PC guides that would be useful? Would love to hear your input. Thanks for visiting.
8. ddw says:

   September 2, 2009 at 2:38 pm

   I’m running Fedora 11 within VPC 2007 on WinXP and trying to follow your instructions, but step 3 fails — Fedora thinks the virtual CD is blank.

   Without this, I can’t share a folder from the virtual Fedora to WinXP.

   Any ideas?
9. Gilberto J Perera says:

   September 14, 2009 at 10:48 pm

   @ddw: I think I have your reason. I just attempted to accomplish the same with an Ubuntu VPC and it did not work. If you take a look at the contents of the image the folders are titled as follows; dos, os2, windows - nothing for linux or so it seems. Hope this helps. If you do find a solution please post it below. Thanks.
10. SDXP13 says:

    September 25, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    Thanx a lot man! It was so easy to do… Great contribution!
11. GT says:

    October 7, 2009 at 2:51 am

    Thank you!!
12. Arjun says:

    October 17, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Thanks a lot! It was really big help.:)
13. Kathy says:

    November 4, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    Many Thanks. You make work more easilier.
14. Gilberto J Perera says:

    November 10, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    @Kathy - Thank you for the positive feedback. Hope to see you back here soon!
15. Gilberto J Perera says:

    November 10, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    @Arjun - You are welcome.
16. M says:

    November 16, 2009 at 10:16 am

    Thanks dude, helped me get MVP with xp3 working, you saved the delivery date on a website for a fortune 1000-company, lol
17. Chaits says:

    November 18, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Hello, a very useful tutorial. Thank you…. It finally works!