Is this possible? New SSD & 6 TB HD ~ VM my old XP, W7A, W7B (3x1TB HD's)

T

TroyTalksNoMore

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
6,192
Yikes, did that make sense?

I have an old Q9550 box (see sig) & want to "start fresh" ~ but also keep all my old stuff...

Can I install a new SSD w/ W7x64 + new 6TB data drive & just create VM's of 3 old HD's?
~ one is XP (500GB used / 1 TB HD)
~ one is W7x64-A (500GB used / 1 TB HD)
~ one is W7x64-B (1.3 TB used / 1.5 TB HD - but this one is 2 partitions)

The whole point is to keep old (non-cloud save) STEAM & other games & then play 'em on the VM's.

The games I want to preserve are SP / NOT multi-player...

I have limited SATA points on the mobo, so just making the XP & W7x64-A would free up space for the SSD & 6TB.

I think I could keep the W7x64-B 1.5 TB as a separate HD and manage booting w/ easy BCD.

Advice?
 
Last edited:
Sure you could, what virtual machine environment are you wanting to run? If you were to use VMware workstation, there are tools they have to basically clone the machine to a vmx file, you could do that for your 3 OS's, then on your new rig setup workstation and point it to the 3 vmx/ virtual machines. If you so wanted you could have each one on the respective 1tb drive, or move em to the 6tb drive.

Depending on your game you might run into some issues with gpu acceleration, but maybe worth a shot as this has progressed a ton over the years.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'll try / buy any VM app to make this work.
I have played w/ Oracle's VM to try linux flavors recently, but I am a total VM noob.

PS: I updated my OP.
 
Fyi, the system in my sig with a 980ti, I just ran a little testing here Workstation 12 with Win8.1 x64 VM dx9 Heaven Benchmark --- (1714x1958) I got 53.5 FPS and I was seeing full load on my gpu in the host win 10 env. So I think DX9 is golden, not sure about higher modes.

I think there is a trial for the VMware stuff, but good luck.
 
Is this the right pricing page? VMware Online Store

Games on this PC are all older / leftovers that I never finished before building the GAME BOX in my sig.

I just want to add a SSD & 6TB HD to the existing PC w/ all the same hardware & drivers.
 
I think so, did not realize it was $250, I guess the perks of getting a license through work. I would maybe try it out first to see if you get what you are expecting here

I forgot to mention the p2v converter is called Vcenter Converter Standalone Client which is free if you register for a vmware account. I think the trick to this (which is pretty easy) is to make sure to convert the machine to the correct format where I think you set the destination type to say Workstation 12 compliant.

Also if you are not wanting to run all of these simultaneously then maybe the player version would work for you too. Here is a compare page: VMware Workstation for Windows: Multiple Operating Systems Linux, Windows 8 & More
 
Last edited:
Just to be clear - I only have 4 SATA ports on my mobo:
  • 1 DVD
  • XP 1-TB HD
  • W7A 1-TB-HD
  • W7B 1.5TB HD
I want to pull 2 (or 3) of those out & replace them with 1 new W7x64 SSD OS HD + 1 new 6TB GAME / DATA HD.

I don't want to loose my games on the XP HD & W7A HD, so I just want to "clone" those HD's to a VM & play 'em occasionally.

I can leave the W7B 1.5 TB HD in place, but if this works, I'd rather VM that too & add another 6TB HD to sync the other 6TB for a backup.

Make sense? I do not need to run simultaneous VM's on one box... just fire one up at a time to play old games.
 
Last edited:
Duh.... what should I do with this 4 port SATA PCI card sitting on my other desk?

I guess I can just add this card & use physical disks with (2) 5.25 bay adapters.

Ever seen a single 5.25 adapter that holds a 3.5 HD + 2.5 SSD in one bracket?

That would be ideal!
 
Last edited:
Yeah either way. You basically have the virtual hdd in a .vmx file, so really they can live anywhere they fit on ;)
 
Man, I forgot how to do this!!!

Added SATA card, installed SSD, format w/ GUID (might need to make it MTBR?), change boot order to W7x64proSP1 DVD but the SSD is not visable.

EDIT: forgot to set as active drive, but did not work, trying to make it MTBR.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top