Removable devices

Virtual PC provides support for many removable devices, including CDs, DVDs (data only), floppies, and Zip drives. Support for CDs is limited to read only. Writing to (burning) a CD-R or CD-RW is not supported. Virtual PC does not support writing to a DVD-RAM disk.

CD/DVD-ROMs

Virtual PC automatically recognizes your host PC's CD/DVD-ROM drive, and reads any PC-formatted disk that is inserted into the drive.

A CD/DVD may be captured by more than one guest PC at a time. The CD/DVD will be captured automatically by the frontmost PC only.

To capture a CD/DVD, do one of the following:

• Bring the guest PC to the front, and insert the CD/DVD.
• Select Capture from the CD menu on the guest PC toolbar.
  See: Using the toolbar

Note: Virtual PC automatically captures a CD when the guest PC boots, even if the CD/DVD is already captured by another PC.

When you start up a guest PC with Allow booting from CD/DVD selected, and a bootable CD/DVD is present, the guest PC will boot from the CD.
See: CD/DVD-ROM Settings

To release a CD:

Select Release from the CD/DVD menu on the guest PC toolbar.
See: Using the toolbar

Floppies

When the guest PC attempts to access the floppy drive, and the Automatically detect floppy option is selected, Virtual PC automatically recognizes the host PC's floppy drive, and captures the disk that was inserted into the drive. If the Automatically detect floppy option is not selected, you must manually capture the floppy disk.

A floppy disk may be captured by only one PC at a time. The first guest PC to capture a floppy retains control of the floppy until that floppy is ejected or manually released using the toolbar, or until the guest PC is shut down. When the floppy is released, control of the floppy disk passes to the host PC. Once control has returned to the host, another guest PC may capture the floppy.

To capture a floppy, do one of the following:

• Bring the guest PC to the front, insert the floppy, and attempt to access the floppy from the guest PC.

  Note: This option is available only if the Automatically detect floppy option is selected. See: Floppy Settings.
  

• Select Capture from the Floppy menu on the guest PC toolbar.
  See: Using the toolbar

To capture a floppy image, do one of the following:

• Select Capture Image from the guest PC contextual floppy menu.
• Drag the floppy image to the floppy icon on the guest PC toolbar.
  See: Using the toolbar

Booting from a floppy or floppy image

When you start up a guest PC with Allow booting from floppy selected, and a bootable floppy or floppy image is present, the PC will boot from the floppy or floppy image.
See: Floppy Settings

To release a floppy:

• Select Release from the Floppy menu on the guest PC toolbar.
  See: Using the toolbar.

To release a floppy image:

Select Release Image from the Floppy menu on the guest PC toolbar.
See: Using the toolbar.

Other removable devices

You can access removable drives, such as Zip, Jaz or Syquest, by using the Shared Folders feature of Virtual PC. See: Folder sharing.

A removable drive may be shared by more than one guest PC at a time. Files contained on the drive may only be opened for writing by one PC at a time. Files may be opened for reading by more than one PC at a time.

Note: Folder sharing is provided by the Virtual PC additions; it is not a native PC feature. The Additions are included on any pre-installed hard disk image you may be using. If you are not using a pre-installed hard disk image, you will need to install the Additions manually. See: Installing the VPC additions.