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Anyone using ME with Microsoft Virtual PC?


jsams

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This probably needs to be my starting point: finding out if anyone reading the boards uses ME with virtual machines. Microsoft's Virtual PC [v. 6.0.192.0]

allows me to run any OS within a window on the host OS--a terrific environment for software testing, but one which can cause a low-grade migraine trying to use ME as a test-automation tool.

 

If you have experience with virtual machines [not to be confused with dual-boot configs], we probably have some similar common issues. But there's no point in me explaining the many reasons for my migraines if there aren't any fellow migraine sufferers.

 

So that's the jump-off question. Anyone have some experience with ME and VMs [virtual machines]?

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  • 1 month later...

I run it under Virtual PC 6.0.156.0

it works fine.

 

If you are running it on the host machine also, if there is a key conflict, you'll have to suspend one or the other.

 

I do some batch processing and Once a macro is started in a VM I can get out of that VM and use other VM's or the console without causing problems with the VM running the local macro. Of course if the Macro was fired from the host OS, you couldn't do it.

 

My experience is that it works wonderful under VPC. I do it all the time.

 

DanV

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Thanks for the feedback.

 

Yeah, now that I've made my way a little futher up the learning curve with VMs and ME, I agree that ME works well in virtual environments. Most of my migraines have disappeared once I started saving my default macro file to a folder shared throughout VMs. I have a dozen Vista or XP VMs, all of which utilize the same macros, so when I edit a macro in one VM, the changes are carried through to the other VMs. Whew.

 

My one lament is that there seems to be no way to standardize settings and options from VM to VM other than manually. There are some settings that do not carry over if using a defprefs.mcf file before running ME in a VM, nor can you write global Registry settings that are utilized in VMs; they each have their own virtual Registry. So I configured ME manually throughout each VM, which came to be a bit tedious.

 

Come to think of it, that's probably why I've deployed MEP on only one VM so far.

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If you are running it on the host machine also, if there is a key conflict, you'll have to suspend one or the other.

That depends on how Virtual PC works and how well you can get at the virtual environment from the host one.

 

I use RDP (Remote Desktop). Let's say I have a macro called Fred, identical on both machines, that I want to be able to run on either the host or the remote machine, depending on which has focus. Let's suppose that Fred's hotkey is Ctrl-F on the remote machine, and Win-F on the host.

 

On my host machine I prefix all "common" macros with this sort of code:

If Window Title "RemoteMachineSessionname" is on top
 Text Type: Ctrl-F
 Macro Return
End If

 

Thus typing Win-F always works on either machine.

 

This works very well most of the time. Occasionally a particular hotkey may work on the host but not on the remote (and the remote machine cannot use any WIN, and many ALT, hotkey combinations because of my RDP settings).

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