Ask the Core Team

How to configure Windows Vista to support running Virtual Server R2 SP1

If you’re trying to run Virtual Server on Vista, you need to do two things.

STEP 1: Enable IIS and the correct settings. To do this, go to Control Panel and under the Programs category click on Windows Features to Turn Windows features on and off. Here you will see a long list of features that can be enabled/disabled in Vista. For this discussion were specifically interested in enabling features under Internet Information Services (IIS). I’ve typed out what needs to be enabled below and included a screenshot.

STEP 2: Run IE using elevated privileges. To do this, right click on IE and select Run as Administrator.

You must do both.

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IIS Features that need to be enabled for Virtual Server to function properly

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Under Web Management Tools enable:

• IIS Management Console

Under IIS 6 Management Compatibility enable:

• IIS Metabase and IIS6 configuration compatibility

Under Application Development Features enable:

• CGI

Under Common Http Features enable:

• Default Document
• Directory Browsing
• HTTP Errors
• Static Content

Under Health and Diagnostics enable:

• HTTP Logging
• Request Monitor

Under Performance Features enable:

• Static Content Compression

Under Security enable:

• Windows Authentication

Author: Jim Collins

Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

Support Engineer