Robert Larson

Thoughts and information on Virtualization and other topics

Need more disk space on your notebook?

You might have missed the fact that notebook hard drive capacities have increased recently. For...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 12/07/2010

Dealing with VMs, Snapshots and the dreaded broken security channel

I build a lot of scenarios for testing using Hyper-V. During that testing I use snapshots all the...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 11/10/2009

Cool New Gateway Netbook

Since Windows 7 RTMd, I figured I needed a new toy to play with. I run Windows Server 2008 R2 on my...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/25/2009

Q&A on AMD Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI)

My Hyper-V Resource Kit co-author, Janique Carbone, and Tim Mueting - AMD Product Manager have...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/20/2009

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Resource Kit on the shelves June 10th

Well Janique and I finished another Resource Kit book, this time on Hyper-V…..700 plus pages of...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 06/01/2009

Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 on a notebook and getting all those required drivers.

If you are like me, you use Windows Server 2008 R2 as your standard desktop/notebook OS. If you have...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 05/03/2009

Hyper-V Resource Kit

Well we have finally finished all the chapters of the Hyper-V Resource Kit. We are in final editing...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 04/20/2009

Beware of Integrated eSATA ports

For you demo warriors out there who try to get the maximum performance for your Hyper-V based demos,...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 03/01/2009

Managing MAC Address Pools in Hyper-V R2

Hyper-V automatically creates a MAC address pool for virtual machines usage when it is installed....

Author: virtualgoods Date: 02/17/2009

Hyper-V R2 and Management NICs

When you install Hyper-V R2 role now it reserves a single wired NIC in the machine for management of...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 02/11/2009

Installing Zune 3.1 on Windows Server 2008 x64

Ok you are probably wondering why you would ever need Zune software on your Windows Server 2008 x64...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 11/21/2008

Go to 8GB on your notebook for ~$350

Some vendors have started shipping DDR2-5300 memory that provides 667Mhz 4GB SODIMMs for you...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/08/2008

Installing Updates on Server Core

I love Windows Server 2008 installed with Server Core. It’s small footprint (although it could be...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/27/2008

Additional NIC for your Laptop and Hyper-V

If you are like me and use Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V on your laptop, you have possibly found...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/03/2008

Getting UNDO functionality with Hyper-V Snapshots

Snapshots are not the same as UNDO disks in Virtual Server 2005…go here to read a previous post of...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 05/15/2008

Entering Product Keys into Virtual Machines

I create virtual machines every day.  I have a set of product keys that I use from my MSDN...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 05/12/2008

Virtual Machine Snapshots with Hyper-V

Snapshots are a new feature of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. Snapshots are a point in time version of...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 04/26/2008

Building a Host Cluster with Hyper-V Beta 1

Well by now you have heard the news that Microsoft shipped Hyper-V Beta 1 early!! Like many of you I...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 12/17/2007

Virtualization at IT Forum

Well I am off to Barcelona Spain again to speak at TechEd IT Forum November 12-16th. This will be an...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 11/10/2007

Self Service VM Management with SCVMM

One of the features of VMM that I really like is the power of the Self Service Web Portal (SSWP)....

Author: virtualgoods Date: 11/10/2007

Microsoft publishes the Hypercall APIs via the Open Specification Promise

Microsoft announced today with it will be publishing the Hypercall APIs through the Open...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/25/2007

Changes to Virtual Networks in Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1

In Virtual Server 2005 R2, a virtual network operated like a hub with a switched uplink port....

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/24/2007

New bonus scripts for Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit

My co-author Janique Carbone has posted two new bonus scripts on her site https://vscommunity.com....

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/16/2007

Windows 2008 Components Posters

Previously published in the July issue of TechNet Magazine, these are two PDFs of Windows 2008:...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/15/2007

How does the mapping from a virtual network adapter to a physical adapter work?

Adapted from Chapter 7 of the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit book from Microsoft Press So you...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/12/2007

Getting Wireless LAN on Windows 2008 RC0

If you are like me and primarily use a notebook, then you live by wireless. If you are also trying...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/09/2007

Looking for Virtualization info..how about some webcasts

Microsoft is holding a series of webcasts to provide information on the virtualization solutions it...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 10/03/2007

Vista and ExpressCards: An Update

I have heard from some people that they are not able to get an Sil3132 based eSATA ExpressCard to...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 09/30/2007

Windows Server Virtualization CTP Available now!

Well it has finally happened. WSV CTP is out the doors on the Windows 2008 RC0 release. I am going...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 09/25/2007

Improving Disk I/O for Virtual Machine Demo and Test

If you are like me and work primarily on a notebook computer, having the best performing system for...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 09/14/2007

WindowsITPro Articles

In addition to writing books for MSPress, I have written a few articles for WindowsITPro. The...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 08/24/2007

Upgrading to Virtual Server 2005 SP1 - Why can't I start my VMs?

Ok so you have decided to upgrade your Virtual Server installation to the latest version SP1. So you...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 08/23/2007

Documenting Virtual Server Host Configuration

The text and scripts for this post are adapted from the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit. Have...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 08/18/2007

Troubleshooting slow OS installation over the network

I have seen this question pop up endless times. "when I install the OS in my virtual machine using...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 08/06/2007

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit Sample Chapters Posted

We received the sample chapters from the resource kit and my co-author Janique Carbone posted them...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 08/01/2007

Microsoft Press Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit at the printers

Well it is done. Last week the manuscript was sent to the printers!! I have always wanted to write a...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/31/2007

Virtual machines not being placed in save state at server shutdown

So you have a Virtual Server host that is not properly saving the state of the virtual machines when...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/22/2007

Vacation is Over

For those that wondered what happened to me, I have been on vacation for the last 10 days in the...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/22/2007

Find the best seat with SeatGuru

Every once is a while I find a web site that really helps me improve my travel life. SeatGuru is one...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/04/2007

VMRCPlus

VMRCPlus is a new tool that provides an alternative to the Virtual Server 2005 web based...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/01/2007

How do you route between Virtual Networks?

A recent question on this topic returned a series of different responses. The problem with this...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 07/01/2007

Editing and Debugging VBScript files

I have been writing a lot of VBScript lately and I came across this nice editor that I evaluated and...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 06/30/2007

Virtual Server COM API - VMTask usage and error handling in VBscript

Virtual Server tasks are used to track and obtain status of asynchronous actions of COM methods....

Author: virtualgoods Date: 06/28/2007

My "small" project

Well I finally did it, I started a blog. Many of my friends and coworkers have been bugging me for...

Author: virtualgoods Date: 06/27/2007