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Create a Virtual Computer

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It is highly recommended that you get your own PC when visiting sites such as ADISC. But for whatever reason you may not be in a position to own your own PC, or at least, not any time soon. So we can cheat and use your available PC at home to install a virtual machine to 'emulate' a computer - a computer that you will control. The advantage of this is that it is fully customizable, has the potential to use full encryption and no-one but you with the password will see your tracks. The disadvantage it is not really portable, takes up a lot of hard-drive space, and needs some time to install. But once its done, its plain sailing from there.

Technical Requirements

A PC running Windows or Linux
At least 512MB ram
Roughly 10GB free space (extra if you want to store things)
A fast Internet connection, or at least easy access to one.

Step 1 - Download files

All software is free, no spy ware or any of that non-sense. And it is two simple files. This is where your reasonable fast connection is only required.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

This is free from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

This page or section is written like an advertisement. It may have been copy and pasted from the vendors website. Rewrite this page/section in a more appropriate style.

Virtual Box

This is free from Sun. VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction. Virtual Box Download Page

VMware Server

goto VMware Server download Page. Click 'Download Now'. You have to accept the EULA by scrolling down and clicking 'Yes'. You want the VMware Server for Windows Operating Systems. Click on Binary (.exe) To start the download. Save the file in an appropriate place.

While you wait for the download to finish go back to the original link a sign up for serial keys. Don't worry it is free. Click Register for your free serial number(s). You can enter Jibberish in the form if you like, the keys will not be emailed to you. Just ensure you clicked Windows as your Operating System. you can ask for up to 100 keys, but only 1 is needed, so don't get too greedy! Once you click submit, the next page will display your key(s). I would recommend you copy and paste these in a word document or a text file to safely store them.

VMWare Browser Appliance

The simplest way to get your VM up and running is to use the VMWare Browser Appliance. It is a pre-made minimal Ubuntu-based virtual machine that contains all the facilities to browse the internet securely. Additionally, the file is only 258 MB. The Ubuntu version is a bit dated, but it should still work. If you are happy with this configuration, you should use it. If not it is also possible to create your own VM and install a Linux distribution from scratch.

Ubuntu

Goto Ubuntu's Download Section and ensure that you select Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition leaving the Server edition alone. Under What type of computer do you have? select Standard personal computer (x86 architecture, PentiumTM, CeleronTM, AthlonTM, SempronTM). Under the Choose a location near you, select any area near you. do not worry, they will not be able to identify you, this is to ensure you have a nice fast download.

Click Start Download! And save it at an appropriate location for easy access.

Step 2 - Install VMware

Double click on the Binary.exe file. This will launch the installer, you can mindlessly click next to your heart's content. Although it is advised to untick "Disable Autorun", as it gave many people problems where windows would not clear the chache of the last disc when a different one is inserted. Giving the illusion that the old Disc is still in the drive. You may get asked to restart your PC at the end. You must restart for the VMware services to work correctly.

Step 3 - Choose an OS

Note: If you downloaded Ubuntu in the earlier section, skip to Step 4

You will now need to choose the operating system you will install on your VM. Linux is good, and most VMs run some form of Linux but older versions of Windows will work aswell (remember, your VM will only have a fraction of the power of your physical machine).

OS Notes

If you do give a lot to your VM, and plan on installing Windows XP or Vista, note that you may not be able to use your current disc due to OEM locks or VLK limits.
PCLinuxOS can not use NAT networking on VM. It also corrupts the xorg.conf file if the resolution is changed with the VM at the minimum requirements. If you are uncomfortable with editing this file, or command line editing, allocate more RAM or leave the resolution alone.

Step 4 - Create a VM

If you have just installed VMWare, restart your PC.

Step 4.1 - Basic setup

Start the VMWare Server Console program. Then go to File > New > Virtual Machine. Select Typical then select the OS you will use. If your Linux distribution is not listed and you are using Linux, select Other Linux. Select your VM name and location.

Step 4.2 - Networking

If you want your VM to have internet, you will need to set up your network in this section. You have a few options.

Bridged Networking

This one is generally the best, if it will work for you. It treats the VM as a seperate machine on the network. However, it can have problems with some wireless network adapters.

NAT (Network Address Translation)

This one sends all connections through the host machine. It is the most likely to work, but it makes connecting through the network to the host a little more difficult.

Host-only networking

If you cannot get any of the other forms of networks to work, this one creates a private network with the host. You can then use the hosts features (e.g. Internet Connection Sharing) to connect that network to the internet. If you are not confident with your computers networking features, you will not be able to get this one to work.

Do not use a network connection

Does what it says on the tin.

Step 4.3 - Hard Drive

In this step you will create your virtual hard drive. Select the amount of space you need to use. If you are unsure, look up your OSes requirements. As a rough rule of thumb, 10GB for modern Linux distros, 20GB for Windows 2000+ and 5GB for Win 95,98,ME will give you enough space to run and install a few programs. You should select the "Allocate all disk space now" option. This will take a wihile and the progress bar may appear to hang on completion.

Step 5 - Configure your VM

On your left hand side, you should see an inventory option, click on your new VM. Click edit VM settings. Click on a setting to see the options on the right hand side. The first option you will want to change is the CD-ROM drive. It may be a good idea to create a virtual drive on the host OS for the VM, if you know how. Otherwise you can set it to auto-detect to use your physical drives.

The second option is the memory. Take into account your Guest OSes recommended requirements and the amount of memory you are leaving your host OS while setting this. If you have 4GB or higher on the host, 512MB is a good amount to set for your VM. Click OK when you are done.

Step 6 - Install your guest OS

If you downloaded a version of Linux, you will usually have an ISO. If you followed the earlier advice and used a virtual drive, mount that ISO. Otherwise burn it to disc and put it in your computer.

Start your VM now by pressing the Start This Virtual Machine. This will take a while especially the first time. It is not unusual for this to use 100% of RAM and processor while booting even on higher end systems. However, after the VM starts (you see the VM's BIOS screen), it will not take more than it's allocated RAM.

From this point, follow the usual instructions for installing your OS of choice (available in your manual or vendor's website).

Step 7 (optional) - Install VMWare Tools

Select VM > Install VMWare tools. You will get a disc drive added with installation files on it. (Setup.exe on Windows, or a RPM on Linux).

When VMWare tools is running on the guest OS, it is possible to switch between guest and host by moving the mouse of the edge of the guest screen. It also enables copy/paste between host and guest. It must be run as root (linux) or administrator (Vista).