Windows 10: How Contained is a Virtual Machine

I guess I should know this but I don't. If I create a VM with say win version 1703 or 1709 or even DL the "latest and greatest" 1803 and let the updates fly will anything installed to that VM be written to the BIOS "outside" of the VM? Didn't either the Spectre or Meltdown patch write some Microcode to the BIOS? The machine is a Lenovo. What if I let the Lenovo update app run willy nilly. I think I know that they have also released some kind of BIOS update. So bottom line if I do all that updating MS and Lenovo inside of the OS on the VM will anything get written to the BIOS outside of the VM or does anything and everything downloaded and updated contained inside the VM stay inside of the VM. TIA.

:)

 

IIS7 Virtual Machine

I'm running IIS7 (Vista x86) virtual machine on Vista x64.
I want to set the server root on a physical disk outside the virtual machine but having problems.
I have created a shared folder (drive S) in the virtual machine which contains the server root.
(UAC=off on both the virtual machine and the host)

How to configure?

 

Clean install of W10 not possible in Virtual Machine.


Please get a cup of coffee, lean back and think an answer for these two questions. Take your time, then check the answers below the questions:

Questions:

• If you do a clean install of let's say Windows 10 Insider Build 10525 on a totally new computer which has never had an activated Windows 10 on it, does it activate?
• If you do a clean install of Windows 10 Insider Build on a computer where the underlying Windows 10, upgraded from a qualifying old operating system has already been activated, does it activate?

Answers:

• No, of course not.
• Yes, of course.

Why do you think that a virtual machine would make any difference? You have tried to install Windows 10 on a totally new machine which has never had an activated Windows 10 installed, therefore the Microsoft activation servers block the activation due invalid machine ID. In the highlighted part in below quote you admit your mistake yourself, plain and simple, yet you when doing this wrong draw conclusion that even if done correctly it would not work:

What you have tried is essentially the same as if you took a brand new real physical PC without any operating system, which has never had any operating system, and then installed Windows 10 Insider Preview wondering why it does not activate! Virtual Machines behave exactly the same way; if you want to clean install Windows 10 Insider Preview and get it activated you must do it on an existing virtual machine, one which has already had an upgraded Windows 10 activated. This "computer", the virtual machine, its machine ID is marked on activation servers as valid and activated and it will of course activate.

Be it a virtual machine or a physical computer, you cannot activate a clean installed Windows 10 Insider Preview on a totally new machine. How difficult can this be to understand?

When clean installing Windows 10 Insider Preview on a computer which has already had a previous Windows 10 Insider activated, you do not use the product key! It will be asked twice, once before the installation starts and once after the last reboot to OOBE phase. In both cases you skip the product key and your Windows will be automatically activated.

 

Virtual Machine in Win10

Hi Brian,

You can actually create a Virtual machine to your computer, just follow the steps from this

link.

Thanks.