I have about 16 months until I get my BS in IT and I am toying with the idea of installng Windows Server 2008 R2 on my home PC, and I thinking about rebuilding into a server. I am currently running Windows 7 Ultimate and would like to have server run in the background while the server is running. 1) Is this possible? 2) Where do I start first?

would like to have server run in the background while the server is running Not sure what this means. Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]

you can use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Switch between virtual machines with the click of a button. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance. Virtual PC lets you create separate virtual machines on your Windows desktop, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer. How To Install Windows Server 2008 on Microsoft's Virtual PC http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/Longhorn/virtualpc2004.htm Testing Windows Server 2008 using Virtual PC (step-by-step) http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2007/08/05/testing-windows-server-2008-using-virtual-pc-step-by-step.aspx How to Run Windows Server 2008 on Virtual PC 2007 http://deb.foocode.net/?p=108

It depends on the hardware. Make sure your PC supports Windows 2008. Here are the system requirements: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx Are you familiar with Microsoft Hyper-V? http://www.microsoft.com/hyper-v-server/en/us/default.aspx You can install hyper-v on the PC and install Windows 7 as one of the quest OS. Santhosh Sivarajan | MCTS, MCSE (W2K3/W2K/NT4), MCSA (W2K3/W2K/MSG), CCNA, Network+ Houston, TX Blogs - http://blogs.sivarajan.com/ Articles - http://www.sivarajan.com/publications.html Twitter: @santhosh_sivara - http://twitter.com/santhosh_sivara This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi, If you are using Windows 7 for the base OS and you want to work with a 2008 R2 guest, it is likely that you are going to need 64 bit support. This will depend on whether your current system is 64 bit. If it is, then you will likely want to use Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 instead of Virtual PC because it supports 64-bit guests (and because Hyper-V is included with the Server 2008/2008 R2 products, but not with Windows 7), http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/ -- Mike Burr

Any update? Please let us know if you need more information. Santhosh Sivarajan | MCTS, MCSE (W2K3/W2K/NT4), MCSA (W2K3/W2K/MSG), CCNA, Network+ Houston, TX Blogs - http://blogs.sivarajan.com/ Articles - http://www.sivarajan.com/publications.html Twitter: @santhosh_sivara - http://twitter.com/santhosh_sivara This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties, and confers no rights.