Datasheet
account on your PC. If, for instance, you create a file in XP and then attempt
to modify it in Windows 7, you may be denied permission until you “take
ownership,” as explained in the section “Protect Your Files with Encryp-
tion” on page 558.
And in regards to protecting your data, encryption is also effective at prevent-
ing an intruder from reading your files by installing a second operating system
on your PC.
Virtualize Whirled Peas
A Gedanken experiment—also called a “thought” experiment—is a means of
testing a hypothesis without actually conducting any physical experiment.
(“Maxwell’s demon” and “Schrödinger’s cat” are both Gedanken experi-
ments.) And as luck would have it, there’s a way to conduct a Gedanken ex-
periment of sorts with Windows 7.
Say you’re using Vista or XP, and you’re considering upgrading (or rather,
“transitioning”) to Windows 7. How do you find out if the new OS works with
all your software without actually completing a painful, laborious, and possi-
bly one-way operating system upgrade? Virtualize!
Virtualization has been around for years, but thanks to processor-level opti-
mizations and recent improvements in virtualization software, it’s easy, quick,
practical, and, for the most part, free. The idea is that you can run a second
copy of Windows—or any other operating system, for that matter—in a win-
dow. The new OS behaves as though it was installed on its very own PC, and
even shows up on the network; the experience is not unlike remote control
software discussed in Chapter 7, except you don’t need to buy any more hard-
ware. In most cases, you can copy and paste data between the “host” OS and
the OS running in the window (the “guest”), and even drag-drop files onto the
virtualized desktop.
For best performance for your virtualized operating system,
make sure support for virtualization is enabled in your PC’s
BIOS; see Appendix A for details. Not sure if your CPU sup-
ports this? Try Securable (http://www.grc.com/securable.htm).
Also, you’ll need at least 3 GB of physical RAM (4 or 8 is better)
and more than enough free hard disk space for a virtual hard
disk (20 GB minimum).
With virtualization, you can test Windows 7 right on your Vista or XP desktop
before you commit. Or, if you’re already running Windows 7, you can set up
30 | Chapter 1: Get Started with Windows 7