Robolinux

[thaimite]

I have not tried this, but as there are many questions on the forum about moving to Linux from Windows I thought it may interest somebody here.

NOTE I did not post this in the Linux forum because of its interest to potential Linux users rather than existing ones.

from this link

Say you want to move from Windows to Linux but there are a few Windows apps that you can’t give up, and they don’t work well under WINE. The developer of Robolinux offers a Debian-based GNU/Linux operating system designed to let you run Windows XP or Windows 7 in a virtual machine.

The latest version of Robolinux goes a step further: It includes a tool that lets you create a virtual machine by cloning your Windows C: Drive, which means it takes just minutes to create a version of Windows that you can run in virtualization in Linux, and it will already have all of your existing programs and data.

It lets you do it without using a fresh Windows license key. That can come in handy if your only copy of Windows came with your computer or if you have an OEM license which is only allowed to be installed on a single computer. This tool was developed by Robolinux maker John Martinson, you can also use the software with Ubuntu, Linux Mint, OpenSUSE, Fedora, Debian, or 500 other Linux distributions.

[Chicog]

I don't see many questions on the forum about moving to Linux from Windows.

I see a few people suggesting it as an option for people that want to get rid of XP.

This seems quite an elegant solution.

However, there are caveats:

In order to use the tool, you’ll need a C: Drive that’s 127GB or smaller, but you can resize your drive if necessary.

Note that while RoboLinux is open source software, the developer asks for donations of $19.95 for the C: Drive to VP support package (and lower prices for other downloads). You can download RoboLinux 7.5.1 from SourceForge for free… but you’ll still need to make a donation if you want to download the virtual machine and C: Drive cloning tools.

Call me Mr. Cynical but when you force people to make donations, you're basically selling the product.

And again, there are free alternatives if you want to do it in a Windows environment.

http://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/convert-your-existing-windows-xp-system-into-a-virtual-machine/1/

Edited May 10, 2014 by Chicog

[dharmabm]

^ yeah, i just discovered this as well - a forced 'minimum donation' of $2 to download the base product and $20 for the cloning version.

[thaimite]

^ yeah, i just discovered this as well - a forced 'minimum donation' of $2 to download the base product and $20 for the cloning version.

Sorry I was not aware of this catch either. Sad as it seemed like an easy solution

[DogNo1]

Are there any other VM solutions recommended? I'd like a "sandbox" installation of Win 7 to try out some programs without messing up my main machine.?

[JSixpack]

Are there any other VM solutions recommended? I'd like a "sandbox" installation of Win 7 to try out some programs without messing up my main machine.?

With Virtualbox you can set up a guest Win 7 VM in most any Linux installation.

[Chicog]

Are there any other VM solutions recommended? I'd like a "sandbox" installation of Win 7 to try out some programs without messing up my main machine.?

With Virtualbox you can set up a guest Win 7 VM in most any Linux installation.

Or Windows installation for that matter.

[Turkleton]

VMware® vCenter™ Converter™ transforms your Windows- and Linux-based physical machines and third-party image formats to VMware virtual machines

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter

However, running XP, even in a Virtual machine might convert your PC into a Spam/Malware Bot, if this VM is connected to your network.

Running XP is only safe without any network/internet access!

But what's the sense behind this? (except starting archaic games?)

[Chicog]

VMware® vCenter™ Converter™ transforms your Windows- and Linux-based physical machines and third-party image formats to VMware virtual machines

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter

However, running XP, even in a Virtual machine might convert your PC into a Spam/Malware Bot, if this VM is connected to your network.

Running XP is only safe without any network/internet access!

But what's the sense behind this? (except starting archaic games?)

Two words: Legacy Applications.

I'm stuck with 400 XP machines because the users are completely dependent on a quite critical Client/Server App (which is proving hard to replace). and the Client will not run on Windows 7+ any way you slice it (and yes, I know about XP mode, Compatibility mode, etc).

What I have done is isolated all of them from the Internet.

[Turkleton]

Two words: Legacy Applications.

I'm stuck with 400 XP machines because the users are completely dependent on a quite critical Client/Server App (which is proving hard to replace). and the Client will not run on Windows 7+ any way you slice it (and yes, I know about XP mode, Compatibility mode, etc).

What I have done is isolated all of them from the Internet.

400 machines running a critical network app....

And the admin/management was absolutely clueless all the years, regarding XP's end of support?

Good job...

However, I was at the Pattaya Immigration today and their machines running which OS?

Correct, XP!

But who cares....

[Chicog]

Two words: Legacy Applications.

I'm stuck with 400 XP machines because the users are completely dependent on a quite critical Client/Server App (which is proving hard to replace). and the Client will not run on Windows 7+ any way you slice it (and yes, I know about XP mode, Compatibility mode, etc).

What I have done is isolated all of them from the Internet.

400 machines running a critical network app....

And the admin/management was absolutely clueless all the years, regarding XP's end of support?

Good job...

However, I was at the Pattaya Immigration today and their machines running which OS?

Correct, XP!

But who cares....

Perhaps you suffer reading comprehension problems. We cannot do without this application and there is no ready made alternative.

We have known about this since XP EOL was announced the first time.

If you think that's bad, have a think about all the ICS people who have to support XP on critical systems for another ten years or maybe more.