I am an Empower MSDN member and .NETdeveloper and want to setup a 2008 Server with Hyper-Vforlearning, developmentand practical reasons (my home website).I'm a newbie to 2008 Server but not Windows servers, IIS or otherserver appsin general.What I would LIKE to do is install 2008 Server with Hyper-V and then loadAcronis backups of my XP and Vista systems to virtual machines. Does this work? Any references or cookbooks on doing P2V for Hyper-V without SCVMM?Is this even very feasible without using SCVMM? I don't think I am entitled to that product under my MSDN license and I also think that is overkill for what I want to do.For that matter, is there a good "cookbook" for installing 2008 Server with Hyper-V to help be get started a bit faster?Thanks a lot for any and all suggestions, DaveDave

DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: What I would LIKE to do is install 2008 Server with Hyper-V and then loadAcronis backups of my XP and Vista systems to virtual machines. Does this work? Yes, this worksSystem Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 allows P2V migrations to Hyper-V. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: Any references or cookbooks on doing P2V for Hyper-V without SCVMM? I findthe Microsoft TechNet page on Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM (P2V Conversions) is a very good resource. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: I don't think I am entitled to that product under my MSDN license and I also think that is overkill for what I want to do. There isa 180-day evaluation version of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 available for free.Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 is also a free product. You can use this optimized and dedicated Hyper-Vproduct to virtualize yourboxes. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: For that matter, is there a good "cookbook" for installing 2008 Server with Hyper-V to help be get started a bit faster? Microsoft offers a greatStep by Step guide to get started with Hyper-V.AgoodHowTo for the freeHyper-V Server 2008 is also available.

Thanks for the references. I wouldprefer to not have to use SCVMM as thatadds another layer of complexity and the document you referencedsaid it did not support P2V for Vista anyway. Is there any chance to just boot an AcronisCD in the VM and have it do a full restore? Thanks, DaveSander Berkouwer said: DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: What I would LIKE to do is install 2008 Server with Hyper-V and then loadAcronis backups of my XP and Vista systems to virtual machines. Does this work? Yes, this worksSystem Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 allows P2V migrations to Hyper-V. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: Any references or cookbooks on doing P2V for Hyper-V without SCVMM? I findthe Microsoft TechNet page on Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM (P2V Conversions) is a very good resource. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: I don't think I am entitled to that product under my MSDN license and I also think that is overkill for what I want to do. There isa 180-day evaluation version of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 available for free.Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 is also a free product. You can use this optimized and dedicated Hyper-Vproduct to virtualize yourboxes. DaveAtDotNetCodeSlingersDotCom said: For that matter, is there a good "cookbook" for installing 2008 Server with Hyper-V to help be get started a bit faster? Microsoft offers a greatStep by Step guide to get started with Hyper-V.AgoodHowTo for the freeHyper-V Server 2008 is also available. Dave

Is there any chance to just boot an AcronisCD in the VM and have it do a full restore? Thanks, Dave Probably not. The "hardware" in the vm would not match. You could try Acronis with Universal Restore.Bill