I use VPCs all the time and just love how portable they are. However, sometimes your VPC files grow to a not so portable size. I recently ran across this issue with the recently released OR-LOS solution.
The OR-LOS solution reached a staggering 25gb. You might be thinking what I first thought, wow that's big! When I looked at the VPC it was like a loaded baked potato, it had all the fixings... Not only was it the PDC but it had SQL Server, Exchange, Office 2007 client apps and Server Apps (MOSS), Visual Studio and a ton of data. Ok, so the file size couldn't be helped.
This doesn't help me if I want to send this on a 4.5gb DVD-R. So what now... Well I ran across a great article for compacting the disk image. That coupled with the use of .Rar I was able to get the image down enough to fit on a DVD-R.
So first I followed the steps on Matt Hesters Blog:
Compact your Virtual Drive
- Shut down any running Virtual PCs
- Under the Virtual PC console, select “File” then “Virtual Disk Wizard”
- Select “Examine or Modify existing disk image”
- Select the disk image file you wish to compact
- Select “Compact the disk image”
- Select “Use original file” (or a separate file if you require)
- Finishing the Wizard will compact the file. This may take a long time
Then I compressed the VPC with Win Rar. It works really well! It's time consuming so kick it off when you leave at night.
