Set Up a Virtual Device (Compact 7)

3/12/2014

In a production environment, you typically run Windows Embedded Compact 7 on a physical device. In this guide, you run and debug the run-time image and applications on a virtual PC-based device (vCEPC). The vCEPC simulates an x86 architecture, which is one of the board support packages (BSPs) that you can install with Windows Embedded Compact 7.

To set up your vCEPC, you create a virtual machine and then associate the virtual machine with a virtual hard disk (VHD) image that is included with Windows Embedded Compact 7. If your development computer is running Windows 7, set up your vCEPC by using the following instructions. If your development computer is running Windows Vista or Windows XP, see Develop with Virtual CEPC for instructions about how to set up your vCEPC.

Note

In this guide, the vCEPC setup instructions are as simple as possible. For more detailed information about how to set up a vCEPC, see Develop with Virtual CEPC. For advanced information, such as how to modify vCEPC configuration settings and how to create a stand-alone vCEPC, see Create a Stand-Alone Virtual CEPC.

To set up a vCEPC on a development computer that is running Windows 7

  1. If you have not done so, install Windows Virtual PC.

  2. In Windows Virtual PC, on the menu bar of the Virtual Machines window, click Create virtual machine.

  3. In the Specify a name and location for this virtual machine dialog box, enter a name and select a location for your virtual machine, and then click Next.

  4. In the Specify memory and networking options dialog box, click Next to accept the default settings (512 MB of memory and networking enabled).

  5. In the Add a virtual hard disk dialog box, click Use an existing virtual hard disk. In the Location box, click Browse, navigate to <Compact 7 directory>\platform\VirtualPC\VM\hd0_sample.vhd, where <Compact 7 directory> is your Windows Embedded Compact 7 directory, and then click Open. When you installed Windows Embedded Compact 7, the default directory was C:\WINCE700.

  6. Click Create.

You will start your vCEPC and download a run-time image to the vCEPC later in this guide.

See Also

Concepts

Getting Started