Nowadays, virtualization is a solution which is interested by many IT manager. By converting existing system to virtual, you can save lot of money from buying new hardware every year, avoid hardware conflicts when you move virtual to another computer, etc. But when you convert system to virtual, you still need OS to run virtual software (VMware, Virtual PC, etc).

The best practice is to have Linux operationg system running on host so that you won’t have to pay an additional license. Then, you can have whatever OS you want on virtual. For virtual software, VMWare is the one I recommend to try. There are some free licenses if you want to try. Like VMWare Server, you can have many virtual on a PC and you can connect to manage your virtuals remotely by using VMWare Server Console. This article shows how to install VMWare Server on Redhat Enterprise.

Solution 1: Boot-block BIOS

Modern motherboards have a boot-block BIOS. This is small area of the BIOS that doesn't get overwritten when you flash a BIOS. The boot-block BIOS only has support for the floppy drive. If you have a PCI video card you won't see anything on the screen because the boot-block BIOS only supports an ISA videocard.

Award: The boot-block BIOS will execute an AUTOEXEC.BAT file on a bootable diskette. Copy an Award flasher & the correct BIOS *.bin file on the floppy and execute it automaticly by putting awdflash *.bin in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

AMI: The AMI boot-block BIOS will look for a AMIBOOT.ROM file on a diskette. Copy and rename the correct BIOS file on the floppy and power up the PC. The floppy doesn't need to be bootable. You will see the PC read the floppy, after about 4 minutes you will hear 4 beeps, this means the transfer is done. Reboot the PC and modify the CMOS for your configuration.

Did you notice a lot of buzz about Windows 7 , the latest operating system by Microsoft. The problem is that its still in beta phase, that means it is still under process of improvement and is not the final product yet. This operating system is designed to replace Windows Vista in long run. There are many new features and performance improvements in Windows 7 compared to Windows Vista. You can also try Windows 7, and you need not be a computer expert to do that.