In the previous post here, I tried to solve running EvilApps in VirtualBox in my eeePC with Intrepid Ibex. I was initially hopeful because the installation of a WinXP guest machine was successful. Furthermore, the freshly booted WinXP virtual machine was surprisingly spiffy. I thought I have conceived a foolproof way to avoid loading the 500lb gorilla (anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, kitchen sink, etc) onto the virtual machine.
EvilApps is a Windows application that cannot be replaced by a Linux equivalent, and cannot run in WINE. The only way to run EvilApps successfully is to run it in a Microsoft Windows Operating System.
EvilApps is a real proprietary software, but it’s name has been changed to protect it’s identity.
Unfortunately, my initial exuberance turned sour as I struggled with reboot after reboot of the virtual machine; 100% CPU, random freezes, unreasonably long disk accesses, etc. Plus, having to keep reverting to a previous snapshots sounded good on paper, but quite annoying in actual practice after doing it for the 10th time.
Clearly, eeePC plus Ubuntu host machine, plus VirtualBox plus WinXP guest machine combination was not a workable solution. I fought with it for more than a week, but eventually, I stupidly and accidentally corrupted the virtual harddisk when I move the disk to a new untested thumbdrive (it was while attempting to transfer the virtual machine to a faster desktop PC).
With the virtual harddisk corrupted beyond repair, EvilApps stopped working. Unfortunately, EvilApps needed to be phone/email activated each time I installed a new copy, and after the third time I called Support to reactivate, they were getting suspicious.
Ah… software activations. How liberated it had been in the world of free software. For more than two years, I enjoyed this freedom, but once again, I got mauled by the trap of Windows proprietary locked-in.
I had to relearn the prime lesson of the Windows world: pay and pay. So, after fighting black and blue with the virtual machine set-up for more than a week, I conceded defeat. I am forced to throw the appropriate amount of cash to make the problems go away. I got a proper Windows machine.
Proud new owner of Lenovo notebook. Shameful returning Windows user. 
Comments 2
Bill G is probably rubbing his hands with glee
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 7:43 pm ¶Well, I am happy to report after one year of using Windows Vista, I can safely say it’s the most annoying OS I have ever used.
While I tried to reduce the amount of tinkering on the OS to bare minimum possible, there is a steady stream of daft things happening that I have to deal with. Especially in the beginning when I have to remove the crapwares Lenovo has dumped into the default install.
Just last month, I got annoyed by the persistent “ding” sound whenever I clicked on a listbox, which required delving into the registry to fix (surprisingly, I have not clicked any listbox until recently, for some reasons, so I didn’t notice this earlier).
And then, there is the adventure of resizing the Vista partition this month, which I might write about in a future blog post.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 9:40 pm ¶Post a Comment