>>>>>>>Do you think it would work well running two instances of an EXE to test for record contentions and locking, etc? Is it truly that separate from your base PC?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I'll try it and let you know in a few minutes
>>>>>
>>>>>Also, what about licensing? What I really want to do is create 2 additional virtual PCs and then run them as if they are users using the same EXE on a network. I want my real PC to remain as is and not be involved in the testing. Do I need different licensed OS for each?
>>>>
>>>>First, the program loaded in the host, then I switched over to Vista and it loaded there also. But, when I tried to open different screens in either one I got error messages concerning the environment. I don't have a problem with this because I use a three computer network to test for these issues.
>>>>
>>>>Second, I would say you need different licenses for each guest operating system you install. I get around that because I have an MSDN subscription that allows me to run, I believe, 5 installations.
>>>
>>>I would really be running the same OS, just different instances of it. Probably still have the licensing issue, huh? Even though it's only one PC.
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>>I've been known to be wrong a few times in my life, but I feel pretty sure that MS requires different licenses for each Virtual Machine guest.
>>
>>I don't think the problem I saw was a Vista/XP problem. I think I read somewhere that only one operating system can have control at a time. When you click on the VM, it's in control and when you click on the host, it's in control......they really don't see each other but they share some of the same resources.
>
>But if they are accessing the same dataset, would that not work to show contention?

Okay, I ran the same program from my 3rd workstation and opened a set of screens for a particular record. Then, I went to the Virtual Machine on this computer (Vista) ran the same program opening the same screens/record and it worked as it's supposed to.

Next, I tried doing the same thing using the host on this computer and I got errors when opening the screen regardless of the record selected.

So, this tells me you can't be accessing the same database using two different Virtual Machines on the same computer at the same time.