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Virtual PC is getting on my nerves

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<rant>

I am so incredibly sick of this bug in VPC that causes my keyboard to stop working in ALL virtual machines that are open. I have to shut down all virtual machines (and also remember to open up the VPC manager window and shut down VPC itself) and restart the whole shebang to get my damn keyboard back.

I've seen lots of people say this only happens when they use ALT-ENTER to switch to full screen, and then it's just a hung metakey that can be unstuck by whacking the metakeys once a piece. Well for me, this just happens randomly - I'm not using ALT-ENTER at all, and I can't unstick the keys (I don't think the CTRL key is stuck, because I'm not seeing the behavior you'd expect when you type with the CTRL key down - nothing happens at all).

If anybody has a REAL fix for this, please, please, let me know. This thing is almost unusable the way it is now. I'm running four VPCs (simulating a three tier system with a separate domain controller), and having to shut the whole thing down and resume it every 10 minutes is driving me absolutely crazy.

Somebody tell me why I shouldn't just spend some $$$ and start using VMware instead...

</rant>

Posted Jul 10 2004, 07:21 AM by keith-brown
Filed under:

Comments

Zlu wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-10-2004 5:01 PM
Kenny Kerr wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-10-2004 6:27 PM
I use VMware and Microsoft’s virtual machine software quite heavily. Although VMware’s products are more mature at the moment, nothing beats Terminal Services to get at the console. Give that a try. Even if I run VMs locally (in VMware Workstation or Microsoft Virtual PC), I still use Terminal Services to get a console for the VMs. That way you don’t have to deal with any of the glitches they may have.
J. Siffert wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-11-2004 12:15 AM
I switched the key used to release control from the VM (can be set somewhere in the settings). Using F12 instead of ALT, the keyboard does not hang any more.
Ravi Subramanian wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-13-2004 10:04 AM
I hit the exact same issue occasionally and it seems to happen if I do copy+paste across Terminal Server clients and a VM back and forth rather quickly. I've found that going into the Control Panel and fooling around with keyboard settings of the virtual machine (reinstall driver or look at properties, etc. and then "apply changes") fixes this issue most of the time.
Dinis Cruz wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-14-2004 3:55 PM
for me that problem is usually solved by pressing the CRTL key once it is stuck
Mike wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-19-2004 3:01 PM
Not sure if this is your problem or not but see if http://weblogs.asp.net/tims/archive/2004/04/22/118093.aspx helps at all
Anon wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 03-31-2005 5:46 PM
Every time I put in a product key for the setup, it keeps on rejecting it and I dont know why!
VPC Crazed wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 04-03-2005 8:46 PM
Whew! I am glad I am not the only crazy one. I experience the EXACT same problem using a US keyboard. I am doing development in .net so reassinging to F12 is no good but I am going to look for another key combo. Mine feels random too. Actually most around using the ctrl key though...
VPC Crazed wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 04-03-2005 11:03 PM
Well using an odd key like the tilde key still did not work. However, the brilliantly simple solution of using RDC is the winner!! Thanks so much for pointing out the obvious.
Oleg wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 10-09-2005 6:19 PM
I actually changed my host key from right ALT key to right Control key and it worked.
Thanks for who posted the tip
Claudio Maria wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 01-08-2006 3:56 AM
Virtual pc is rejecting my key...why?
I tried withother computers and it doesn't wort there either...
help wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 06-07-2006 7:14 AM
i cant click the continue button after ive finished entering all the data on the screen where u enter the key to register. its like the data isnt complete er sumthin, but all the fields are filled in and the passkey's boxes have 5 in each... help?
James wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 06-07-2006 2:12 PM
If you have a Microsoft Intellipoint keyboard or mouse, uninstall the software and it should work.
jayrod wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 07-08-2006 7:18 PM
how would I go about removing the intellipoint mouse software? Do you mean what vpc is seeing or actually what is in osx? I'm having the same issue where it won't take the serial.

Help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

J
In the Minority (Ken Getz) wrote Almost Ready to Swear Off Virtual PC 2004
on 09-02-2006 3:43 PM
I know it's not just me. Security expert Keith Brown has also had this problem, and it's currently driving...
Petr Vones wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 10-17-2006 7:25 AM
It started to happen to me as well since I installed more than one keyboard layout into virtual machine (Windows 2003 SP1). I can recover the stuck keyboard by locking the host machine workstation (using Ctrl+Alt+Del and "Lock Computer") and unlocking.
Petr Vones wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 10-21-2006 5:55 AM
Actually it is even more simple. You don't have to lock and unlock the workstation. Just bringing up the dialog (by Ctrl+Alt+Del) and closing it (by Esc) recovers virtual machine stuck keyboard. It seems as switching host machine desktops helps ... ?
dReb wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 01-31-2007 4:28 AM
Hey

So happy i am not the only one fighting all the day against VPCs

all your unlock/lock stuff is NOT working, nor changing the special key...

Does anyone have a REAL and WORKING solution??

HEEEEEELP
Michael Herman (Parallelspace) wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 03-02-2007 6:47 AM
I have the same issue. US Keyboard

Tried changing the Hot Key to F12 using Options in the VPC applet.

No luck.
neville wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 05-20-2007 9:28 PM
I am facing a similar problem that the keyboard hangs.

Any Resolution that works?
neville wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 05-20-2007 9:31 PM
I am facing a similar problem that the keyboard hangs. I am using MS VPC 2004.

This is really emabrassing in demos

Any Resolution that works?
John wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 10-19-2008 5:04 PM

My problem is the double quote. Occasionally, the double quote starts producing the tilde (~) character. No particular event seems to make it happen. This is pretty bad when you're coding in Java. Fortunately, I just got rid of the problem by pressing some keys. Unfortunately, I am not sure which combination caused it to correct. I was hitting ALT, SHIFT, CTRL (all on the left side). One of these combinations fixed my problem. If I can replicate it, I will let you know.

Nguyen wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 12-01-2008 8:40 AM

Hi John,

Thanks for your tip about key combinations !!!!. I found that the combination is Left ALT-SHIFT, where you must hold the SHIFT key for a while. It switches between double quote and tilde keys.

Martin wrote re: Virtual PC is getting on my nerves
on 03-26-2009 4:06 AM

Hi,

I experience the same bug and use the following workaround:

1. Open the VPC-Console

2. Click File->Options

3. Click Keyboard and change the Hostkey.

4. The keyboard works again


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