Ok, so I downloaded the beta of Windows Vista or also known as “The Windows formerly known as 'Longhorn'”. Now while trying to install this on a VPC I ran into a few issues that I'd like to share with you.
As I first started to install Windows, I got an error saying that the VHD (virtual hard drive) was not being recognized since there was no partition on the drive. So I inserted a Windows XP CD and reset my VPC and loaded the setup for Windows XP and then entered into the recovery console and was able to use DISKPART to create a partition and after that I formatted the newly partitioned VHD using FORMAT. Once this was completed I reset the VPC one more time and restarted the installation of Windows Vista and it recognized the drive with no problems at all.
Now the sad part of this entire thing is there's a warning on the readme.txt file that states:
=============================================================================
Storage
=============================================================================
Setup in this release of "Longhorn" versions of Windows does not support
installing to "RAW" disks (disks without a partition). To work around this
issue, install the "Longhorn" version of Windows on a partitioned disk. If you
must install to a RAW disk, press SHIFT+F10 to open a command prompt. Use the
Diskpart utility to create a disk partition. Restart the computer after creating
the partition, and start Setup again. The disk should be available for use.
So at this point you can tell I'm like a 7 year old at Christmas and reading instructions or warnings at this point is not happening. I'm hoping this entry will find its way to help out other 7 year olds out there. :) I know you're out there.
-B