In the RC0 release of Hyper-V, you may recall, you had to use the same QFE to Windows Server 2008 host and guest machines to get the Integration Component versions matching.

In RTM, you simply need to choose the Insert Integration Services Setup Disk option from the Action menu in VMConnect, just like you do for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista.

However, after you get the ICs working and you connect up to Windows Update, the Hyper-V QFE for Windows Server 2008 (KB950050) is still listed.  That little logical paradox causes you to check which QFEs are actually installed on your system, and you find that KB950050 isn't in that list.

What sort of crazy voodoo magic is this?

Well, according to Occam's Razor, the simplest answer is typically the correct one.

The simplest answer in this case is that Windows isn't lying - KB950050 isn't installed.  For RTM (actually, this happened in RC1), we added another QFE to the mix so that the standard way of installing the ICs (the VMGuest.ISO, which is what gets inserted into the VM's DVD-ROM drive when you click Insert Integration Services Setup Disk) worked for Windows Server 2008.

Since

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I arrived on this team a little over three years ago, and was brought in to work on automating test cases for Virtual Server.

While I was doing that, I heard rumblings and rumors about a little project code-named "Viridian".  A lot of the developers on the Virtualization team here in Redmond had already started working on various parts of the project, and I was looking forward to the day that I could start playing with it myself.  Over time, more of the team was gradually migrated to the "Viridian" project, including myself.  It was exciting to hear about all of the things that we were planning to do.  And over the years, the excitement never stopped.

I can still remember the day that we finally got DOS to boot (that was the first OS that Hyper-V ever booted, aside from a test microkernel that we'd developed).
I can still remember the day that Windows actually booted.
I can still remember the day that Windows x64 actually booted and joined the domain.
And I can still remember the day that

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For most software that you install, there will be the ideal PC requirements provided so you can be assured of optimum performance for programs and games you will install on your PC. At times, varied differences as far as video specifications, memory and processor capacity will be stated. But while many would see the usual minimal requirements, you have to consider the fact on whether these will be sufficient to satisfy the level of performance you are expecting once these software programs are installed.

Based on experience, it would never hurt to be a step ahead. This entails making sure that you are installing the software on hardware that is a bit advanced. For example, if video card requirements are at least 128 MB, why not install a 256 MB video card if the difference is just a couple of bucks? Or perhaps if memory requires at least 256 RAM, why not go double like 512?

Some may call it overkill but they are really some form of making sure that you get best performance from these programs. Remember that if you go for minimal requirements, you will eventually find yourself wanting better performance and hence upgrading these concerned hardware peripherals

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Ever got this message while booting? NTLDR is Missing.
Some think the drive has crashed and formatting is the only way. Here is a way to deal with that problem.

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.
NTLDR is MissingPress any key to restartBoot: Couldn't find NTLDRPlease insert another diskNTLDR is missing Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

Cause: Computer is booting from a non-bootable source. Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS. Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file. Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file. Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32. New hard disk drive being added. Corrupt boot sector / master boot record. Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable. Solutions:
Computer is booting from a non-bootable sourceMany times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette.
If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving...