There are no words to express just how relieved I feel right about now - relieved is a start, but still an understatement.

I’ve just finished rebuild my desktop here at home, a huge undertaking, taking several days to get everything just right.  I dread rebuilds of my primary machine.  Sure about 88% of everything is scripted, but its the other 12% that gives you 99% of the pain.

So this time, I P2V’d my existing machine, hosted it on another computer, then took the plunge with a full rebuild ( ’format c:’ style ).  Some general notes from the experience:

  • P2V my workstation and host it on another machine
  • My desktop has dual monitors
  • Whilst my physical machine installs OS and apps, RDP into my VM workstation from and old laptop and keep working
  • Once my physical machine is semi-usable, RDP into my VM (making sure drag and drop works)
  • Import the bulk of settings from my VM to my physical workstation
  • Use my physical workstation, and update “stuff” as I notice it missing.
  • …use my VM to carry on working productively until my physical host has been configured

My rebuild has finished today, and I started nearly a week ago on Tuesday, granted I haven’t spent the entire time rebuilding - thankfully I haven’t had to because I’ve had an intermediary workaround with my VM.  I must say this rebuild has been considerably less pain — I’d almost go as far as to say pain free.  It’s definitely been stress free, knowing that my VM is there working perfectly when I need it.

Today I’ve not had to power up the VM. so I’m going to call this rebuild done and dusted.  I’ll copy the VM to a USB drive, if I don’t use it over the next month I’ll delete it. 

So I thought I’d take a few moments to blog this and share my experiences.  This rebuild style may not suit everyone, but it worked very well for me.