Changing the name of virtual networks under Virtual PC

  • Article

Under Virtual Server we provide a convenient UI to allow the user to change the name of their virtual networks. Under Virtual PC - however - we just use the name of the physical network card for the name of the virtual network. Normally this is okay - however it can be problematic if your physical network card has an overly long and convoluted name, or if you have two identical physical network cards.

If you want to change the virtual network name to something more user friendly you should do the following:

  1. Exit Virtual PC

  2. Edit "%APPDATA%MicrosoftVirtual PCOptions.xml"

    (Please note - it is advisable that you backup this file first - just in case something goes wrong)

  3. Find the <virtual_network> entry for the virtual network you want to rename (note - there are also <virtual_gateway> entries - you should leave these alone!)

  4. Change the <name type="string">...</name> element from the name of your physical network card to the name that you want to use

  5. Save the file and exit

  6. Launch Virtual PC

And now your virtual networks will have the name that you want them to have.

Cheers,
Ben