Virtual Machine Instances

[JakeBeck]

Hello,

I'm not sure how I would do this but I would like to be able to go on a VM, mess around with the settings for practice, and when I shut the VM off it deletes all of the settings I changed and goes back to it's original state for the next time I use the VM. Is there a setting or workaround to allow this?

Thanks

 

[gardenman]

Hi, yes, and it probably depends on the VM software you are using.

In VirtualBox, select (highlight) the VM and on the right/top choose Snapshots. Take a snapshot of the VM. Note, snapshots are like extra hard drives that save all of the changes that have been made since the snapshot was taken. They can grow quickly and largely so keep an eye on the files in your VM folder.

An alternative that I use almost daily is "Shadow Defender". Basically you run it and set it Shadow Mode and anything that happens afterwards is virtual (not really saved). Files and settings appears to be saved to your programs while still running in Shadow Mode. When you reboot everything resets back to normal. This software cost money unless you can find it on a free giveaway site sometime.

Other alternatives: https://alternativeto.net/software/shadow-defender/