How to Use Universal Serial Bus Mouse Devices and Keyboards with Virtual PC (824358)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac version 6.1
  • Connectix Virtual PC for Mac version 6.0
  • Connectix Virtual PC for Mac version 5.0

SUMMARY

This article discusses how to use universal serial bus (USB) mouse devices and keyboards with Virtual PC.

MORE INFORMATION

Virtual PC uses emulation for the keyboard and the mouse. You do not have to load USB drivers for the keyboard and the mouse, because these devices are already supported in the program.

If you want to add your own USB mouse, you can do so, but do not load the Windows USB drivers for the mouse, because they do not work with Virtual PC. The mouse and the keyboard are shared with the Macintosh computer's operating system.

If you want to use a two-button mouse with Virtual PC, the right mouse button must be programmed to emulate holding down CTRL and clicking the mouse.

Note With Mac OS X, you do not have to load any drivers or configure mouse buttons. This is done automatically.

Note Virtual PC 5.0 does not support the wheel button. This feature is supported in Virtual PC 6.0 and later.

Some USB devices that are in use by Virtual PC are not available to the Macintosh operating system until you quit Virtual PC. The USB devices may not be available because some USB devices may be inaccessible to Virtual PC; this behavior is expected. To use these USB devices, you must configure your virtual machine to use them exclusively. To configure your virtual machine, follow these steps:
  1. On the Window menu, click Virtual PC List.
  2. Click to select the virtual machine that you want to configure.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Click USB.
  5. Click to select the USB devices that you want to use in the virtual machine.
  6. Close the Virtual PC List window.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/13/2005
Keywords:kbhowto KB824358 kbAudEndUser