Hyper-V does not provide a virtual audio device. Look at the screen capture of Virtual Machine Connection and a Windows 7 vm. As indicated by the X over the speaker icon, audio is not enabled. Additionally, Device Manager shows that although there are virtual devices, there isn’t one for audio. Sound can be enabled by using Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the running vm.
The following screen captures show you how to configure Remote Desktop Connection. I’m using a Windows 7 physical machine to connect to a Windows 7 virtual machine. On the Remote tab of System Properties, go to the Remote Desktop section and select one of the two choices that allow connections. If you are running Remote Desktop Connection from XP, you’ll need the less secure option. Since all of my machines are Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, I choose the more secure option.
The default network settings will prevent you from connecting or even doing a successful ping:
C:\Users\John>ping VWin7Pro
Ping request could not find host VWin7Pro. Please check the name and try again.
To resolve this, go to Advanced sharing settings and select Turn on file and printer sharing.
Try the ping again and you’ll have success.
C:\Users\John>ping VWin7Pro
Pinging VWin7Pro [fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11: time<1ms
Reply from fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11: time<1ms
Reply from fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11: time<1ms
Reply from fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11: time<1ms
Ping statistics for fe80::598f:5a3b:2544:9d53%11:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
Next, configure Remote Desktop Connection. You’ll need to expand the Options to expose all of the tabs. Go to the Local Resources tab and click Settings. The default is Play on this computer, which is what you want.
You probably don’t want to always be prompted about trusting your own remote machine, so check Don’t ask me again for connections to this computer.
Provide your credentials if prompted.
Since I made the vm, I’m not concerned about the certificate not coming from a trusted authority, so I check the box to not be prompted again.
As you can see within the RDP session, Remote Audio is enabled and the sounds appear on the local physical machine.
Using RDP offers other advantages. I have a 2560x1600 30” monitor. The Remote Desktop Connection window fills the entire screen providing me with the full 2560x1600 resolution within the vm. This is far beyond the maximum 1600x1200 resolution provided by Virtual Machine Connection. Additionally, by using the More button on the Local Resources tab, the local physical machine’s drives can be made available to the virtual machine. This allows files to be copied and pasted between the vm and the physical machine by using Windows Explorer within the vm.
Finally, since I have a gigabit home network, I maximize the user experience’s visual effects.
