Virtual PC is great for setting up testbeds but the support for Linux is less than optimal. When installing standard Linux distributions under Virtual PC it may be impossible to set the resolution to anything higher than 800×600 or even to get any image at all.
Edit the sections for Monitor, Device and Screen in the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf to look like this:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "General Laptop Display Panel 1280x768" HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0 VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0 Option "dpms" EndSection
Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "vesa" VendorName "Videocard vendor" BoardName "VESA driver (generic)" VideoRam 8192 EndSection
Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 16 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 16 Modes "1280x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection
The above works for Fedora Core 5 under Virtual PC 5.3.582.27. If you are unable to get any image then boot from the rescue CD and use 'nano' or 'vi' to edit the file.
