Getting an internet connection under VirtualPC running Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7

Open the ‘settings’ of the virtual machine and select Networking -> then change Adapter1 to “Shared networking (NAT)” and it will use your local machine’s network settings.

This tripped me up because the default network adapter setting in VirtualPC doesn’t automatically bridge your host connection. If you’re spinning up XP VMs to test old versions of IE, you’ll hit this immediately when nothing loads. The NAT option is the simplest route since it piggybacks on whatever connection your host machine already has — no extra configuration needed. If NAT doesn’t work for your setup, you can also try “Bridged” mode, which gives the VM its own IP on your local network, but that can cause issues with some corporate firewalls.