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#11
Can VMPlayer convert my Windows XP mode virtual hard drive without any additional software? (VMLite seems to need additional software to do the job)
Edit: Nevermind, I think the answer is yes. It's kind of hard to choose when we have VMplayer, VirtualBox, and VMLite to choose from. I just want something exactly like Windows XP Mode but faster and better colors.
Hmm, VMPlayer also requires you to register for a trial. Which one is free for personal use?
No, this was using the XP Mode VM which is already activated. Then, VMWare Player 3.0 convereted it and it remained activated. I used no licensing of my own and didn't load this from any software disk that I had.
VMWare just has you register for an account...even though VMWare Player 3.0 is free. This way they can keep track of who has the software and make sure that customers are notified to update when new versions are available.
Things I don't like about VMware player 3.0:
1. It's not easy to import your Windows XPM hard drive. (or you can't) I clicked "File > Import Windows XP Mode VM" and that just makes a new copy w/o my installed applications. On the bright side, it seemed to be activated.
2. "File > Open Virtual Machine" can open my Windows XPM virtual hard drive, but the copy of Windows is not activated. However, I can see all of my programs installed.
3. You can't copy a file from the XP desktop to 7 desktop. Or I'm just too lazy to figure out how.
4. The window doesn't allow resizing. It's always the same small size. Windows XP mode can snap to the left-half side easily which is great for my widescreen. Or maybe I'm too lazy to figure out how. (It's not easy enough)
Ok, that is because when VMWare Player does the import, it bases it on the base XP Mode vhd that was placed on your machine when you downloaded and installed XP Mode. This is the same starting point that XP Mode uses when you fire it up for the first time.
With XP Mode, when you launch it, during it's first boot, it configures a second .vhd file that makes up the virtual machine that you are actually using. Thus, when you install apps and customize it...you are customing this second .vhd file rather than the base starting point. (which is what VMWare Player 3 is importing from).
I'm working on converting the modified VM with the VMWare Converter 4.0.1 tool. To get that to work, you need to have the XP Mode VM running, change the network from NAT to using the actual adapter so it's gets a network accessible IP, turn off the Windows firewall, and disable Simple File Sharing (control panel, folder options, View tab, bottom checkbox).
Edit: After conversion, the XP box did throw the box saying that activation would be necessary. So, that somewhat explains why VMWare Player converts from the Base image as it doesn't need to then be activated.
Haven't tried this...but you are probably right
I will post back to this...you can do it....i just cannot write it up now.,
Edit: Ok, here is how you can setup "shared folders" between the guest and the host. From within the running VM, click on VM, Settings, Options tab. Click on Shared Folders. Select always enabled. Set the Host path to C:\ and give it whatever name you want. Then, open explorer. Click on Tools, Map Network Drive, click Browse for the share, and you will see under My Network Places an entry for VMWare Shared Folders. Pick your share. Say, reconnect at logon and you have your share as a drive letter.
There is an Easier way. You can simply copy and paste from the host to the guest. With the VMWare Tools installed, it works just like you would expect. No drive mappings and no shared folders necessary.
You have to update the VMWare tools on the machine. Then once the machine boots, wait for the VMWare Tools to load (you will notice the X over the icon in taskbar goes away), you can then easily resize the Window.
Last edited by pparks1; 19 Nov 2009 at 13:39.
Hi there
I think (haven't tried it yet) that if you change to BRIDGED instead of NAT for networking the VM gets a unique separate IP address to the host -- with NAT - although the "perceived" IP address on the VM is different it actually shares the same IP address as the host. With Bridged mode it is actually aphysically separate address on your LAN.
This means you don't have to do anything with the network adapters - you can still use the VM's NIC.
Cheers
jimbo
I installed the final released version of Windows XP Mode on my Windows 7 Ultimate box at work. It runs an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0Ghz, 4GB of RAM and a Western Digital Caviar 500GB hard drive.
Windows XP Mode boot times: 48 seconds
Windows XP Mode boot time after conversion into VMWare Player 3.0: 23 seconds
This is the exact same image, after running through the VMWare Converter utility. As you can see above, it boots 2x as fast with VMWare over the XP Mode.
Unfortunately, doing it this way requires you to reactivate XP. So, starting from the base image and being pre-activated is your best option. The results above will still be applicable with a clean build..I have proven that before in testing.