Windows 7 as guest machine.

[bendipa]

I have my original installation Win7 disk which I could install directly as a VM in VMWare. The only problem is this is the very basic version before any updates take place, but of course these have not been available since Jan 2020. I also have a fully working updated version of Win 7 (up to Jan 2020).

The question is how what is the best way to install as a VM my updated version of Win 7 within VMware, bearing in mind that the drivers needed would be different to those when it's running as a host system?

 

[samuria]

VM is normally bomb proof in that its very basic drivers

 

[townsbg]

With the VM running on the Vmware click on the VM menu and from the install VMware tools. That will install everything that Windows 7 needs for drivers which isn't much because it doesn't require much. The only exception is that if you have usb 3 you will have to download and install the intel usb 3 drivers separately.

 

[bendipa]

Maybe I wasn't being clear enough. I wanted all the Win 7 updates to be inclued in the VM just as they are in my actual Win 7 host. But when Googling, so far all the references I see to using a Win 7 ISO or a Win 7 installation disk would just seem to indicate the basic system before any MS updates, which are no longer available.

What I wanted to know is if it's possible to transfer my current Win 7 system (updates included) to a VM, and what is the easiest way to do this.

 

[samuria]

What format is the backup in ie disk image?