Windows 7: VMware Player - a Windows 8 Demo

whs · 08 Feb 2013

You may have considered to run an OS (e.g., Windows 8) in virtual but were not sure how that would really work. I will show you in this video how Windows 8 can be operated in a VMware Player virtual system.

For installation of Windows 8 in VMware Player, refer to this excellent tutorial from Shawn. This will allow you to install Windows 8 virtual within your current system. It creates a VMware folder in Documents (default). You can move or copy this VMware folder to another partition or disk drive any time. You just have to redefine the path to the .vmx file (see tutorial below). You can also copy that folder at any time for backup purposes. That would be equivalent to an image, but is more convenient.

I went one step further and copied the VMware folder (and thereby the virtual system) to an external disk attached via USB and I am running Windows 8 from there. Here is a tutorial I made that shows the steps to do that. The advantage of having your Windows 8 virtual system on an external disk is that you can carry it to any PC and it will run. It is completely isolated from the hardware differences because VMware Player became the host system. That is also why there is no problem with activation. The initial activation was for VMware Player, not for a specific PC.

Now let's have a look at the actual operation. My screen recording program is not perfect, so there may be a few quirks during the recording (e.g., it will not show my Windows 7 Rocket Dock, but it shows the Windows 8 Rocket Dock - go figure). That should not really impact the demo though. The performance would probably be even faster if ran from the internal disk, but given the setup, I think it performs very well.

Note: If you have a problem with the loudness of the sound output of the video, check the "Loudness Equalization" box in your Playback device. It is under the 'Enhancements' tab.

Kari · 09 Feb 2013

Once again very clear and easy to follow video from you, Wolfgang. Only issue for me was the audio level.

Something wrong with your audio settings maybe? The volume level is so low I can not hear you good enough to understand without headphones. Youtube volume full, computer volume full and I still can not understand.

Kari

Anak · 09 Feb 2013

Great video Wolfgang, it is nice to be able to put a voice to your posts.

Kari, as a point of reference.

I didn't have to use headphones but would agree that the volume is low.

YT volume level was set to 100%.
Normally we have the OS volume slider set to 17 to 20% for comfortable listening, but with Wolfgang's video I had to raise it to 50%.
When raised to 100% my estimate would be 60 to 70% under "normal" conditions. There was no distortion.

whs · 09 Feb 2013

I am really sorry for the audio problem. I don't know whether that is my mic or the recording program. Here it plays very well at normal settings.

The recording program is set at maximum input level and I also upped the Dbs by 12 using Format Factory (because I know from the past that there is a problem). I wish I could fix that.

Unfortunately I never found another recording program that would work with mys setup. My DPIs are set to 150% (so that I can see things) and no other recording program can deal with that. I would try anything if I were able to pin the problem down.

whs · 09 Feb 2013

I was wondering whether the problem is with YouTube. I have uploaded the video to Vimeo. Can you please check whether that is better. Both versions are perfect audio here.

https://vimeo.com/59265998

Anak · 09 Feb 2013

Wolfgang, for me it is the same. At my normal listening level I can barely hear it, I have to raise my volume to 50% to compenstate.

whs · 09 Feb 2013

Thanks Steve. So it is a 'local' problem. I'll shop for another mic for starters.

Anak · 09 Feb 2013

Your welcome,

There is a Troubleshooter to test for audio recording if you wanted to try that. might help or reveal something.

Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting its listed under Hardware and Sound.

whs · 09 Feb 2013

Thanks, the funny thing is that it is perfect locally. Maybe it is some codec problem.

Kari · 09 Feb 2013

I'm watching your videos from my laptop. Normally I have the volume level at 35 when watching IP television, Youtube etc., but I can not hear you loud enough to understand when setting volume to max 100. With headset it's OK, I can hear you.