Hello, could you write an article about a virtual machine? VMware Workstation, I looked for such an article from you, but didn’t find it, I want to install it on itWindows 8.1. It would be great if you could also explain the difference betweenVMware Workstation and popularVirtualBox. Which one is better?
Installing a VMware Workstation virtual machine
Hello friends, my name is Ro8 and I will answer this question.
Both virtual machines: VMware Workstation and VirtualBox are serious applications capable of performing the most complex virtualization tasks of modern computer world and you can successfully use any of the proposed virtual machines for yourself. In general, I believe that it is impossible to compare these two products at this level (which is worse and which is better), they are both good in their own way. Let's approach the question of comparison from a slightly different angle.
If you novice user, then choose without hesitation, it is simpler and, in terms of its basic capabilities, is by and large not inferior to VMware Workstation.
VMware Workstation is a commercial product ($207) with official support.
All significant differences VMware from VirtualBox important primarily for developers software and network administrators:IN VMware Workstation technology built-in integration with development and testing environments for various software and it has more tools for working with a virtual network environment - NAT, DHCP. There is functionality for compression of virtual disks - Compact Virtual Disks and other features that most likely will not be needed by the average user. However, VMware Workstation has trial period use for 30 days and we can get to know it better.
VMware Workstation is a popular system virtualization program. VMware Workstation is a powerful solution for software developers and system administrators who create and test complete server-class network applications running in a variety of environments.
So let's get started:
1) Go to the official website page to download the program: http://downloads.vmware.com/d/
3) On the page that opens, select VMware Workstation X.X.X to download for Windows(where X.X.X is the version number)
4) Click on the Download button next to Workstation for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit with VMware Tools.
5) Click on the Register button and fill out the registration form (where you indicate your e-mail, which receives an activation letter, you can enter data that is not yours) and click Continue
6) At the bottom of the EULA agreement, click Yes and find yourself on the download page. The program is free for full-function use for 30 days. After this period, you need to register it. I advise you to download a key generator (Keygen) for your version of the virtual machine in advance so that you can enter the key during installation. Or immediately download VMware Workstation 10.0.2 Build 1744117 + keygen + Rus from here http://rsload.net/soft/10943-vmware-workstation.html
7) Download Workstation for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit Main installation file with Tools. Unlike other virtual machines, the VMware Workstation installer is over 500 Megabytes in size.
8) Install the program. Restart your computer by clicking Restart Now in the last program window or clicking Restart Later and restarting manually later.
9) Launch the program. Set the radio button to Yes, I accept the terms in the license agreement and click OK
10) In the main program window, click on the New Vitual Machine icon.
11) Set the switch to Typical (recommended). Click Next.
12) Set the switch to Installer disk image file (iso). Click the Browse button and specify the path to Windows ISO image 7. Click Next.
13) Enter your Windows 7 installation code, username and password and click Next. If you decide to enter this data later, then after clicking the Next button, click on the Yes button.
14) Select a name and location for your virtual machine file. Click Next.
15) Set the size of your virtual hard disk in gigabytes (20 GB is enough).
16) Click the Finish button to create the virtual machine.
17) In the VMware Workstation Activation window, click Enter Serial Number to enter your serial number(This is where our Key Generator comes in handy)
18) After entering the number in the pop-up window Register your version of VMware Workstation now! click Register button
19) In the main program window, go to the tab with the name of your virtual machine (by Windows default 7) and click the Power on this virtual machine link.
20) Unlike other virtual machines, the Windows 7 installation will begin itself and VMware Workstation will perform most of the installation automatically; your participation in the Windows 7 installation process will be almost not required.
21) After completing the installation of Windows 7 on virtual machine, VMware Workstation will immediately launch Windows 7 for you inside the virtual machine.
22) Immediately after launching, VMware Workstation will independently install additional VMware Tools for you, and also, if you have an Internet connection, will independently install all the necessary drivers.
23) Use the Ctrl+G key combination to unlock the simultaneous use of the mouse in both the virtual system and the main one.
24) To shut down the virtual machine, shut down virtual Windows 7 as you would in regular Windows. Start -> Shut down.
25) To launch installed Windows 7 in the main program window, in the left column, select the name of your operating system. In the tab that opens with the name of your virtual machine (Windows 7 by default), click the Power on this virtual machine link.
Connecting removable devices to a virtual machine.
You can connect removable devices in the menu:
VM->removable devices
By checking the box next to the required removable devices, you connect them to the virtual machine; by unchecking the box, you disconnect them. As you can see, everything is very simple.
To make it even easier, I’ll give an example of connecting to a virtual machine USB storage:
Connect the USB drive to the computer and after a few seconds a new item will appear in the “VM->Removable Devices” menu with the name of the connected USB drive, in my case it is: Feiya Mass Storage Device;
Check the menu “VM->Removable devices -> Feiya Mass Storage Device->Connect (Disconnect from Host)” and after a few seconds a folder with the contents of the USB drive will open on the desktop of your guest operating system (in our case, Ubuntu);
For USB disconnect drive, uncheck the box in the same menu.
To switch from the guest operating system to the host operating system, press the key combination ctrl+alt. To return to the guest operating system, you need to click on the window with the guest operating system.
This article will talk about working with virtual machines(virtual operating systems) via free program VWWare Workstation Player.
Let me start briefly with what a virtual machine actually is. I already touched on this topic once, but now I’ll repeat myself a little so that you are immediately aware of everything that this article will be about. A virtual machine is a kind of virtual computer with an installed operating system (hereinafter referred to as “OS”), which runs on your real system via special program in a separate window. It turns out that you can work with any other OS through a special program without interrupting your work, without restarting the computer and without performing any other complex operations to switch work from one OS to another.
What is this all for? You can use a virtual system to test some programs and services. For example, I often use a virtual machine to record video lessons, since my virtual OS is clean, without any personal files and folders, and this will allow me not to expose anything important to the whole world in my video :) I also use a virtual machine for testing all sorts of things Windows settings, so as not to experiment on a real system, as well as to test any new programs.
Also, working in a virtual OS is good for those who earn money in axleboxes. Why is it suitable? If you work in a bookstore, you've probably come across a ton of tasks where you need to install some small game or program on your computer, register in it, log in, and possibly perform some other actions. Can you imagine what will happen to your real OS in the near future if you often perform such tasks, installing just a shitload of programs and games? :) Nothing good will happen! And sooner or later you’ll catch some kind of virus. And when working in a virtual OS, all this installed rubbish will remain there, without touching your real system in any way, and all the viruses (if you catch them) will also remain there.
This is what a virtual OS looks like running in a separate window:
As you can see, the same OS, only in a window :)
Previously in articles I talked about a way to work with virtual machines through the free Oracle VirtualBox program. At first I used it myself, but then I tried an alternative - VMWare Workstation Player (previously called simply VMWare Player) and realized that this program would be simpler. There are not so many settings in it, they are not so cloudy and incomprehensible and everything, in my opinion, is much more convenient. For beginners, this option is, in my opinion, better suited than the VirtualBox analogue.
Let's begin to figure out in order how to install WMWare Workstation Player to work with virtual machines and then how to install and configure the virtual OS itself through this program!
I recorded the whole process on video, where I show what to download from where, what and how to configure. If it’s not very convenient for you to perceive the information from the video, then below the whole process is described in text and graphic form.
Attention!
VMWare Workstation Player only works with 64-bit operating systems! Also note that to work with virtual machines, you must have powerful computer, With modern processor(For example, Intel Core i3, i5, i7) and recommended volume random access memory at least 4 GB. Better yet, even more! If you don’t know what RAM, processor and other computer components are, then I recommend reading the article. Otherwise, the virtual machine will be very slow, or your real system will slow down and not work stably.
You can see the bit depth of your OS and system information (processor, amount of RAM) as follows. Press the Win+R keys and in the “Run” line that appears, enter the command: msinfo32.exe. Click OK:
In the window that opens, on the “System Information” tab, you can find the necessary information:
The “Type” line indicates the bit depth of your system (x64 – 64-bit, x86 – 32-bit).
In the "Processor" line - information about the processor, and in the "Installed RAM" line - the amount of RAM on your computer.
Installing the WMWare Workstation Player program to work with virtual machines!
The program can run on both the Windows and Linux operating systems, so you can download it for any OS. Click the “Download” button next to the desired operating system and the download will begin:
I will show using Windows as an example.
The WMWare Workstation Player installation wizard will open. Wait until the first installation window appears. Click “Next” there.
Further, the installation process is the same as in most programs (I talked about how to install programs), so I will only focus on those stages where it is necessary to perform some special actions.
At one of the installation stages, check the “Enhanced Keyboard Driver” checkbox and click “Next”:
Enabling this option means that an extended keyboard driver will be installed for virtual machines and it is better to install it just in case.
In one of the installation windows, uncheck the “Help Improve VMWare Workstation 12 Player” option, and leave the first option enabled:
The first option means that the program will automatically check for updates and if there are any a new version, then you can immediately upgrade to it. The second option is to provide assistance to program developers by sending anonymous information about the operation of this program from your computer. This is the option I recommend turning off.
That's it, installation is complete! The next step is to install a virtual OS through this program.
Launch VMWare Workstation Player and install a virtual operating system!
After the VMWare program for working with virtual machines is installed, launch it using a shortcut on the desktop or from the Start menu.
When you launch the program for the first time, the following window will appear:
Here you need to select the first item, as in the image above and indicate your E-Mail address. This is only necessary so that you can use the program for free. I inserted my real email and then I didn’t receive any spam, i.e. there is nothing to be afraid of :)
After entering your email, click “Continue”.
In the next window, click “Finish”:
The program window will open. Immediately after the first launch, in a separate window, a proposal may appear on top of the main one to upgrade to the extended “Pro” version. We don't need it because it's paid. Click the "Skip this Version" button:
Now in the main program window, click “Create a New Virtual Machine” to create a new virtual machine (OS):
Now we have reached the stage where we need to choose where, from which file or disk we will install operating system as a virtual one. The window will have 2 options: install from a CD/DVD disc (Installer disc) or install from an image file stored on your computer (Installer disc image file). Choose the first option if you have your own CD/DVD with the OS that you want to install as a virtual one:
For example, you have a disk with Windows 7 and you want to install this system as a virtual one. Then insert the disk with this system into the computer and select the first option.
But operating systems for installation can also be stored in special file on your computer, which is called an "image". Then you can install the operating system as a virtual machine directly from this file. Here is an example of an image file with the Windows XP operating system:
VMWare Workstation Player supports image files in the “.ISO” format, so if you have an ISO image file with the operating system, then the easiest way to install a virtual machine is from there. And then select the second option in the current window:
Using the “Browse” button you can select exactly required file image with the operating system.
Having selected the desired option, click the “Next” button below.
Note!
Any operating system can be installed as a virtual one, i.e. any Windows system, any Linux or any others! Those. not necessarily just Windows.
In the next window, we are asked to specify in advance the key for installing the operating system, specify the user name and password:
After all, installing an operating system in a virtual machine will be no different from installing a real OS on your computer :) The only difference is that the system will be installed virtually in a window, and not on your real hard drive. But in that window, I recommend leaving only the username, which will most likely be set automatically (taken from your real OS). It is easier to specify the key and other parameters, if necessary, during OS installation. So in that window, just click “Next” to continue.
A window will probably appear warning you that you did not provide a key. Click Yes:
In the next window, in the first field you need to indicate the name of the virtual machine you are creating, and in the second field - the location of the virtual machine files on your computer.
You can call it whatever you want, it’s usually called the name of the OS that you will install. The main thing is that you yourself understand where your OS is, if you suddenly install and work with several virtual OSs in the future. Those. don’t call it like this: “1234”, because then you yourself won’t understand what kind of virtual machine you have with that name until you launch it :)
You can choose any location of the virtual machine on your computer – i.e. any folder or drive on your real system. It is in the selected folder that the files (there will be many of them) responsible for launching the virtual machine will be located. Please note that the virtual machine will take up a lot of space (a minimum of 10 GB is typical, but 20-30 GB is most common), so be sure to have enough space on your hard drive to store the virtual machine.
When you specify the name and location, click “Next”.
In the next window you need to indicate the volume of your hard drive, which will be allocated for the operation of the created virtual machine. This is a very important step!
As I already said, a virtual machine is practically no different from your real OS. She will also have her own hard drive, only a virtual one. And the volume of the virtual OS hard disk will be equal to the volume of your real hard disk that you allocate for the virtual machine. Everything here will depend on what operating system you are installing as a virtual one. If, for example, Windows XP, then it does not require much space on the hard drive and somewhere around 10-15 GB will be enough. But modern Windows operating systems: 7, 8, 10 require a decent amount of free disk space for their operation, at least 20 GB, and preferably 30-40 GB.
And in the first field of the current window, you need to specify how much of your real hard drive you will allocate for the virtual machine being created. As I already said, for example, I will install a 30-day trial Windows version XP. For this system, 15 GB will be enough. volume virtual disk. Please note that your real hard drive must have at least as much free space as you allocate for the virtual machine!
By checking that option, we indicated that there is no need to divide the virtual hard disk on which the virtual OS will run into several files; let it be in one file. If we selected the second option “Split virtual disk into multiple files”, then the virtual hard disk would be divided into several files. I personally don’t find any sense in this, so I always choose the mode – virtual hard disk in one file.
In the next window you will receive information about the settings of the virtual machine being created. We can “Finish” right now to start installing the virtual machine, but we won’t do that now. Let's move on to additional settings virtual machine to understand another extremely important setting!
Click the “Customize Hardware” button:
An additional window will open with a bunch of settings on several tabs. We are only interested in the “Memory” tab, where you configure the amount of RAM on your computer allocated to the virtual machine.
RAM is the most important component of every computer, without which it simply will not work. This is temporary memory where everything that is running on your computer is preloaded - programs, processes, etc. In the article I provided a link where you can learn in more detail about all the main components of a computer.
So, in this window you need to indicate the amount of your real RAM that will be allocated for the operation of the virtual machine. Everything again depends on what operating system you will install. If this is Windows XP, then it will be able to work with only 128 MB of memory, although it will be very slow. It is better to allocate 1-2 GB for it. RAM. If you install Windows 7, 8 or 10 as a virtual machine, then I recommend allocating at least 2 GB. RAM (preferably 3-4 GB so that the virtual system works stably and does not slow down). But there is one more point. If your computer already has little RAM, then you cannot allocate much for the virtual system :)
If the computer has only 2 GB of memory (such a computer is very weak today), then you are unlikely to allocate more than 512 MB (megabytes) of memory for the virtual machine, because if you allocate more, your main system may begin to slow down severely. Take this into account!
In general, if your computer is weak, it’s easier not to bother with virtual machines, as I already mentioned at the very beginning of this article.
You will be returned to a window with information about setting up your virtual machine. Well, it’s time to proceed directly to installing the virtual machine! Make sure that the “Power on this virtual machine after creation” checkbox is checked so that the installation begins immediately and click “Finish”:
The installation of the virtual OS you configured will begin. First, windows will appear notifying you that some of your real computer hardware is connected to the virtual machine, as well as windows with various non-essential information. Just check the box “Do not show this hint again” in these windows and click “OK”:
Also, a window will then appear asking you to install additional tools for the virtual machine. We’ll post them a little later, so click “Remind Me Later.” Alerts on a light background at the bottom of the VMWare Workstation Player window can be closed by clicking on the cross:
Well, then the installation of the virtual OS will begin. I install Windows XP and the installation looks like this:
No different from the actual installation process on a computer. If you install a more modern Windows, the installation process will, of course, look different from the Windows XP installation process. Since the installation process for each OS is different, I will only briefly discuss it below. I talked about installing Windows 8 and 10 in a separate article:
As for the duration of installation, it depends on the OS being installed and is practically no different in time from the duration of installing a real system on a computer. Windows XP installs in about 20 minutes, Windows 7,8 and 10 - about the same. This largely depends on the power of the computer.
The installation process has reached the point of entering the license key:
Now, to fully work with the virtual machine, we will install additional tools for it. This is necessary primarily so that you can easily drag and drop files from the real system into the virtual OS window or vice versa. This is just an awesomely convenient feature!! And this is a big advantage of VMWare Workstation Player over its analogue for working with VirtualBox virtual machines, because in the second I couldn’t directly drag and drop files, no matter how much I tinkered with the settings... Also, installing additional tools is necessary for the correct operation of some other functions of the virtual machine .
Open the “Player” menu on the top toolbar, select “Manage” and then “Install VMWare Tools”:
A window will appear in the virtual OS window where we click “Download and Install”:
A window for downloading additional tools will appear for a few seconds. Then you need to open the “My Computer” section (also called “Computer” or “This Computer”) through the virtual Windows Explorer and start installing additional tools, which are displayed in the form of a connected CD/DVD disk to the computer:
The system will ask you to reboot. This must be done so that the installed additional tools start working. Click the “Yes” button to reboot the virtual machine:
After the reboot, the additional virtual machine tools will take effect. Firstly, you will be able to drag and drop files and folders from a real system to a virtual one and vice versa. Simply drag and hold the left mouse button on one or more objects directly into the virtual machine window, then release the left mouse button. Files/folders will be moved:
Secondly, you will be able to quickly resize the virtual machine window by simply dragging the left mouse button outside the window borders. This way you can make the window with the virtual OS larger than it was originally, so that it is more convenient for you to work in it.
To switch to a virtual OS, just move the cursor to the window with it and that’s it, you will find yourself there and can perform any actions directly in the virtual machine. Getting back to the real system is also easy - just return the cursor from the virtual window to the real system window.
Another one useful feature– open the virtual machine in full screen mode. To do this, click the button as shown in the image below:
As a result, the virtual OS window will be stretched across the entire screen and outwardly it will no longer be distinguishable from the real system. You can return to windowed mode using the same button.
The virtual machine turns off just like a real one, i.e. go to the “Start” menu, click “Shutdown” and then the same button again. Or you can turn off the virtual machine by simply closing the VMWare Workstation Player window and clicking “Power Off” in the warning window:
In order to restart the desired virtual machine, open the VMWare Workstation Player program, select the virtual machine from the list and click “Play virtual machine” on the right:
And the last thing I would like to show you today is how to go to the settings of an already created and installed virtual machine. Please note that you can only configure a virtual machine if it is already turned off! To configure the desired virtual machine, select it in the main window of VMWare Workstation Player and click the “Edit virtual machine setting” button on the right:
A familiar window with virtual OS settings will appear:
That's all! Now, I think, you can independently create and configure a virtual machine with any operating system for your own tasks. I hope I made everything clear for beginners :)
Have a nice day and good mood everyone! Bye everyone ;)
Hello, friends. Today I want to tell you about the WMware Workstation program, about its installation, as well as how to install the operating system on it. Of course, I will not only tell you all this, but also show you the whole process.
It should be noted that Windows 7, 8, and 10 have their own VHD support, which means you can create a virtual HDD how to use third party programs and without their participation. Read more. If you have Windows XP, then you cannot do without using third-party software.
So why do you need a virtual machine? And in order to emulate the system and use it without fear of anything. Probably everyone has to change their operating system. No matter how much you clean it and take care of it, over time the system will still need to be reinstalled. Of course, you want to look at what you will bet in advance. That's when a virtual machine comes in handy. Also, you can test a dubious program on a virtual machine that you are afraid to install on your computer, without any harm. First, I will show you how to install VMware, and after that I will show you how to install Windows on it.
Program installation
To get started, run installation file programs. Once launched, select the language of the virtual machine and click OK.
After that, skip the program greeting by pressing the “Next>” button and proceed to reading license agreement. Confirm your agreement and click the "Next>" button.
Next, the program will offer you which installation to choose: typical or normal. I advise you to choose the first option for beginners, and the other for those who are familiar with the computer. Select the desired one by clicking on the settings icons.
The next step is to select a directory to install the virtual machine. To select a folder, click the “Change...” button. Click the "Next>" button to continue with the installation.
In the next window, set the marker if you want the program to search for and install the update, and click the “Next>” button
After that, choose to install a shortcut on the desktop, as well as in the Start menu or not, and click the “Next>” button.
Click the “Continue” button to continue the installation and wait for it to finish. To complete the installation of the virtual machine, click the “Finish” button. This completes the installation.
Installation of the operating system.
Well, let's move on to installing the operating system on a virtual machine. After starting the program, your first step will be to select an operating system image. To do this, click on the “Create a new virtual machine” tab.
After that, select the configuration type: normal or custom. Since this article is intended for beginners, we select the normal installation and click the “Next” button.
In the next window, select what the operating system will be installed from: disk or installation image file. Select what suits you and click “Next”.
The next step is to enter your product key and you can also set a password for future system, if you want to perform all these actions later, just click the “Next” button.
After that, select the name and location of the virtual machine. To continue the installation, click the same button as in the previous step.
In the next window, select the maximum virtual disk size, as well as how to save the virtual machine on your computer. If you select the first option, the virtual machine will be saved as only one file. I advise you to choose saving using multiple files. Click the “Next” button to continue.
Next, look at the options and click the “Finish” button. Wait for the virtual machine to install on your computer and run it to install the operating system. After this, perform a standard Windows installation.
Remember: take your time with the installation and do everything step by step, after which you will get the result you were hoping for.
In this article we will look at the process of creating and configuring a virtual machine in a free (for non-commercial, home use) VMware Workstation Player program.
How to create a virtual machine
Below is an example of creating and configuring a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 12 Player. Although the program does not have a Russian interface, for most users it will not be difficult to understand the settings.
Some definitions
- Host operating system– this is the system that is installed on your computer;
- Guest operating system– this is an operating system (OS) running in a virtual machine (thus, on one physical computer we can run one host and from one to several guest systems);
- Virtual machine is a software or hardware system that emulates a real computer on which one or more operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, etc.) can be installed.
Let's take Windows 7 as the guest operating system, and Windows 10 as the host operating system. Since we will install the guest operating system on the created virtual machine from an image file (ISO), we will assume that you already have such an image (that is, how to download original ISO image Windows from the Microsoft website is possible).
So let's get started:
- Launch VMware Workstation Player (download latest version with or of. site);
- Click "Create a New Virtual Machine";
- Using the "Browse" button, find and select in Windows Explorer ISO image file of the guest operating system (in our example this is Windows 7) → “Next”;
- The next window prompts you to enter your license key, select Windows edition for installation, and specify the computer administrator login and password. On at this stage It is not necessary to fill in all these fields, except for “Full Name” → “Next”;
- If you did not specify the key in the previous step Windows activation, you will see the following window, which says that you will have to activate the operating system manually after installation) → “Yes”;
- Next, you need to specify the name of the virtual machine, which will be displayed in the VMware Player console and select the location of the virtual machine on the computer → Next;
- Now we indicate the disk size of our virtual machine (you can leave it at the default – 60 GB, or specify your own value) → Next;
- After this, you will see a window that lists the main parameters of the installed system; by clicking here “Customize Hardware” you can fine-tune the hardware characteristics of the virtual machine: the amount of RAM, CPU properties, network parameters, etc.;
- The “Finish” button initializes the installation process of the operating system, and, unlike, the installation will take place in automatic mode(no action from the user is required).
This completes the creation of a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 12 Player (in the screenshot is the guest operating system Windows system 7 running on Windows 10 host OS using VMware Workstation 12 Player). 
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