Installing Windows XP into a Virtual Machine

Windows XP Home Edition or Professional can be installed in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows XP distribution CD. If you wish to use sound in the virtual machine, be sure to read Using Sound in a Windows XP Guest Operating System below.

Note: If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and a Windows 9x, Windows Me, Windows NT or Windows 2000 guest operating system, you cannot upgrade your guest operating system to Windows XP. Windows XP does not support the BusLogic SCSI adapter that VMware Workstation currently uses for its SCSI virtual disks. If you want to use Windows XP as a guest operating system, you should create a new IDE virtual disk. VMware is working on a resolution for SCSI support in Windows XP guest operating systems.

To install Windows XP into a virtual machine:

Note: If you want to run Windows XP Home Edition or Professional in a VMware Workstation virtual machine, be sure you have a full installation CD for the operating system.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the VMware Workstation Configuration Wizard. Make sure you selected Windows XP as your guest operating system.

Follow these steps to install Windows XP into a virtual machine:

  1. Use the Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like networking software to be installed during the Windows XP installation, be sure the virtual machine's Ethernet adapter is configured and enabled. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
  2. Insert the installation CD in the CD-ROM drive.
  3. Power on the virtual machine to start installing the guest operating system.
  4. Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical machine, except as noted in the following steps.
  5. After the system reboots, a message box asks if you want Windows to automatically correct your screen resolution and color depth setting. Do not make the change at this time. You cannot change resolution and color depth until you have installed the VMware SVGA driver - part of the VMware Tools package.
  6. Run the VMware Tools installer. For details, see Using VMware Tools.
  7. When the guest operating system reboots, allow it to change the screen resolution and color depth setting.

Using Sound in a Windows XP Guest Operating System

Note: Your sound card must be working in your host operating system in order to use sound in the virtual machine.

Windows XP does not automatically detect and install drivers for ISA sound cards, such as the Creative Sound Blaster emulated in a virtual machine. Follow these steps to configure sound in a Windows XP guest operating system.

Known Issues

The Microsoft Windows XP product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of the virtual machine may require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.

For more details on Windows XP product activation, see the Microsoft Web site.

On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.

The hibernation feature is not supported in this release. Instead of using the guest operating system’s hibernate feature, suspend the virtual machine by clicking Suspend on the VMware Workstation toolbar.

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