VMware

See also: VMware Fusion

Contents 1 64-bit 2 Importing Virtual Machines 2.1 Issues 3 Resizing Virtual Drives 4 Things I Like to Do 5 References

64-bit

With VMware Server (and possibly other versions) you can not run a 64-bit guest OS unless the CPU supports VT. The CPU will identify as being 64-bit compatible (and, in the case of Windows, you will be able to get through the first part of the Setup procedure) but any attempt to actually run 64-bit code (including the OS itself) will fail.

Importing Virtual Machines

You can now import virtual machines from Virtual PC via File → Import. You cannot, however, simply import a .vhd (hard disk) file -- it must first be set up within Virtual PC.

Issues

If you're importing from Virtual PC you might run into an issue with the mouse drivers not working correctly even after installing the VMware Tools. It seems that there is some issue with some registry keys still being left and confusing the mouse driver or something. I found a fix to it^[1] and here is a summary of what I found works.

The problem is that the old mousedriver is hooked to the mouse device class.

1. To remove this dependency, go into the registry and navigate to the key
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96F-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
2. Remove the value msvmmouf from the UpperFilters Regvalue.
3. Reboot

If you wish you can take out the drivers completely by deleting these registry hives completely:

The driver

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msvmmouf

The Service

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VPCMap

The CopyHook Shell Extension (for folder access)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{30C14BA C-122C-42ED-B319-1139DBF48EB8}\InProcServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\CopyHookHandlers\VPCCopyHook

After a reboot you can delete the Virtual Machine Additions folder from Program Files.

Resizing Virtual Drives

Virtual drives can be resized using the File → Import command or with the VMware converter utility. These utilities will actually resize the partition on the drive as well.

Alternatively, the commandline utility can be used, as detailed here: [1]

Things I Like to Do

There are a few things I like to do when setting up a (Windows) virtual machine. Here is a list so I don't forget:

• Set the keyboard repeat delay to the shortest value, and repeat speed to the fastest value.
• Show file extensions
• Enable "advanced file sharing"
• Disable the Language Bar
• Disable screen saver/monitor power-off
• (On XP) fix the file search settings (no animated character, advanced search by default)
• (On XP) show the contents of Program Files and Windows directories (which are hidden by default)
• (On virtual machines from other sources) make sure "show window contents while dragging" is enabled, as well as standard font smoothing.
• Set Automatic Updates settings
• Map \\.host\Shared Folders\ to a drive letter.

Within the settings for the virtual machine itself:

• Enable VNC remote control
• Unmount any ISOs used during installation (before making copies of the VM, etc.)

References