[NTLUG:Discuss] VM Ware Questions

[Bryan J. Smith]

From:  Robert Pearson 
> I have an existing Windows 2000 PC.
> Could I ?---
> (4) Run the existing Windows 2000 installation under Linux VMware?

There _are_ ways to boot an exiting partition as a "guest."
But the problem then becomes 100% guest OS.

The kicker is that your registry-drivers are configured for different hardware.
A guest OS is using different, virtualized hardware.
So even if you can get it to boot, it means you can't exactly "switch back and forth" very easily.

You _could_ try multiple hardware profiles, but it's tricky.

> Option-03:
> (1) Back up the Windows 2000 installation
> ...
> (4) Restore Windows under VMware

Better option:
- Boot native 2000
- Install all VMWare drivers
- Run "sysprep"
- Boot with cloning CD
- Clone to a network share
- Boot cloning CD under VMWare
- Restore cloned image
- Let it redetect everything


-- 
Bryan J. Smith (currently mobile)
b.j.smith at ieee.org