VMWare Player + EasyVMX = VMWare Workstation
 

Hi guys,
I know that there is already a VMWare Server Beta (free) online and that you could always use QEMU on a very fast PC.
But VMWare Player is bleeding fast, as is VMWare Workstation, and it's also free.
The VMWare Server will always lack the blazing speed you can find on WKS and Player and here is .
The downside is that you can't make your virtual machine configuration and you miss the media where to install the guest OS.
Well there's a good spot with many nice free tips on how to get around these issues and you can find it here.
There you'll learn all about creating your vdmk file and your vmx file.
But if you want to skip a long reading and go right to the finish line here is EasyVMX.
It's an internet web-tool that creates your vmx configuration file for you based on the settings you choose.
And there's more: you can download a vdmk file from their site too.
Each vdmk file is less than 22KB (for 100GB virtual disk) and they have a lot of sizes so that you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
Hope you'll find it useful.
Cheers

Hi,

But there is something that you won't get with vmware player: Vmware tools.
The best would be VMWare server to create the image and manage it and player to run the image, if it's really faster than server.

But I'm using now server version on Linux as Host (Ubuntu rules! 8) ), and Windows XP as guest, for children gaming and wife general use, and its running smoothly.

I'm just trying to figure how to virtual boot an existing partition! :-)

CU,
Fabrice

Well, I'm not quite sure if it's legal or not.
It's up to Karl to let this post here or to remove it due to legal aspects.
You can always:
- uninstall VMWare Player
- get a trial VMWare Workstation and install it
- extract the iso files that come with it (i.e. windows.iso)
- remove VMWare Workstation
- reinstall VMWare Player
- install the drivers from the iso
I hope I didn't break any laws in this post.
BTW, it works because I have tried ;).

Hi,

The VMWare tools are available in VMware server, and they say they will give it for free, forever! :-)
So no need to cross the "grey zone" and install workstation: just install Server.

And one thing could explain than Server could be slower as player; debug information are activated by default....
So just try to desactivate it! :-)

Fabrice

There's a tool in QEMU to create your own vmdk file.


rds_correia,

Pessoalmente eu uso o Kurumin (um live CD baseado no Knoppix), ele tem um scritpt bem legal que já gera a vmdk e o vmx.

http://www.guiadohardware.net/guias/08/index10.php

@GFR,
Oi GFR :).
Muito obrigado pelo link.
Pena que eu não uso Linux.
Mas obrigado na mesma ;).

/Transl
Hi GFR :).
Many thanks for the link.
Too bad that I don't use Linux.
But thanks anyway ;).
/Transl

Eu também não uso Linux (pelo menos não o tempo todo). Eu tenho um CD gravado e "booto" do CD quando preciso. Como tem várias ferramentas (de partição, internet, etc.) e é bem compatível com vários micros onde testei, é uma ferramenta de "quebra-galho" bem legal.

[translated]
I don't use Linux too (at least not all the time). I boot from a CD when I need it. It (the distro in the link I posted) has many useful tools (partition, internet, etc.) and has good compatibility with miscelaneous hardware I've tried, so it's a useful tool.
[/translated]

Oi GFR,
Pra ferramenta de quebra-galho eu uso o Freesbie, FreeBSD LiveCD.
Tem poucas ferramentas, mas serve perfeitamente.

/Transl
For useful tools I use Freesbie, a FreeBSD LiveCD.
Doesn't come with many tools, but has just what I needed.