Windows xp sysprep files vmware converter

In other words, it's up to you to determine whether you have proper licensing to simultaneously run more than one copy of Windows XP using a Volume License Key or whether you have the proper licensing to transfer Windows XP from one system to another.

Keep in mind that you can only transfer a Retail license that you acquired by purchasing a Windows XP disc, not an OEM license that you acquired by purchasing a computer with Windows XP preinstalled. An OEM license is specifically tied to that computer. Even though converting your Windows XP system with vCenter Converter is a completely safe operation, you'll want to make sure that you have a full backup or a disk image of your Windows XP system before you start.

That way if something does go wrong, you can restore your Windows XP system and get right back to work. While it may sound like overkill, having an extra backup of your data will give you peace of mind.

Once you have backed up your Windows XP system, you can go to VMware's Products page and download the latest version 5. You can then download the latest version 4. Both the converter and the Player are free to use in a non commercial environment. Once the installation is complete, you can immediately launch vCenter Converter. While the conversion is under way, you can go to the Windows 8 system and install the VMware Player using its installation wizard, shown in Figure B.

If you happen to have Client Hyper-V installed on your Windows 8 system, you'll need to disable it by opening an Administrator Command prompt and using the command:.

If you want to use Client Hyper-V in the future, you'll use the following command to re-enable it:. Once the Conversion wizard launches, you'll be prompted to specify the source for the virtual machine.

From the Select source type drop-down menu, choose Powered-on machine. Then, select the This local machine radio button, as shown in Figure D. To continue, click the Next button. On the next screen, you'll specify the destination for the virtual machine files, as shown in Figure E. Then, in the Name text box, provide a name for your virtual machine. Finally, click the Browse button adjacent to the Select a location for the virtual machine text box and specify a folder or drive, such as an external device or a network, on which to save the virtual machine files.

When you get to the options screen, you'll see a list of settings that the Conversion wizard will use to create your Windows XP virtual machine. If you see yellow exclamation icons next to any of the settings, you'll want to investigate. Otherwise, you can leave the majority of the settings in the default configuration. When I click Edit in the Devices section, the Conversion wizard indicates that the memory allocated for the virtual machine is less than what is in the actual physical machine, as shown in Figure G.

That's because the Conversion wizard assumes that the virtual machine will be running on the physical machine and purposely reduces the amount of memory so that both host and virtual machine can run on this particular system. In this case, my physical Windows XP system has 2GB of memory, so the Conversion wizard drops the amount of memory allocated to the virtual machine down to MB.

Duplication, also called imaging, enables you to capture a customized Windows image that you can reuse throughout an organization. In VMware environment, We need sysprep to customize the windows operating system such as Server or older version when you clone the virtual machine or deploy a virtual machine from a template.

For Windows XP, Server , and earlier operating systems, Microsoft has a different version of Sysprep for each release and service pack of Windows. You must use the version of Sysprep specific to the operating system you are deploying.

For Microsoft Vista, Server , and later operating systems, the System Preparation tools are built into the Windows operating system and do not have to be downloaded or have the version checked. To use the sysprep files when you clone or deploy VM from the template for windows server or earlier version of operating system, You need to place the Sysprep files of the specific operating system on some location of vCenter Server.

In this article, We will take a look at the procedure to download and copy the Sysprep files in vCenter Server appliance 6. This isn't the most updated version; anyway, it's the last this guide was written on 1st June which allows to correctly install VMware Tools in the virtual machine.

This instrument enables some useful operations in the virtual machine, like the quick screen resizing or the file drag'n'drop between the operating system and the virtual machine. Windows XP installation CD. We'll use it to take some files. These files will be used by VMware Converter to personalize the operating system, in order to allow a better execution in the virtual machine. Step 2: the conversion Start VMware Converter. Click on "Convert Machine".

A guided conversion will start. This wizard is very detailed, you can read at every step the different offered options. In the left side of the window you can check the current conversion status. Click "next" twice the first two windows are only informative. For the option "Source Type" select "Physical Computer". Click "Next". For the option "Source Login" select "This local machine". Alternatively we could specify a remote machine connected by network.

To further automate the installation of Windows XP, you can use Setup Manager to create an answer file to be used with Sysprep. The answer file named Sysprep. Introduction to Sysprep One of the benefits of using disk duplication is that it makes installing an operating system, such as Windows XP, on multiple computers more efficient.

The general steps that must be completed when using disk duplication to deploy an operating system include: Install the operating system on the reference computer. Configure the reference computer as required.

Verify that the reference computer is properly configured. Prepare the computer for duplication using Sysprep and create an optional Sysprep.

Duplicate the image. Preparing the reference computer The first step in using Sysprep to create a disk image is to set up the reference computer. At this point, you are ready to run Sysprep. In order for the utility to function correctly, the Setupcl. So your first step will be to create a Sysprep directory in the root folder of drive C on the reference computer.

You can create the folder using Windows Explorer or the command prompt. With the second method, open the command prompt and change to the root folder of drive C.

Type md Sysprep, as shown in Figure A , to create the new directory. Figure A You can create the Sysprep directory in the root folder of drive C from the command prompt. Your next step will be to copy the files required to run the utility from the Windows XP CD to the Sysprep directory you just created. Figure B Copy the Sysprep. Running the Windows system preparation tools After completing the steps outlined in the previous section, you are ready to launch the Sysprep utility to clone the reference computer.

Use the parameter to perform configuration and installation tasks. Use this parameter if you are not cloning the system. Once you launch the utility, a warning message will appear.