Windows 8 running on VMware Workstation — Advanced

How to install Windows 8 Developer Preview in a virtual machine [VMware Workstation 8]

Many users are excited with the release of Windows 8 Developers Preview, because it give us the change to get a first look of what is to come and an opportunity to get a head start to create new and unique Windows 8 applications. But you need to keep in mind that this is an unfinished product, there still a lot of work to be done and there is a good chance that things can go wrong, so the most effective way to test Windows 8 is by creating a virtual machine (VM). If you tried creating a virtual machine using VMware Workstation 7, VMware Player 3, VirtualBox, Virtual PC, or Windows 7 XP mode, chances are that you were unsuccessful to get to the Windows 8 installation process – I know because it happened to me as well.

After trying and trying, I was able to get my Windows 8 Developer Preview running. Many users may have found different ways to install this version of Windows, but I wanted to share the way it worked for me.

To create a Windows 8 virtual machine on VMware follow these steps:

Before we start, I tried this installation process using just a regular laptop with a dual-core Intel CPU, which is also running Windows 7. And the image I used was the Windows 8 32-bit version 6.2.8102 a.k.a build 8102.

If you didn’t get the Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO image, just head over to this previous article and grab links to download a copy of your choice.

If you have tried VMware Workstation 7, you may have noticed that you get the new Blue Screen of Death (BSOB) — which now includes a sad smiling face –. So what do you do now? Well, what you need is to download and install VMware Workstation 8, keep in mind that you previous version of VMware Workstation will be uninstalled in order to install this new version.

Windows 8 Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) - Hal_Initialization_Failed Error

Note: VMware Workstation 8 is a paid software, but you can download it for FREE and use it for 30 days.

Alright, now that you have the appropriate environment to install Windows, let’s go through the creation of the actual virtual machine.

1 Open VMware Workstation 8, go to File and select New Virtual Machine.

VMware Workstation 8 - Create new virtual machine (Windows 8)

2 In the welcome to the New Virtual Machine wizard, leave the defaults and click Next.

3 In Guest Operating System Installation, select I will install the operating system later and click Next.

VMware Workstation 8 - I will install the operating system later - Option

4 Select the guest operating system, in this case what you want is: Microsoft Windows and version Windows 7. Then click Next.

VMware Workstation 8 - Select operating system

5 Name your Windows 8 virtual machine with a descriptive name, choose the storage location, and click Next.

VMware Workstation 8 - Name your Windows 8 virtual machine

6 Specify the disk capacity, Windows 8 requires a minimum of 16GB of free space in disk, so to make it safe enter 20GB, select Store virtual disk as a single file, and click Next.

Windows 8 VM disk capacity in VMware

7 Now click Finish in the VMware virtual machine wizard.

Quick Tip: This is a good time where you can edit your new VMware virtual machine settings like, memory, CPU, etc, and to disconnect virtual peripherals like the Floppy and Printer. But DO NOT change the settings for the CD/DVD (IDE).

8 This is the step where we make the magic happens and where many people seem to be having a little bit of problem using VMware Workstation. Click on Power on this virtual machine and if you come across any dialog box, just click OK.

VMware Workstation 8 - Power on virtual machine

9 When the VMware virtual machine is running, go to VM (in the file menu), and navigate through Removable Devices, CD/DVD (IDE), and click Settings.

There tick Use ISO image file, click Browse and locate the Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO image file, and click OK.

If you don’t do this you are going to end up with: Windows cannot read the product key setting from the unattend answer file. message like in the image below.

Windows cannot read the ProductKey setting from the unattend answer file

10 Finally, click the Reset button.

VMware Workstation 8 - Reset virtual machine

If everything went accordingly you will have a functional Windows 8 Developer Preview virtual machine using VMware.

Windows 8 Developer Preview installation - VMware Workstation 8 Beta

Sept. 20, 2011 Update

Other notes:

Windows 8 Developer Preview was only released several days ago, and there still a lot of work to be done from Microsoft itself, and from hardware manufactures and software vendors. At this stage there are many virtualization solutions on the market that do not support this new version of Windows and they need to be updated.

People around the web are being successful installing it with some products and others are failing. As you read in this article we are successful using VMware Workstation 8 for Windows, so here are other virtualization products that are known to be working:

VirtualBox 4.1.2 for Windows
Hyper-V in Windows 8 Developer Preview
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

These products will not work:

VMWare Workstation 7.x or older
Windows 7 XP Mode
Microsoft Virtual PC (all versions)
Microsoft Virtual Server (all versions)

Useful Links

How to create a Windows To Go USB drive in Windows 8 [step-by-step]

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500,000 downloads of Windows 8 Developer Preview in less than a day – Impressive!

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How to create a Windows 8 bootable USB drive or bootable DVD

Texastig

Were you able to get the network connection working by chance?
- mhweb
  
  Texastig thanks for your comment.
  And Yes, I was able to connect to the network, everything works fine, bugging some times but it works.
  Thanks,
The Leech

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you for showing me this :D
- mhweb
  
  Thank you.
Sergio B.

Thank you very much! I was about to quit trying the new Win8 when I ran across your article. Can’t wait to finish downloading and installing the VMWare beta to try it out! Also, whats about the Google+ thing? I want to check it out! ;)

Once again, many thanks!
- mhweb
  
  Hi Sergio, thanks for your comment.
  Check your email for the Google+ invite, I hope you enjoy it and visit us back in the future.
  Thanks,
Juvasquezg

Thank you. I installed Windows 8 using VMware Workstation 8. No problem with VT-x and AMD-V
.
- mhweb
  
  Thank you for your comment!
- Suvigya Agrawal
  
  Hello,
  Is your network connected on Win 8, in VMWare…??
  Is yes, please help.
  - mhweb
    
    Hello Suvigya, thank you for your comment.
    First let me see if I am understanding you correctly: you installed Windows 8 in VMware Workstation 8 and now Windows 8 cannot contact the network with VMware, right?
    Ok, there could many scenarios to have this problem. This is what happened to me and here is how I fixed it.
    The problem I have was that I installed VMware and VirtualBox in the same computer, and apparently VMware was trying to use the VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter to contact the network, because it was configured to bridge automatically to the external network. So here is the solution:
    Open the Virtual Network Editor for VMware, under VMnet Information, make sure that you are using the Bridged option and that is set to your physical network interface and NOT to Automatic, then click Apply and OK, and wait to see the magic happen.
    
    I hope this helps,
    Please let me know if this works for you, so I can spread the word and help other people.
    Thanks,
Valentin

I tried to install Windows 8 using Vmware Player 3.1.4. When I saw the BSOD I switched to VirtualBox and it worked, but when I tried your tutorial I’ve noticed that it runs much smoother than VirtualBox.
Thanks.
Celero

thanks!!
oos.anm

Thank you! great work :)
Anonymous

Thanks matey for pointing towards VMware 8, works like a charm :)
http://twitter.com/Cebbie Ceb

Very good and straight forward instructions, wooked fine for me.
http://profiles.google.com/mrhassell Glen Hassell

Load driver – A required CD/DVD device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.
Aco

Thanks bro! I try to install win 8 developer preview on Virtual Box and didn’t work, in VmWare works.
clsweden

Great! I tried installing on VirtualBox, but no avail… This worked perfectly!!
Pingback: Windows8 Developer PreviewをVM Fusion4とVM Workstation8で起動 | どがちゃが備忘録
Aauet

THANKS…..IT WORKS
Aauet

THANKS…..IT WORKS
- mhweb
  
  I am glad it did, thank you for stopping by.
Abloke

brill, the secret is chosing selecting I will install operating system later!!
Ishak Kasikci

Thank you very much.Success in first trial.
- mhweb
  
  I am glad it worked and I thank you for the comment. I hope you visit the Pureinfotech once again : )
  Thanks,
Pingback: How to change Windows 8 Start Screen background and logon screen color
Om

October 8 11 10-19-24 AM

Thank you so very much, I appreciate your knowledge.

Om
- mhweb
  
  Om, I appreciate your comment, I am glad it helped!
  Thanks,
Juloo

dont work ethernet any idea? Windows 8 64 bit on VmWarte player 8
mhweb

Hello Juloo,
1. Did you install the VMware Tools?
2. Is the Network adapter set to connect at power on?
3. If you go to the command prompt and do an ipconfig are you getting a valid IP address configuration?
4. Can you successfully ping google.com using the command prompt in Windows 8?
5. You should check the Virtual Network Editor – If you cannot find it, you may have to install the VMware feature manually, refer to this article http://bit.ly/xzp7NB
Then make sure that VMnet Information is in Bridged and instead of Automatic your physical network interface is the only one selected.

See if answering any of these question can help you troubleshoot the problem.

Thanks,
Paul Göttgens

Thanks for the tutorial. It worked perfectly.

Paul
- mhweb
  
  I am glad it worked!
  Thanks,
Pingback: How to uninstall Windows 8 and restore Windows 7 [step-by-step]
http://lojasdeinformaticaonline.blogspot.pt/ Infoclaps

Is there any way to resolve 0xc0000001‎ error?
- Mauro
  
  Hello Infoclaps, there are many reasons to identify the 0xc0000001‎ error. However there are some things you could do.
  
  1. Is your computer new or on upgraded older machine?
  
  2. Have you tried going using the Windows 8 Advanced Startup and using the Automatic Repair option? http://pureinfotech.com/2012/05/24/access-windows-8-boot-options-menu-all-you-need-to-know/
  
  3. Make sure that you are using all the latest hardware drivers (of course, Windows 8 drivers will work best).
  
  4. Have you tried updating your system BIOS?
  
  5. If you can boot into Windows 8, check the Event viewer and look for clues that can help you identify what is causing the problem.
  
  6. If none of this work, you may have to consider using the Refreshing and/or Remove Everything feature in Windows 8. These tutorials will help you http://pureinfotech.com/2012/12/01/refresh-pc-windows-8-step-by-step/
  
  http://pureinfotech.com/2012/12/05/how-to-remove-everything-and-reinstall-windows-8-step-by-step/
  
  Thanks,
  - http://lojasdeinformaticaonline.blogspot.pt/ Infoclaps
    
    Mine is an upgraded older machine
    - Mauro
      
      OK, so it’s likely that one of the methods I mentioned will help you solve the problem.
      
      Thanks,
      - http://lojasdeinformaticaonline.blogspot.pt/ Infoclaps
        
        Thank you, Let me try. I will let you know the results.