Solved Can I use F keys in a VM?

SaggyMaggyPoo

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New to VMs so please bear with me.

My Dell laptop does not allow me to boot direct from a USB, I have to hit F12 during startup then navigate to the USB in the boot menu.

I've installed VMware player with W10 TP. I'm just wondering what would happen if I ever needed/wanted to boot direct from a USB. How can I emulate that hitting F12 during startup?

If the answer is to point me to a newbie's guide to VM that's fine and will be much appreciated :).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
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Well you could How to Boot a VMware Virtual Machine from a USB Drive but it is easier to boot from an ISO image or make a small virtual disk and boot from that.

If you want to fix a windows VM just put the ISO in the virtual DVD drive same as you did when you installed it for example.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
Well you could How to Boot a VMware Virtual Machine from a USB Drive but it is easier to boot from an ISO image or make a small virtual disk and boot from that.

If you want to fix a windows VM just put the ISO in the virtual DVD drive same as you did when you installed it for example.

So maybe there is a better way than my first thought :think:.

But at the risk of showing just how little I know/understand :), how would I boot from an ISO image? At present my only ISO image for the VM is on a usb stick (this is what I used for the install). Do I need to copy this to somewhere else in order to boot from it?

I'm assuming I would only ever want to do this if I needed to repair the OS in some way.

I have copied the OS on my VM (literally just made a copy of the file and put it on another hdd). If I keep this up to date, would it be just as easy to use this to create a new VM?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
Which VM software are you using?

In VMWare Player, you would select the ISO like so:
iso.jpg

In order to boot from the ISO, you need to be pretty quick. While the VM is booting, you need to quickly click your mouse in the VM window to get focus, then hit "F2" to get to the BIOS for the VM where you can select the boot order.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
Assuming you have a file called Windows_version_12345.iso or something it doesn't matter where it is. It can be on a USB or your C: drive or on an external drive. When you want to boot from it (for example to repair windows) you go to your virtual CD drive in VMware settings and browse for the location of the image. Then make sure boot from (virtual) CD is first in boot order.

There is a tutorial here How to change the boot order of guest VM on VMware Player - Xmodulo

You'll only need your original install iso if you want to repair windows or do another clean install and (even if you lose it) you can always download another and use another copy.

If you want to make a new VM based on the one you already have (rather than re-install everything) you can clone it as described here Clone option not visible in Vmware player - Stack Overflow

Hope this helps
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
Which VM software are you using?

In VMWare Player, you would select the ISO like so:
View attachment 59058

In order to boot from the ISO, you need to be pretty quick. While the VM is booting, you need to quickly click your mouse in the VM window to get focus, then hit "F2" to get to the BIOS for the VM where you can select the boot order.

I'm using VMware Player, only installed it a few days ago so the latest version I guess.

I can see that getting into the BIOS for the VM definitely takes practice. Tried it a few times. I can see the 'Press F2' message appear on screen and keep pressing, but it isn't being recognised and I just end up booting into W10 as usual. Maybe need to try a couple more mouse clicks to ensure I'm in the VM.

I'm a little confused how your screenshot fits in :eek:. Would I select the ISO (as in the screenshot) then [try to] reboot into the BIOS to use it? Or am I totally misunderstanding?

I am beginning to wonder if just keeping an up to date copy of the VM file, then using that to create a new VM, would be the best option if I run into a problem though. Maybe I'm over-complicating things???

But on similar lines: should I be able to do things like booting to advanced options (from within Windows) so I can then choose to boot from a usb when I'm using the VM?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
As shown on the screenshot, you can configure your VM's CDROM drive to be either a physical drive OR an ISO. So you would select the ISO as the CD, then go into the BIOS to change the boot order so that the CDROM is first in the boot order. If you don't change the boot order, the VM will always boot from it's VHD.

You can leave the boot order with the CDROM as the first boot device and as long as you don't have a bootable CD in the host's physical CD drive nor have a bootable ISO image selected, the VM will boot from it's VHD. This may cause the VM to boot a little slower since it will first check to see if there's a bootable CD before it boots from the VHD but it will make it so that in the future if you need to boot from a CD or ISO you won;t need to change the boot order.

Here's something from the link that Adamf posted that will help you if you aren't fast enough to press "F2" to get into the BIOS:

If you cannot press <F2> button quickly enough to enter BIOS settings, add the following entry to the *.vmx file of the guest VM.

bios.bootDelay = "<number_of_milliseconds>"

This will delay POST procedure. Note that the unit of numbers is milliseconds. So if you want to delay POST screen by 5 seconds, it should be: bios.bootDelay = "5000". The maximum allowable boot delay is 10000 milliseconds or 10 seconds. With additional boot delay, you will have more time before booting, during which you can press <F2> key to enter the BIOS setup menu.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
Thank you @adamf and @strollin.

Lots for me to think about there, and on first sight it all looks relatively straightforward.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
Okay, I think I've understood everything, but the inevitable couple of questions please:

Firstly, where would I put the bios.bootDelay entry in the .vmx file (top, bottom, doesn't matter)??

Secondly, exactly how do I type it? (It's a while since I did this sort of thing, and want to get it right)

Here is an extract from my .vmx file:

dotvmx.PNG

It looks to me like each entry is enclosed by < >

Do I type: <bios.bootDelay = "5000"> for a 5 second delay?

Or something different?

Thanks :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
I believe you opened the .vmxf file for your VM, not the .vmx file.

My .vmx file for a Win 10 VM looks like this:

Code:
.encoding = "windows-1252"
bios.bootDelay = "5000"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "10"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
sata0.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "4096"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows 10 TP x64.vmdk"

You just type it in (or copy paste is even better) and you can put it anywhere. Don't use "<>" at all. As you can see, I added it as the 2nd line above.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
:doh:
Told you I was new to this stuff!

Can you tell me what file I am looking for and where I should find it. This is the only file I can see that has VMX. I can't see anything like it in the Programs folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
It should be in Documents\Virtual Machines then a folder with the same name as your VM. So if you have a vm called Win 10, look in: C:\users\[your user name]\Documents\Virtual Machines\Win 10

The filename would be "Win 10.vmx" in this case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
I suspect you make that more complicated than necessary. If you worry about your VMware Player Win10 installation being corrupted one day, it is a lot easier to make frequent copies of your virtual machine folder (that's like an image) and roll one of those back in when disaster strikes. But maybe you had some other scenario in mind.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
It should be in Documents\Virtual Machines then a folder with the same name as your VM. So if you have a vm called Win 10, look in: C:\users\[your user name]\Documents\Virtual Machines\Win 10

The filename would be "Win 10.vmx" in this case.

I put the VM on a separate partition Q. It is called Windows 10.

These are all the files I have. The last one on the list is the one I already pasted an extract from.

vm#2.PNG
Looks like I don't have this file?? :huh:

I suspect you make that more complicated than necessary. If you worry about your VMware Player Win10 installation being corrupted one day, it is a lot easier to make frequent copies of your virtual machine folder (that's like an image) and roll one of those back in when disaster strikes. But maybe you had some other scenario in mind.

For my Windows 10 VM I think you are correct, Wolfgang, and that regular copies of the folder is the best option.

But you are also correct in wondering about another scenario, which I was thinking the .vmx file addition could aid:

We are also trying to create a Linux VM on another laptop. The laptop specs are the same as the ones given here except that it still has am OEM installation. Also it is not partitioned and we can not do this as there seem to be immovable files in inconvenient places.

We have installed VMWare player and tried to create the Linux OS (Mint, 17, Cinnamon, Rebecca) but we are hitting problems. We've had error messages about not enough virtual memory (want to allocate 2gb out of 8gb, but only 0.5gb was possible for some reason). We've also had the following error message:

Image2.jpg

None of these issues arose when I created the first VM with W10, and as we are new to VMs we don't know how to resolve the errors, but on another thread Jimbo had suggested booting from a usb with Linux on it to try different distros, so we thought that could be an alternative option. But the challenge was to get into the BIOS of the VM to change the boot order, which was proving impossible. Hence looking at adding a line to the .vmx file, which had been suggested in response to my original, W10 VM related question.

But unless the .vmx file can be created by setting up a new VM without installing an OS during setup, I'm not sure that it will solve the problem anyway.

I had tried to find a step by step guide to installing a Linux O.S on a VM (like the one you did for W10) but couldn't.

I didn't want to get into the Linux challenge on another thread until I had checked out the .vmx option here.

I hope all that makes sense, and would appreciate any guidance you can offer to solve the challenges.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
...
These are all the files I have. The last one on the list is the one I already pasted an extract from.

View attachment 59209
Looks like I don't have this file?? :huh: ...
Ah, now I see what the problem is. Windows stupid default is to hide file extensions. One of the very first things I do in a new install is to enable file extensions in Explorer. The file you want is the 2nd to the last file in your list.

To enable file extensions, expand the ribbon using the little arrowhead on the right, then select the View tab, then put a check in the box labeled "File name extensions".
 

Attachments

  • ext.jpg
    ext.jpg
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
    Keyboard
    IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
    Mouse
    Microsoft IntelliMouse
    Internet Speed
    665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
    Browser
    FireFox, MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender on all
    Other Info
    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
Thank you!

After a glitch when I double clicked on the file and it opened the VM, followed by several failed attempts to hit F2 at the right moment I finally managed to get into the Boot menu :).

I wasn't able to get a screenshot (too confused by that point :D) but would like to check if I got it right:

At the top was something like Removable Devices - Legacy, then Hard Drive, then CD.

I have moved CD to above Hard Drive but left the Removable Devices as the first entry. Is that okay, or should CD be the very first?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
It doesn't matter, if you plugged in a thumb drive it would first try to boot from that, then try the CD then try the hdd.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro (desktop), W10 (laptop), W10 Pro (tablet)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
    CPU
    3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
    Memory
    16G, 8G, 8G
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
    Sound Card
    ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
    Hard Drives
    500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
    PSU
    Corsair CX 750M
    Case
    Antec 100
    Cooling
    Coolermaster CM 212+
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    Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
It should be in Documents\Virtual Machines then a folder with the same name as your VM. So if you have a vm called Win 10, look in: C:\users\[your user name]\Documents\Virtual Machines\Win 10

The filename would be "Win 10.vmx" in this case.

I put the VM on a separate partition Q. It is called Windows 10.

These are all the files I have. The last one on the list is the one I already pasted an extract from.

View attachment 59209
Looks like I don't have this file?? :huh:

I suspect you make that more complicated than necessary. If you worry about your VMware Player Win10 installation being corrupted one day, it is a lot easier to make frequent copies of your virtual machine folder (that's like an image) and roll one of those back in when disaster strikes. But maybe you had some other scenario in mind.

For my Windows 10 VM I think you are correct, Wolfgang, and that regular copies of the folder is the best option.

But you are also correct in wondering about another scenario, which I was thinking the .vmx file addition could aid:

We are also trying to create a Linux VM on another laptop. The laptop specs are the same as the ones given here except that it still has am OEM installation. Also it is not partitioned and we can not do this as there seem to be immovable files in inconvenient places.

We have installed VMWare player and tried to create the Linux OS (Mint, 17, Cinnamon, Rebecca) but we are hitting problems. We've had error messages about not enough virtual memory (want to allocate 2gb out of 8gb, but only 0.5gb was possible for some reason). We've also had the following error message:

View attachment 59210

None of these issues arose when I created the first VM with W10, and as we are new to VMs we don't know how to resolve the errors, but on another thread Jimbo had suggested booting from a usb with Linux on it to try different distros, so we thought that could be an alternative option. But the challenge was to get into the BIOS of the VM to change the boot order, which was proving impossible. Hence looking at adding a line to the .vmx file, which had been suggested in response to my original, W10 VM related question.

But unless the .vmx file can be created by setting up a new VM without installing an OS during setup, I'm not sure that it will solve the problem anyway.

I had tried to find a step by step guide to installing a Linux O.S on a VM (like the one you did for W10) but couldn't.

I didn't want to get into the Linux challenge on another thread until I had checked out the .vmx option here.

I hope all that makes sense, and would appreciate any guidance you can offer to solve the challenges.

I think I can help you.

1. Here is a step by step tutorial I made for installing Linux. It also contains the instructions on how to install the VMware Tools for Mint.

2. But I you are really stuck, download a ready made Minr system from my OneDrive. Then you have to only attach the .vmx file. Detailed instructions and the files are here.

Note: At my OneDrive - when you left click on the tile, you can watch it in the browser - when you right click on the tile, you can download the PDF.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
It doesn't matter, if you plugged in a thumb drive it would first try to boot from that, then try the CD then try the hdd.

Ok thanks, I will give this a try. I do find it a bit confusing, because from what I've read I set the boot order to boot from a CD first but then I'm actually using a .iso file on a usb thumb drive and not an actual CD/DVD.

It's all good learning though :).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
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    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
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    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
I think I can help you.

1. Here is a step by step tutorial I made for installing Linux. It also contains the instructions on how to install the VMware Tools for Mint.

2. But I you are really stuck, download a ready made Minr system from my OneDrive. Then you have to only attach the .vmx file. Detailed instructions and the files are here.

Note: At my OneDrive - when you left click on the tile, you can watch it in the browser - when you right click on the tile, you can download the PDF.

Thank you Wolfgang, we will have a look at the video first and try to achieve the install ourselves. I found your videos for the W10 install on VMware easy to follow, so am confident that the Linux ones will be the same :thumbsup:.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 64bit, Windows 10 TP on VMWare Player
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3521
    CPU
    1.80 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3337U
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0010T1 A00
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio & Intel Display Audio
    Hard Drives
    TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
    Cooling
    Additional fan
    Mouse
    Kensington Trackball
    Browser
    IE
    Antivirus
    Emsisoft Internet Security, Malwarebytes free & antiexploit
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