VMware GSX Server 2.5.2

Features | Documentation | Knowledge Base | Discussion Forums

Windows XP Installation Guidelines

You can install Windows XP Home Edition or Professional in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows XP distribution CD.

Note: Some Microsoft Windows XP OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to the hardware system. Even if you can install this Windows XP operating system on your actual computer, you may not be able to install it in a GSX Server virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows XP to install in your virtual machine.

Note: To use SCSI disks in a Windows XP virtual machine, you need a special SCSI driver available from the download section of the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download. Follow the instructions on the Web site to use the driver with a fresh installation of Windows XP. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and a Windows 9x, Windows Me, Windows NT or Windows 2000 guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Windows XP, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system.

Installation Steps

If you want to run Windows XP Home Edition or Professional in a GSX Server virtual machine, be sure you have a full installation CD for the operating system.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the New Virtual Machine Wizard (on Windows hosts) or Configuration Wizard (on Linux hosts). Make sure you selected Windows XP as your guest operating system.

Now you're ready to install Windows XP Home Edition or Professional.

Installing the Guest Operating System

Use the GSX Server Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like networking software to be installed during the Windows XP installation, be sure the virtual machine's Ethernet adapter is configured and enabled. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
Insert the installation CD in the CD-ROM drive on your GSX Server host.
Power on the virtual machine to start installing the guest operating system.
Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical machine, except as noted in the following steps.
After the system reboots, a message balloon asks if you want Windows to automatically correct your screen resolution and color depth setting. Do not make the change at this time. You cannot change resolution and color depth until you have installed the VMware SVGA driver — part of the VMware Tools package.
Run the VMware Tools installer. For details, see Installing VMware Tools.
When the guest operating system reboots, allow it to change the screen resolution and color depth setting.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details on installing VMware Tools, see Installing VMware Tools.

Enabling Sound in a Windows XP Guest

The GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) after the operating system has been installed. To set up the virtual machine to play sound, see Configuring Sound in GSX Server.

In addition, Windows XP does not automatically detect and install drivers for ISA sound cards, such as the Creative Labs Sound Blaster emulated in a virtual machine. For details on installing the driver for the virtual machine's sound card, see Sound in a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Guest.

Enabling Networking After Installing Windows XP

If networking was disabled at the time you installed your Windows XP guest operating system, you can enable it after the operating system has been installed. For more information, see Adding and Modifying Virtual Network Adapters.

Choosing the Network Driver for Your Virtual Machine

Two networking drivers are available for Windows XP guest operating systems: the vlance driver, that is available for all virtual machines and is installed automatically, and the vmxnet driver, which is available only for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 virtual machines. The vmxnet driver provides better networking performance. The difference in networking performance is most noticeable if the virtual machine is connected to a Gigabit Ethernet card.

To install the vmxnet driver, see Choosing the Network Driver for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 Guest Operating Systems.

Known Issues

The Microsoft Windows XP product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of the virtual machine may require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.
- Set the final memory size for your virtual machine before you activate Windows XP. When you cross certain thresholds — approximately 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB — the product activation feature sees the changes as significant.
  Note: The size reported to the Windows product activation feature is slightly less than the actual amount configured for the virtual machine. For example, 128MB is interpreted as falling in the 64MB-127MB range.
- Install VMware Tools before you activate Windows XP. When the SVGA driver in the VMware Tools package is installed, it activates features in the virtual graphics adapter that make it appear to Windows XP as a new graphics adapter.
- If you want to experiment with any other aspects of the virtual machine configuration — for example, you want to add more virtual disks — do so before activating Windows XP. Keep in mind that you have 30 days for experimentation before you have to activate the operating system.
  For more details on Windows XP product activation, see the Microsoft Web site.
On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.
The hibernation feature is not supported in this release. Instead of using the guest operating system's hibernate feature, suspend the virtual machine by clicking Suspend on the console toolbar.
In order to install and run a checked (debug) build of Windows XP in a virtual machine, you must first edit the virtual machine's configuration file (.vmx on Windows hosts, .cfg on Linux hosts). Add the following line:
uhci.forceHaltBit = TRUE

Prev Contents Last Next

VMware GSX Server 2.5.2

Support Resources