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Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

How to upgrade VM to Windows 8?

Hi, I currently have an XP MCE 2005 VM created in Fusion. I'd like to know how I can upgrade this to Windows 8 if possible.

I know that Parallels has sent out an email with a link to a KB article which will detail how to use their software to do this, but VMWare seem to be quiet on this at the moment (unless I've missed something).

Does anyone know if it's just as simple as removing VMWare Tools then upgrading, or is it best to wait for an official answer from VMware?

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mntnbighker
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I tried to upgrade from Win7 Pro to Win8 Pro and after the first reboot it boots to a black screen. Ctl-Atl-Del does nothing. Forcing the VM to shut down makes it revert you to Win7.

MacOS 10.8.2

VMWare 5.0.1

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avanish321
Expert
Expert

hi , you must be able to upgrade windows xp to windows 8 just like upgrading any vm to windows 7.

click HERE for details . ( the link is for upgrading to windows 7) as of now kb has not been updated.

But before upgrading make sure to take the backup of your widnows xp vm .

Also access the following Link inside the windows xp vm to check the compatibility .

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8

run the upgrade assistant before proceeding.

Note: I have not tested this. Taking backup is highly advised.

Cheers! Avanish
Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

Thanks for the Windows 7 KB article avanish321. I went ahead with the Windows 8 upgrade and it appears to have completed successfully - I haven't noticed any problems yet.

The only trouble I had was the installer wouldn't let me proceed as XP was using a BusLogic SCSI driver, so I had to install an LSILogic one before continuing. After that everything went smoothly and, to finish, I changed my OS type and reconnected the Network driver as per the Windows 7 KB.

However, I didn't keep my old settings, so it was just about a fresh install apart from the old Windows directory carrying over. Maybe that's why it went so smoothly?

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avanish321
Expert
Expert

Just curious, did you run the upgrade assistant utility inside windows xp vm before the upgrade?

And as far as upgrade process is concerned it went on smoothly because while upgrading from windows xp to windows 8, program files , settings are any how not saved as per microsoft . Only User accounts and files are saved if you choose upgrade.

Cheers! Avanish
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Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi, yes I ran the upgrade assistant utility inside the VM first which then carried out the upgrade. I think there were quite a few incompatible programs/devices listed but I knew none of the programs/settings were going to be carried over, so I went ahead despite the warnings.

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Wammer
Contributor
Contributor

I am running XP under Fusion 4.1.3.  When I run the upgrade assistant, VMware SCSI Controller is listed as 'not compatible'.  As a (relatively) Fusion newbie I have no idea what this does, or whether I can upgrade it before/during/after the Win8 upgrade.  Can anyone help, please?

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Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi Wammer, this is the way I did it:

1. Shutdown your VM

2. Right-click on your XP VM in Virtual Machine Library and choose Show In Finder

3. Select show package contents for vmware file, then edit the vmx file. I used TextWrangler to do so.

4. Enter:

scsi1.present = "TRUE"

scsi1.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

5. Save vmx file then start your XP VM.

6. It should then install the new SCSI controller. Drivers for it can be found by typing LSI20320-R into the LSI Support Site. (Download the ZIP file. Inside this should be another ZIP called symmpi_wXP_1201800.ZIP - Unzip this to a folder in your VM and point the Add Hardward Wizard to this folder when you're prompted.

7. Once this is done, shutdown your VM, delete the lines in step 4 from vmx, and enter:

scsi0.virtualDev="lsilogic"

Or if this line is present, change it to lsilogic if the line says buslogic.

8. Restart VM and hopefully the LSILogic drivers will install for the VM.

(Adapted from rcardona2K's post in this thread)

I only had to go through these steps as my VM gave a 0x0000007B BSOD error if I tried converting to LSILogic in my vmx. I don't know if there's a simpler way to change SCSI controller? Once this was done I could proceed with my Windows 8 upgrade.

Message was edited by: Pbryanw - Added more info on LSILogic Drivers

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joesal9
Contributor
Contributor

You are da man! Thanks for this info. It worked perfectly.

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Wammer
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for this.  I downloaded the following file:

LSI20320-R_xp_50700_01034132IT_1201800_1005239.zip

and unzipped it in a shared folder that can be accessed by my XP Virtual Machine.  I then followed your instructions for amending the .vmx file, but when i started XP and navigated the Add Hardware wizard to the location where the new driver was installed it did not recognise a valid driver within that folder.  I exited and copied over my backed up VM so that I am now back to a working VM.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong?  Do I have to do more than just unzip the file I downloaded from the LSI Support site?  The Read Me file that came with it seemed to expect me to create a floppy disk, but of course I don't have a floppy drive on my Mac nor do I have an external floppy drive.  Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

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shubu
Contributor
Contributor

After upgrading my OS from windows home basic to windows 8 pro, i am getting the below mentioned error message.

Note- i have upgraded my VM work station to 7.1

Not enough physical memory is available to power on this virtual machine with its configured settings.
To fix this problem, increase the amount of physical memory for all virtual machines to 1345 MB or adjust the additional memory settings to allow more virtual machine memory to be swapped.
If you were able to power on this virtual machine on this host computer in the past, try rebooting the host computer. Rebooting may allow you to use slightly more host memory to run virtual machines.



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shubu
Contributor
Contributor

After upgrading my OS from windows home basic to windows 8 pro, i am getting the below mentioned error message.

Note- i have upgraded my VM work station to 7.1

Not enough physical memory is available to power on this virtual machine with its configured settings.
To fix this problem, increase the amount of physical memory for all virtual machines to 1345 MB or adjust the additional memory settings to allow more virtual machine memory to be swapped.
If you were able to power on this virtual machine on this host computer in the past, try rebooting the host computer. Rebooting may allow you to use slightly more host memory to run virtual machines.


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joesal9
Contributor
Contributor

Try burning the drivers onto a disk... that worked for me.

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Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

@Wammer - Hi again. That's the correct zip file. Inside that zip file is another file called symmpi_wXP_1201800.ZIP

Unzip this zip to a folder (call it anything you want) in the VM and then point the Add Hardware wizard to this folder when it asks for drivers. Hopefully it should then work. I'll update my original instructions with this extra info.

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Wammer
Contributor
Contributor

I finally got this to work by creating a virtual floppy (.flp) file and unzipping the driver files to that.  After that Pbryanw's process worked like a dream.  I re-ran the W8 Update Assistant and it no longer reports an incompatible SCSI controller, so looks like I'm all set to upgrade to W8.  XP does what I want it to do, but I understand that MS will stop supporting it even for security updates in a year or so, so it makes sense to upgrade while MS's £25 offer lasts.

I can't thank you enough for your help, Pbryanw and Joesal9.  How are you getting on with W8 on a Mac?

Thanks once again.

Wammer.

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avanish321
Expert
Expert

Any issues encountered those who have upgraded from win 7? are all the programs working? Any program needed reactivation?

Cheers! Avanish
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beijau
Contributor
Contributor

Pbryanw, your updated post got me through my install using the LSI driver (drag/dropped to a folder on my desktop). Thanks for sharing.

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Wammer
Contributor
Contributor

I have now installed Win 8 and all appears to be well except that I have no Internet connection.  I have tried disabling the Windows firewall, disabling and reenabling the network adaptor, reinstalling VMware Tools, but no joy.  Any ideas?

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avanish321
Expert
Expert

Wat kind of internet connection do u have on mac? Is it wired or wireless? Try switching the network conection in vm between nat and briged and check the status..

Also check the driver installed for network in device manager

Cheers! Avanish
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Pbryanw
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

@Wammer - Along with avanish321's suggestions, have you also tried these steps:

1. Shutdown VM

2. Goto Settings -> Network Adapter, then:

  • Fusion 5.x and 4.x: Expand Advanced options, then select Remove Network Adapter.

3. Re-add the network adapter:

  • Fusion 5.x and 4.x: Click Add Device, select Network Adapter, then click Add.

Taken from the Windows XP to 7 Upgrade KB Article (helpfully linked to by avanish321 earlier in the thread).

Also check out this thread on the Fusion board about others having problems with their ethernet adapters.

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