How do Install WinOS on second internal hard drive using Fusion?

[pjdxxxwa]

Apple forum said the best way to run fusion and WinOS is to get second hard drive and install the Win System on that one to keep Mac and Win separated for fewest problems. I have used Parallels but it is slow at times r/t the graphic programs needed.

Fusion installed fine BUT there was no choice of where WinXP Prof. went, it just automatically put in on the MacHD. This is a school computer and I can not afford to take any changes. How do I uninstall the WinOS and reinstall onto the other hard drive?

We have a Pro Mac with Intel and the Tiger OS. I do NOT have BOOTCAMP. Leopard and Boot Camp did not want to cooperate with a WinOS install, so went through the time and pain of reformatting and going back to Tiger which works. Safari and Airport are used for Internet access. The new HD is Maxtor 160 G SATA. Disk Utility found and verified it is indeed installed and recognized. I do not recall if it was partitioned initially or if that needs to be done before installing Fusion. I do know that we were told to not install WinOS until Fusion was installed and we complied with that.

The only advice I found this forum was this: open the .vmx file from virtual machine bundle and change the "scsi:1 file name + "Path of VMDK"

I am a teacher, not a computer programmer. I need more instruction than that short phrase. Such as, where is the file located exactly and what happens then? Please, can someone explain, upload pdf or

fax detailed instruction as to how one installs a Win OS on the second internal HD?

[WoodyZ]

Fusion installed fine BUT there was no choice of where WinXP Prof. went, it just automatically put in on the MacHD. This is a school computer and I can not afford to take any changes. How do I uninstall the WinOS and reinstall onto the other hard drive?

By default Virtual Machines are created in the "~/Documents/Virtual Machines" folder.

~ Is your Home Folder

They are placed in a Folder (Bundle Package) with an extension of ".vmwarevm" which by default the extension is not visible in Finder.

Example: "~/Documents/Virtual Machines/Windows XP SP2.vmwarevm" would in Finder just look like an icon named "Windows XP SP2"

With the Virtual Machine shutdown and Fusion closed you can copy the target Virtual Machine's Bundle Package from its default location to its new location and then delete the original.

Note: When you start the Virtual Machine the next time you will be asked if you moved or copied it the answer in this case would be moved (even though you physically copied it to its new location).

Also when you create a new Virtual Machine using the New Virtual Machine Assistant when you get to the Name and Location sheet you can use the Where: list box to select a different location that the default.

[pjdxxxwa]

Let me clarify if what you are saying, what I am seeing is correct.

I did find a Folder in Documents titled: VirtualMachines.localized

IN that Folder was a folder titled WiindowsXP Professional.vmwarevm which I believe is the one you tell me to find but sounded like you did not want me to copy from the

Virtual Machine itself, but straight from the MacOS document folder? I did that an psted it on my desktop to see what is inside. I now have a Folder labelled Virtual Machines

and the Fusion logo (package?) inside. Is this correct?

How....do I need to partition the new hard drive in order to place this folder onto it? I want to make sure that I move it correctly and place it on a prepared hard drive if Fusion does

not do it.

Delores

[WoodyZ]

If you've installed a second hard disk drive on your system then you need to use Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app) to Partition and Format the Drive in order to use it. Obviously using this utility you need to be careful to select the correct disk as you do not want to mess up the original disk. As an example I have an external FireWire disk that I formatted HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) and after using Disk Utility then in Finder in the Root of the newly partitioned and formated drive I created a folder named "Virtual Machines" and it's in that folder where I place some of my Virtual Machines the other are on the internal hard drive.

Some of those Virtual Machines were just copied or moved from the internal drive to the external drive while some were placed there during there creation using the New Virtual Machine Assistant and when I was at the Name and Location sheet I used the "Where:" list box to select a different location than the default. By selecting the "Where:" list box on the Name and Location sheet while using the New Virtual Machine Assistant this gave me to opportunity to have create a Virtual Machine in a location other then the Fusion default location.

So to recap... Partition and Format the second hard drive then create a hierarchical folder structure that fits your organizational needs then point to that folder when you create a new Virtual Machine or if you have existing Virtual Machines and want to copy or move from their default or current location to a new location then copy & paste the Virtual Machine's Bundle Package from the source location to the target location.

Note to Move a file across disks instead of copying use CmdDrag the file to the target disk. (Note: CmdDrag actually copies the file to the destination disk and then removes it from the original disk.) On the same disk to move a file just drag and drop and it moves the file.

You may want to have a look at the following:

A Beginner's Guide to VMware and

[pjdxxxwa]

I did get the XP on the Maxtor drive and XP is working as far as I can tell - but I can not get my cdrom-dvd drive to close without pushing it in myself. It opens with the eject key, but will not close.

Can you tell me what I need to do. It is set to automatically see the drive and it is checked that it is connected. The vmware is on the MacOS, the Win XP on the Maxtor. I have seen references

about Virtual Tools, but not sure what that is or what they do. Is this needed or do I just need to tweak a setting?

Delores

[WoodyZ]

I can not get my cdrom-dvd drive to close without pushing it in myself. It opens with the eject key, but will not close.Can you tell me what I need to do.

Windows XP does not have a native command to close the CD\DVD-ROM Tray. It only knows how to eject it.

If you want to easily close the Tray the you will need a 3rd party app to do that and you can script Wizmo to do that by clicking a shortcut to the script or the script itself.

Wizmo from GRC is what I've used to automate the closing of the Tray under certain conditions.

I have seen references about Virtual Tools, but not sure what that is or what they do. Is this needed or do I just need to tweak a setting?

I assume you mean VMware Tools not "Virtual Tools" and while you do not absolutely have to install then it is highly recommended that you do as it provide much more functionality and performance to the Virtual Machine.

VMware Fusion menu bar > Help > VMware Fusion Help > Creating Virtual Machines > Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools

[pjdxxxwa]

Thank you. I will try to figure that out.

Delores

[pjdxxxwa]

I think I understand, but I have a headache so will come back to

this tomorrow and read it again and

poke around. Was I suppose to partition the new hard drive or will

Fusion do that ? I also send you a

message just now, right when this one arrived just so you know.

Thanks. I will get back to you tomorrow

if I have other questions about your instructions here.

Delores

[pjdxxxwa]

OK. it is clearing. I do know which is the Maxtor and which

came with the Mac Pro. No worries there.

To reformat using disk utility (since this will be strictly used as a

PC drive) do I choose the FAT format option?

I have no idea what RAID stands for or is I should do or choose

anything here. Can you enlighten me?

My understanding thus far is that once the second hard drive is

funcitonal I can move hit the command key,

drag the folder over to the Maxtor HD (which I will assume is now

seen on my desk top or side window) and

the program will install there and automatically remover the one on

the MacOS drive. Correct?

Delores

[admin]

I think Woody's point of formatting the drive is that OS X needs to be able to write to the filesystem, and FAT has a 4 GB limit (so can be problematic if your VM is not set up to work around this limit). If the drive is already formatted HFS+, you're good and can skip the formatting step. All you have to do is copy the .vmwarevm bundle over to the external drive.

Also, you can choose where the virtual machine is stored during the Name step of the New Virtual Machine Assistant: choose Other... for Where and select your external drive.

[pjdxxxwa]

etung, I have a question about your response here. After reading a few more posts to other problems I just chose to to use the GUID formatting and MacOS Jounalling settings to format the new hard drive.

I did move it over, as Woddy suggested, and it worked pretty until I began loading Corel Draw Suite and began to have minor problems. So figured out how to delete it all (both drives) and proceeded again with an erase and a new partitioan on the second drive to start fresh. Seemed to be a fuller install of what had been, even asked me for Administrators P/W (darn it - I had hoped to bypass that inconvenience) but as I began to install I noted that my cdrom/dvd tray opened but did not close using keyboard keep. Do YOU have a solution to link a command to close the cdrom-dvd drawer without purchasing or using yet another product?

I have been pondering the explanation why this occurs (XP does not have a close command) and the suggestion to get Gizmo (sorry if I misspelled this). MY way of thinking (gets me in trouble at times) is that if there is is not close command (since PC's have a button to push to open and close their cdrom/dvd trays) then by all reasoning they ought not to be a open comman either. The big test comes today. Trying to work with the programs I need: MS Office, Corel Draw Suite and Printmaster Platinum. If I have one iota or problem with them and someone is unable to to llink my command back to the Mac button I indeed post a Review on Apple Store with my thoughts on VMware products and type of support offered as well as ePionions.com and other such places online.

Let's just say I am NOT a happy camper that this product has wasted 4 days of my time just to get it functional to a point that it may work now but from the looks of all of the other postrs it may go kaput at any time depending what you have in your system.

[WoodyZ]

If I have one iota or problem with them and someone is unable to to llink my command back to the Mac button I indeed post a Review on Apple Store with my thoughts on VMware products and type of support offered as well as ePionions.com and other such places online.

Let's just say I am NOT a happy camper that this product has wasted 4 days of my time just to get it functional to a point that it may work now but from the looks of all of the other postrs it may go kaput at any time depending what you have in your system.

I'm not going to say that Fusion doesn't have any problems just as I wouldn't say that about other software either. While some issues may truly be a Fusion issue I have to say after reading what you have posted in this thread and other as well as your responses to what I've posted the problem is more a User Issue in that you as the User do not understand what you're doing more so that whatever the specific Fusion issue might be. Which by the way I haven't seen one bit of information you posted in this thread that could be construed as a specific Fusion issue! I'm sorry you've waste four days however it is extremely unrealistic that for $80 you're going to get a piece of software that all you have to do is install it and it's going to do everything else all by itself. It just doesn't work that way! As a User it is your responsibility to read all of the Documentation about a product so you can learn how to use it. This forum is not here to teach people how to use there computers and how to take care of all the problem a User has that absolutely has nothing to do with Fusion however there are many members here that try to assist above and beyond and frankly you should be grateful you haven't been told to just go RTFM!

[gebanks]

You can both open and close the CD drive door from within Windows. To open: open My Computer, select the drive, then go to the menu bar and find "eject". In XP it is in the file menu, I think. In Vista, there is a top level menu choice for "eject." In order to close the door, you do the same thing: select the drive, then select "eject." I know it seems odd to say eject to close the door, but that works.

[WoodyZ]

In order to close the door, you do the same thing: select the drive, then select "eject." I know it seems odd to say eject to close the door, but that works.

Just curious if you have actually tried this on a Mac Pro as it does not work that way on any of my Windows systems?

[gebanks]

Yes, that is how I discovered that it worked. On my windows systems, I can push the button on the front of the drive to open and close it, but the darn Mac Pro doesn't let you access the button directly. I knew about opening the drawer using eject, but I never knew eject would close the drawer until I tried it.

[WoodyZ]

That's good to know... thanks for the tip!

[ldp1953]

Woody, does 'moving' the virtual machine avoid any Win XP licensing issues or will it still force you to authenticate Windows again?

[WoodyZ]

Woody, does 'moving' the virtual machine avoid any Win XP licensing issues or will it still force you to authenticate Windows again?

I use volume licensing so for me to move from one platform to another is not an issue. You didn't say whether or not you're moving the Virtual Machine from one location on the same Host or to another Host. On the same Host it's a non-issue. On different Hosts with a different type processor that could trigger activation however because of the type of licensing I use I can't comment for sure, sorry.

[gebanks]

Well, now I went home and tried the eject to close the door in the virtual machine and it DIDN'T work, so I gave you a bum steer.

Eject opens, but you still have to push the door to make it close. I guess I was in OS X not MS XP when I could close the door from the keyboard.

Sorry, everyone.