How does VMWare Fusion 7 work?

[mguerravm]

I am close to being computer illiterate, sorry. I need to run one Windows program on my Mac. It is called Cobra Show Creator, from cobrafiringsystems.com, and it is used to script and design fireworks displays. I installed VMWare Fusion 7 and then Windows 7 Pro. In Safari, I downloaded the application Cobra Show Creator. I have no idea how to get it in to Windows so I can run it. I obviously have no idea what I am doing, and need a really basic beginners resource to help me figure out how to do this one task. Run Cobra Show Creator. When I open VMWare Fusion, a black and gray screen appears with a white arrowhead, I click the arrowhead, a progress bars runs for a moment and then I get a black screen. At the top of the screen there is a toolbar and a little vmware icon with "Windows 7 x 64" next to it. If I have to start with "How a Computer Works for Dummies" and progress through an entire self study course to reach some point where I understand this, it's fine. If someone will put me at step one to being able to run this program on my Mac, I will appreciate it.

Michael Guerra,M.D.

Kerrville, Texas

[vmxmr · Accepted solution]

I'll bite. Here are the steps you need to take. Keep in mind that this is my best guess - I have never installed or used Cobra Show Creator, so I don't know exactly how it is supposed to work:

BEGIN:

1. Launch VMware Fusion. I assume that you are done with this.

2. Install Windows 7. I assume that you are done with this.

3. Boot Windows 7 in VMware Fusion. It sounds like you are doing this step correctly, and a Windows 7 window (with the toolbar, etc.) has appeared. What I do not understand is why the window is black. My Windows 7 window is black only while Windows 7 is booting, but I see a normal Windows 7 window once it is finished.

Fix: In the Mac VMware Fusion menu bar, select Virtual Machine->Reboot and tell us what happens. We will need more information to help you fix this issue.

Next steps:

GET WINDOWS GOING:

4. After Windows 7 is done starting up, you should see a normal Windows 7 screen with the Windows flag "Start" button in the bottom left corner. If not, log-in to Windows 7 with the account and password you created at installation. Now you should see the Windows flag "Start" button.

5. In the Mac VMware Fusion menu bar, peek at the Virtual Machine menu.

Does it include "Install VMware Tools"? If yes, select it and install VMware Tools from inside the Windows 7 window. Choose all the defaults.

If it says, "Update VMware Tools", ignore it and skip to the next step (step 6).

SET UP A SHARED FOLDER:

6. In the VMware Fusion menu bar, select Virtual Machine -> Settings (or press Command-E)

7. In the Settings window, click on "Sharing".

8. Click (checkmark) "Enable Sharing".

9. Click the plus sign, then navigate to the Mac folder that has the Cobra Show Creator installer.

10. The folder should appear in the list and "on" should be checked.

11. Close the Settings window and go back to your Windows 7 window.

INSTALL COBRA SHOW CREATOR:

12. Click the Windows flag "Start" button in the lower left corner, and select "Computer" on the right side of the menu.

13. Under Network Location, Double-click Shared Folders to open it, then Double-click your shared folder to open it.

14. Double click the Cobra Show Creator installer.

15. Follow the prompts to install Cobra Show Creator. Hopefully this is intuitive. When in doubt, accept the default.

16. After installation, you may be able to double-click a Cobra Show Creator desktop icon. If there is no desktop icon, then click the Windows flag "Start" menu and then click on Cobra Show Creator.

Additional Notes and Warnings:

* I assumed that you are using the default settings when you installed the Windows 7 virtual machine in VMware.

* I assume that those default settings are sufficient for Cobra Show Creator.

* I took you at your word that you were only going to run Cobra Show Creator. If you do much else in Windows, especially connecting to the Internet, then you must proactively make sure that it is secure by installing anti-malware software, keeping Windows updated with Microsoft monthly patch updates, etc.

Good luck! Happy Easter! Let us know what happens next.

[mguerravm]

OK, all that worked perfectly. I don't know who you are or where you live, but I owe you!!! I just followed your algorithm without having a clue why, and it worked. If you come to Kerrville, Texas I will buy you dinner and drinks, and shoot you a thank you fireworks show. If I come to your town, dittos. I know a lot of folks didn't want to deal with an ignorant dweeb and I appreciate that you did. This saved me from having to buy a dedicated PC just to run one program. You can see some of my fireworks shows at mguerramd on YouTube. With Cobra Show Creator, I will be able to amp it up and sync music. Many thanks!!!

Michael Guerra,M.D.

Ophthalmology

Kerrville, Texas

Texas Licensed Pyrotechnician

ATF Type 54 Explosives License

And Happy Easter to you.

[vmxmr]

You're welcome. I am pleased that it all worked out for you. The "headings" on my instructions should help you understand what each section does. "VMware Tools" is a Windows program that comes with VMware that enables various special features such as sharing folders between Mac and Windows, drag and drop files between Mac and Windows, and more.

Off topic:

I have trouble reconciling pyrotechnics with opthalmology. It is decidedly more difficult to do corneal transplants if your fingers are blown off. :smileysilly:  I guess that's what the pyrotechnician and explosives licenses are about.

I bet your future fireworks designs will be be thrilling!