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Some VMs can't connect to the Internet

Hello everyone,

Sorry if this is a newb question, but I've been struggling to get some of my virtual machines to connect. I'll try and keep this short and easy to read, but give you the information you probably need.

So, I recently got a 2020 Macbook Pro, on clearance from the store where I work. I needed a Mac for other reasons, but I still want to play some games. They're old games, so I thought that a VM would be fine - and after looking around, VMWare Fusion seemed perfect.

VMWare Fusion seems to work fine. I've installed a few VMs, and it's mostly gone okay. However, some of the machines just won't connect to the internet. I had put Windows XP on, for the games, and I just can't get it to connect to the internet at all. I wondered if it was because XP is old, so I tried putting Vista on - and again, nothing.

I know it's not an inherent problem with VMWare, because I put Lubuntu and Ubuntu on and both worked fine.

I have tried all of the fixes I can think of. So, I have:

  • Tried all the setting on VMWare's Network Adaptor;
  • Rebooted several times (both the VMs and the host machine);
  • Tried the 'Connect helper' tools within the VMs themselves;
  • Tried a sudo command in the Mac terminal, that I found on another site;
  • Went into the .vmx file inside the Vista package and checked the Ethernet setting - which apparently is what I want (it's set to E=1000).

I can give more detail on any of that, but I'll be honest - I've run out of ideas. I'm a bit of a newb at this stuff, and hoping to learn more about computers - that's actually one reason for downloading an Ubuntu, so I can mess around with and learn what I'm doing.

But it doesn't help me get those old games up and running. They both need XP, but Vista would probably work too. I know that VMs can connect to the Internet because Ubuntu has. So how do I get either/both of them to connect as well?

Sorry if the solution is really obvious. Thanks for reading.

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6 Replies
a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Is the network adapter recognized within the guest operating system's Device Manager?

What may be worth a try is to install VMware Tools, which comes with additional drivers that are not included with the default installation of Windows XP. The latest supported VMware Tools version for Windows XP is 10.0.12.

An ISO image can be downloaded from https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/10.0.12/windows/
Attach the ISO image to the VM's virtual CD-ROM drive, then install VMware Tools in the guest OS.

André

Still-Learning
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Andre,

Thank you for the suggestion. I think I had already put VMWare tools on, but I downloaded the iso from the link you gave me. It all seemed to work on XP, restarted the system, and then I restarted VMWare for good measure.

It wasn't working, so I checked that the network adaptor is on NAT (it is), reinstalled the Tools just in case, shut down XP, rebooted VMWare, and tried again.

Still no joy.

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Technogeezer
Immortal
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Just so we get a complete picture - what versions of macOS and Fusion are you running?

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
Still-Learning
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I thought I had said which version of Mac but I'd forgotten. Sorry!

It's Mac Monterey, so that's OSX 12.1.

And Fusion, that's also 12 - specifically, 12.2.1

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

"and I just can't get it to connect to the internet at all"

Yeah, for Windows XP you will have very big problems "connecting to the internet" as it either doesn't support the https protocols. (TLS1.0 is not supported by many websites anymore) and then there's also the mishap with a certificate on Let's Encrypt that expired last Sept 30, which disables another significate part of the internet for you. IIRC then the main google.com site is one of the few that continues to work _if_ you have internet.

You'll need at least Windows 7 for being able to browse the internet.
Note that Windows 7 is also no longer supported and using it to do things the internet is not safe.

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
Still-Learning
Contributor
Contributor

Ah, right. Part of me thought that maybe XP is too old. I'm a little surprised about Vista - but looking it up, it has been out of support for five years. Doesn't time fly?

I don't actually need to go on the internet with it: one of the games I want to play is an MMORPG, so that would be the only internet connection that I would need regularly. Otherwise, I'd mostly do things through the Mac.

Thank you for letting me know. I'll stop wasting my time with XP and Vista, and see what else I can do.

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