Will existing Windows 2000 and XP VMs run under Fusion 8.5?

[klcklcklc]

I haven't had much luck searching for the answer to this. Hopefully the community knows.

I need to upgrade to Fusion 8.5 on a Mac. I currently have Fusion 2.0.6 (yes, that old). I have existing Windows XP and Windows 2000 VMs. Will they be usable in Fusion 8.5?

I have access to machines with licensed copies of Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems that could become VMs. Would I be able to import those to Fusion 8.5?

I need to upgrade because I'm finally upgrading my Mac from OS X 10.6.8 - first to 10.9 and then eventually to 10.11. It appears the Fusion 8.5 on those Mac OSes. Is there any reason that would not be true?

Any info/advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[wila · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Your Windows 2000 and XP machines from Fusion 2.x should work. I have older machines down here that still run.

One thing to be wary off though is updating the virtual hardware. For such old machines I would not go past vHW10.

Yes you can import the physical hardware to virtual machines. You might also consider a re-install, it depends on how easy they are to reconfigure. In principle a VM that was always a VM tends to run a bit better.

According to the faqs here (Fusion & Fusion Pro FAQs - VMware Products ) you can install VMware Fusion 8.5 on OSX 10.9 and later.

Not sure on how well your hardware will be suited to run 10.11 and VMware Fusion, I hope it has plenty of RAM as that is usually the culprit for older machines.

--

Wil

[klcklcklc]

Thank you for the reply. I am doing a hardware upgrade as well (new hard drive, more memory). I've been trying to figure out how to deal with all  the interconnected parts without accidentally disabling my ability to get actual work done in the process. Knowing I can move my existing VMs to the newer version makes that much less likely. I will upgrade copies of the VMs to be sure of course.

I'm not sure how you control the updating of the virtual hardware. I will look for more info on that, but if you have time to offer advice on that as well, it would be appreciated.

[wila]

Hi,

Sorry my mind is blurry on the Fusion 2.x interface by now, but once you installed Fusion 8.5 then before you boot the VM, take the following steps.

- as you say have copies of the original VMs

- Use "File -> Open" if the VM is not in the library, not just double click so that you don't immediately run.

- Once the VM is in your library list, use menu "Virtual Machine" -> "Settings" -> Compatibility and Uncheck "Allow upgrading ..." so that it does not upgrade automatically

- Before you actually boot, take a snapshot

- If on startup you get a question where you have to answer "Copy" or "Move" select MOVE. This is important as otherwise your VM will get new hardware ID's and your windows will need activation again.

- After that you can look into things like upgrading the virtual hardware to a more recent version, upgrade vmware tools etc.. knowing you can always go back to that snapshot.

- When happy with how it works, DO delete that snapshot. Don't keep it open for weeks (or even longer)

--

Wil