But can I salvage my installation?

[notthatWSmith]

I hope, as Customer Service (as the people who answer the "tech support line" call themselves) were telling me the truth when they said "Yes You Can, but I'm not a technical guy, you have to post to the forum which our technicians read".

For 6 months, I have (with too much sloppiness, losing numbers, etc) been building a system under XP-Pro 64 on an I7 machine. Not remembering now WHERE all the install disks are, not to mention the downloaded programs requiring serial numbers, I would like to save the system but also put Win7 on the floor, right below Workstation, which the same guys as above said does not run on the silicon, but on a Windows OS.

What I would LOVE to do is either find a means to dual-boot until I can get a proper transfer, after working all the bugs out of the way I want Win7 to run, or, better yet,

Copy the current OS, registry included over to somewhere, erase the old partition, load Win7 and Workstation atop it, then reload my old system, registry intact and WORKING, as a virtual machine.

Can either be done?

Sorry for the name, but someone else knows 1984 came a bit late - my protest (and his/her's I suppose) against those who take info as payment for even looking at a website, before one gets to decide if they're even interested in the product/information/whatever.

[cdc1]

You're talking about doing a P2V conversion. VMware Converter Standalone is what you're looking for.

I believe the latest release is 4.0.1.

It can be found somewhere in the "Support & Downloads" area. I no longer know exactly where it can be found since VMware has moved everything around, so you'll have to hunt around for it.

(Ooops ... it's "VMware vCenter Converter Standalone".... sigh VMware marketing should have their toys taken away for a day for coming up with these product name changes.)

[notthatWSmith]

Thanks, hope it works - my first stage, getting am "older" (2 MooreCycles) P4 cleaned up and back so it's ready to test W-7-32. If I can get that far, and determine if I like it (tried Bob, er, Vista this way) and, if it isn't everything folks have been saying it is, I'll just stick w/XP64 on the main until it becomes useless for my apps.

[cdc1]

If I understand correctly ... Once you get your older system up and running, with Workstation 7 etc. on it, you would run a P2V conversion, to convert your current physical system to a VM that you would run inside Workstation 7 on your old test PC. Then, once you're comfortable with, and have thoroughly tested, running your current system as a virtual machine, it should be safe to put Windows 7 on your main system, install Workstation 7 on it, then move your current VM from your old test system over to your main system.

I wouldn't bother activating Windows 7 either, until you had it loaded onto your main system. (There's a checkbox, that's checked by default, during Windows 7 install (much like a Vista install) that tells Windows to activate automatically on first boot.)

[notthatWSmith]

CDC, thanks for the help.

Let me try again:

I apologize for my lack of clarity

1) I want to do a COMPLETE - meaning, if possible, all installed

programs and registry, copy of XP-64 with @150 or so programs on it

installed, and several hundred more utilities that do not require

installation, but I might not have the zipped or whatever else package

for anymore - i.e. man-weeks of work.

And lock up the backup somewhere.

2) blanking the System Disk, I want to install and tune Windows 7

Ultimate (legit) on the I7 system now running Old Reliable and Copied. I

want to spend a week or so customizing it to my taste. (No animation,

kick out the dog. "Old Style menus and files, programs startball

programs where I want 'em, etc.

3)THEN I want to install VMWare Workstation on top of "my" Win-7 before

I install anything else.

4) FINALLY, I want to re-install my old XP-64 "old reliable" system as a

virtual machine, giving me continued access to the world WHILE I see

what I can move to the base system.

5)Take Vacation

6)THEN, with an operating virtual machine, I could set up a Virtual

7-64, 7-32, XP-32, LINUX, hell, Dos 2 because it's there and OS/2

likewise. With a 2 gig Best-IMHO disk going for $99, why not?

7)Move Win-7 compatible programs over (most of my work, though

Mizziproducts may be questionable) probably to the sandbox-7 system

(YES, when Windows puts out an IE 8 that ALLOWS any kiddiescripter to

inject an xss system into any web page without a magic safety line, a

script that will be shot into every xss-allowing customer, I get a bit,

er, paranoid?

😎 (around June 2010 or the real new decade, begin having "fun" again.

cdc wrote:...

winston

Here is a Candle to light you to bed ...

[magic-man]

As CDC said, use "VMware vCenter Converter Standalone".... Works great. FWIW, I ALWAYS back up my machine to an external drive when messing with it. BUT... Use the above too to copy the current install (the xp 64 setup) to a VM. You don't have to have VMWare workstation installed to use the tool.