It is a P2V (Physical to Virtual) converter. This means it can migrate a Microsoft Windows (it only works with Windows) installation on a physical computer and migrate it to a virtual machine that can be used by the various VMware virtualization applications. It can also perform a images in the Microsoft Virtual PC/Virtual Server virtual disk format or a Symantec (Norton) Ghost format and migrate it to a VMware virtual image.
Submitted by dietas (not verified) on Wed, 2007-10-24 06:49.
The final of VMware Converter 3.0 is now available for download. I reviewed VMware Converter 3 Beta sometime ago. I liked the tool, but it was a bit unreliable. The final seems to work better, although, I only converted one machine using VMware Converter 3 Starter Edition.
For my first test, I used a virtual machine instead of a physical one running under VMware Workstation 5.5. However, I told VMware Converter that it is a physical machine. To my surprise, it really worked. I remotely connected to this VM telling VMware Converter the IP and the credentials.
As destination I chose a shared folder on the same machine where VMware Converter was running. My source system, i.e. the VM running on VMware Workstation, was also on this computer. So, there was only one physical machine involved in my test. As destination format, I used VMware Workstation/Server. You can also convert to the ESX format.
My source machine was running Windows Server 2003 SP1 and had one hard disk with about 4 GB space occupied. The good news is that you can also use VMware Converter to resize a virtual disk. When I tested the Beta I wasn’t sure if the the Starter Edition would have this feature.
The whole conversion process took me just a couple of minutes. After 99% VMware Converter stopped the conversion telling me that it failed. But the new VM worked without any problems.
I didn’t find any hints in the logs why I got the error message. By the way, it is quite complicated to access these log files. You have to use Windows Explorer on the source machine to access the log files of the agent. VMware Converter has its own log files. Why can’t I access all these log files from the VMware Converter user interface?
I like VMware Converter 3. After all, the Starter Edition is for free. I’ll probably convert some “real” physical machine soon with it. Stay tuned!
Submitted by Surfbits (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-30 02:01.
So, does this mean I can use this utility to make a virtual machine of my Windows Office PC and use the new Parallels (I think it's 2.5?) which imports virtual machines from the competition, and have my Office PC on my Intel Mac in Parallels?
That would save me from physically hooking up my Mac to my Office PC (frowned upon by my office IT Nazi) and creating the virtual machine in Parallels.
Surfbits: No, this VMware Converter moves images to VMware not to Parallels. However, you can use something like Laplink's PCMover to migrate settings, data, and applications from a physical PC running Windows to a Parallels Virtual PC running Windows.
Submitted by Andrew (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-08 05:01.
Todd, you might be able to take the incredibly roundabout route of running the VMWare converter, and then using Parallel's Transporter to run that virtual machine under Parallels. Would be an interesting project!
Heh, VMware's Fusion beta might be easier though. But, yeah, you are right, it might be interesting. There are other avenue's like Laplink's PCmover that also works well for a simple P2V migration where the "P" part is a Windows desktop or notebook.
Todd Ogasawara's Windows for Intel Macs ($7.99USD published by O'Reilly Media) is for Intel Mac users running Bootcamp or Parallels who want to learn more about running Microsoft Windows XP on Mac. It also provides specific tips and hints for using Parallels Desktop for Mac.
Warning: touch() [function.touch]: Unable to create file /home/www//bestrezult.com/html/scr/domains/20080312/ogasawalrus.com because No such file or directory in /usr/home/www/bestrezult.com/html/scr/inc.php on line 74
The final of VMware
The final of VMware Converter 3.0 is now available for download. I reviewed VMware Converter 3 Beta sometime ago. I liked the tool, but it was a bit unreliable. The final seems to work better, although, I only converted one machine using VMware Converter 3 Starter Edition.
For my first test, I used a virtual machine instead of a physical one running under VMware Workstation 5.5. However, I told VMware Converter that it is a physical machine. To my surprise, it really worked. I remotely connected to this VM telling VMware Converter the IP and the credentials.
As destination I chose a shared folder on the same machine where VMware Converter was running. My source system, i.e. the VM running on VMware Workstation, was also on this computer. So, there was only one physical machine involved in my test. As destination format, I used VMware Workstation/Server. You can also convert to the ESX format.
My source machine was running Windows Server 2003 SP1 and had one hard disk with about 4 GB space occupied. The good news is that you can also use VMware Converter to resize a virtual disk. When I tested the Beta I wasn’t sure if the the Starter Edition would have this feature.
The whole conversion process took me just a couple of minutes. After 99% VMware Converter stopped the conversion telling me that it failed. But the new VM worked without any problems.
I didn’t find any hints in the logs why I got the error message. By the way, it is quite complicated to access these log files. You have to use Windows Explorer on the source machine to access the log files of the agent. VMware Converter has its own log files. Why can’t I access all these log files from the VMware Converter user interface?
I like VMware Converter 3. After all, the Starter Edition is for free. I’ll probably convert some “real” physical machine soon with it. Stay tuned!
___________________
Submited by : Padre Rico Padre Pobre
I tried converting a .VHD
I tried converting a .VHD file using this converter but with no luck.
So, does this mean I can use
So, does this mean I can use this utility to make a virtual machine of my Windows Office PC and use the new Parallels (I think it's 2.5?) which imports virtual machines from the competition, and have my Office PC on my Intel Mac in Parallels?
That would save me from physically hooking up my Mac to my Office PC (frowned upon by my office IT Nazi) and creating the virtual machine in Parallels.
Surfbits: No, this VMware
Surfbits: No, this VMware Converter moves images to VMware not to Parallels. However, you can use something like Laplink's PCMover to migrate settings, data, and applications from a physical PC running Windows to a Parallels Virtual PC running Windows.
Todd, you might be able to
Todd, you might be able to take the incredibly roundabout route of running the VMWare converter, and then using Parallel's Transporter to run that virtual machine under Parallels. Would be an interesting project!
Heh, VMware's Fusion beta
Heh, VMware's Fusion beta might be easier though. But, yeah, you are right, it might be interesting. There are other avenue's like Laplink's PCmover that also works well for a simple P2V migration where the "P" part is a Windows desktop or notebook.