Cannot install XP into VMware using an Upgrade CD

[Zugg]

I just paid to upgrade VMware from v5 to v6 in hopes that this was fixed, but it still isn't.

The problem is that I am trying to create a Windows XP virtual machine. But the only XP CD that I have is an "upgrade" CD. When you use the XP "upgrade" CD it prompts you to enter a CD from a qualifying version of Windows to update. I have several CDs that qualify for the upgrade, including Win98 and WinNT. But when I try to use these CDs, they are not recognized as valid Windows disks.

I just tried this on a real computer and it worked fine. After the XP installation prompted me for the qualifying disk, I entered my Win98 disk and then the XP installation continued. But in VMware I just get the error "Setup could not read the CD you inserted, or the CD is not a valid Windows CD".

I am running VMware 6 on Windows Vista 32.

[continuum]

This has been discussed a million times before ...

either use 2 CDs - or better isos - or do this:

if upgrade-setup-cd asks for other media - eject upgrade-cd and enter ok - installer will complain and ask again - now inject the 98 or NT CD

[Zugg]

Sorry if I offended, but without any Search function in this forum, I don't know how a new person like me would know that it has been asked "a million times".

I'll try the trick with ejecting the disk as you suggested to see what happens, but I really wish VMware would just handle it normally the way a "real" computer would. And yes, I have AutoPlay turned off.

I don't know what you mean about using 2 CDs or ISOs. My computer only has a single drive. If this has already been answered "a million times", perhaps you could provide links to other threads that already answer this question.

[aguacero]

I would agree with . I would make an ISO image of your XP Upgrade CD. You can use a product like "MagicISO" trial for 30 days I think. Enough time for you to do your thing. Once you made an ISO of your CD, just change the settings within the VM and point the CD to where you have the ISO file. I've seen it before (for whatever reason) that CD were not recognized directly from the host but would work via an ISO file made from the same CD.

[continuum]

@ Zugg

Sorry - I forgot that there is no search function anymore.

A VM can either use real CDs or virtual ones.

Virtual ones are much faster - don't make any noise - the guest thinks he has a real CD while your host stores the file in iso-format.

Clicking the CD-icon on the bottom-right of the VM-window allows to change such iso-files while the VM is running.

Thats the equivalent to inserting a real CD into a real CD-drive - only difference - its much faster.

By the way - you can have up to 4 IDE-CDs per VM and up to 56 SCSI-CDs per VM.

Only IDE-CDs can be used for booting

[Zugg]

Oh, I see. So an ISO image looks like a CD hardware device to the virtual machine? I see the option for this in the device setup for the VM, so I'll try to find some ISO software that will work with this. Thanks for the help on this.

Suddenly I'm seeing a Search box in this discussion now. Maybe it only appeared after I created my forum account to post my question? I could have sworn that it wasn't there when I first started looking for help on this.

[continuum]

The box is there but ...