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Launching your Boot Camp partition in VMware Fusion (1014618)

Purpose

VMware Fusion allows you to launch an already-installed Boot Camp partition without affecting its ability to boot natively. This gives you the ability to access a Boot Camp partition from both inside the Mac OS using Fusion, and by rebooting and launching Windows directly.

This document describes how to launch a Boot Camp partition in VMware Fusion.

Note: VMware Fusion does not support launching a Boot Camp partition with Windows 8 installed on it.

Note: VMware Fusion does not support partitions created by any program other than Boot Camp Assistant. VMware Fusion only supports partitions created by exactly following the instructions in Apple's Boot Camp Installation Guide. It does not support Boot Camp partitions migrated by using third party software.

Note: The preceding link was correct as of May 6, 2010. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Resolution

To launch an existing Boot Camp partition in Fusion:
  1. Launch VMware Fusion.
  2. In the Fusion menu bar, go to Window > Virtual Machine Library.
  3. Click the play button that appears beside the Boot Camp partition.

    Note: In Fusion 3 and later, if you do not see your Boot Camp partition, you need to readd it to the Virtual Machine Library. To do so:
    • In Fusion 5.x:

      1. Open the Virtual Machine Library.
      2. Go to Windows > Virtual Machine Library.
      3. Click + at the upper left corner in the Virtual Machine Library.
      4. Select New Boot Camp.

    • In Fusion 4.x:

      1. Open the Virtual Machine Library.
      2. Go to Window > Virtual Machine Library.
      3. Click Run Boot Camp at the bottom of the Library window.

    • In Fusion 3.x:

      1. Click the Home icon on the left side of the Virtual Machine Library.
      2. Click Run Windows from your Boot Camp partition on the right.

  4. When prompted, provide your Mac OS password for authentication. Fusion prepares the Boot Camp partition to run in a virtual environment. This may take several minutes. When preparation is completed, the Boot Camp partition launches.

    Note: In Fusion 3.1, the ability to remember this password was added. After entering your password, Fusion asks:

    Would you like to be asked for administrative privileges every time you access Boot camp Disks?

    Select Never Ask to have Fusion remember your password and not prompt you for it again.

  5. When prompted, proceed with the installation of VMware Tools.
  6. When prompted, restart Windows.
  7. When Windows reboots, log in normally. You may be prompted to reactivate Windows because different hardware is recognized by the operating system. You only need to do this once. For more information, see Activating Windows when swapping between Boot Camp and a virtual machine in VMware Fusion (1003426).

Related Education

If Fusion presents an error when you start your Boot Camp partition, see Troubleshooting using a Boot Camp partition in Fusion (1027853).

Tags

launch-bootcamp-partition use-bootcamp-partition

See Also

Update History

05/06/10: 1. Added the Note and sub-steps to step 3. 2. Clarified which password is required, in step 4. 05/21/2010: Added troubleshooting link. 07/05/2010: Added note to purpose, delineating support restrictions. 09/16/2010 - Added Fusion 4.x information. 08/23/2012 - Added Fusion 5.x information

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