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Cannot Restore OEM Operating System Into a Virtual Machine
Details
I want to use my OEM install CD or OS recovery CD in a virtual machine, but I receive an error. What is wrong?
Solution
Typically, OEM install CDs and OS recovery CDs are designed to place an operating system onto a PC with the factory configuration and defaults specific to that vendor. A VMware virtual machine provides a complete virtual PC for the operating system running in it. The vendor-specific hardware and BIOS components expected by the OEM software are not present inside the virtual machine, and the installation or restore cannot continue.
This is also true for physical PCs. If you attempt to use one manufacturer's OEM install or OS recovery CD on a physical PC from different vendor, sometimes even just a different model by the same manufacturer, it will refuse to install.
The best way to work around this problem is to install your Guest operating system with a full install CD, rather than using an OEM install or recovery CD.
Keywords
1116
Update History
04/05/2012 - Added Fusion versions and Workstation 7.x and 8.x
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