Knowledge Base

Best Practices 

• Confirm that the firewall on your virtual machine is not blocking Internet access. For more information on turning off your firewall, see:
  
  • Windows XP: Microsoft article How can I turn on or turn off the firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later versions?
  • Windows Vista: Microsoft article Turn Windows Firewall on or off
  • Windows 7: Microsoft article Turn Windows Firewall on or off
  • Windows 8: Microsoft article
  • 
    Warning: Turning off your firewall can leave your computer open to attack. This is a troubleshooting step only. If turning off the firewall resolves the issue, consult the operating system's documentation for instructions to configure it properly so that it does not completely block this connection.
    
    
• Disable your antivirus program. Consult the Help menu of the antivirus program or see the manufacturer's documentation for instructions.
• Uninstall any non-Microsoft drivers. These can prevent the converted virtual machine from starting up properly. 

Downloading and Installing Converter

1. On your physical computer, download VMware vCenter Converter Standalone from the VMware Download Center.
2. Double-click the installer file to start the installation.
3. Select your language.
4. Select the default installation options. On the Setup Type screen, select Local installation.

For more information about installation, see the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide:

• 5.0 (Windows computers only)
• 4.3 (Windows computers only)
• 4.0.1 (Windows and Linux)

Converting your physical machine

1. Start vCenter Converter.
2. Go to File > New > Convert Machine.
3. From the Select source type drop-down menu, select Powered-on machine.
4. Under Specify the powered-on machine, select This local machine and click Next.
5. From the Select destination type drop-down menu, select VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine.
6. From the Select VMware product drop down menu, select the VMware product you want to use to run the virtual machine.
   Note: If the current version is not available, please select the previous available version. The virtual machine can be upgraded to the latest version in the VMware Product which you are using.
7. Click Browse and navigate to the connected external hard drive or SMB network share. Choose a location on that drive to save the files and click OK.
8. If you want, change the name of the virtual machine by editing the Name field under Virtual machine details.
9. Click Next.
10. (Optional) Click the Edit button beside Data to copy to make adjustments to the partitions you will import. If your computer only has one partition, or if you want to convert the entire disk, skip this step.
11. Deselect the partitions that you do not want to convert.
    
    Note: If your physical machine has a recovery partition, deselect this partition.
    
    
12. Click Next.
13. Click Finish to start the conversion.

Once the conversion process has completed, disconnect the external hard drive that the converted virtual machine is stored on and connect it to the machine that is running your VMware product (Fusion, Workstation, or Player).

To create a new virtual machine from the converted virtual disk files, see:

• Fusion – Creating a virtual machine from an existing virtual disk in Fusion (1023555)
• Workstation or Player – Creating a virtual machine from a system image or another virtual machine