Converting a physical machine for Fusion, Workstation, or Player using Converter Standalone

Products

VMware VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides instructions for converting a physical computer into a virtual machine, so it can be used in Fusion, Workstation, or Player. VMware vCenter Converter Standalone is a free program that can be installed on your physical computer running Windows. Converter Standalone copies the data on your hard drive into a virtual disk file (.vmdk), which can then be used in other VMware products. This process does not affect your computer, and you can continue to use your computer after using Converter.

Environment

VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.0.x
VMware Player 3.x (Windows )
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.5.x
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Linux)
VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Player 4.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Windows)
VMware Player 7.x (Linux)
VMware Fusion Pro 11.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Player 5.x (Windows)
VMware Player 5.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 11.x
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Linux)
VMware Player 7.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Player 3.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.0.x
VMware Fusion 5.x
VMware Player 6.x (Linux)
VMware Player 4.x (Linux)
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1.x

Resolution

Before starting, ensure that you have an external hard drive or a SMB network share location that has enough free space to store the new virtual disk (.vmdk) and that is of the correct format. Ensure that you have free space equal to a physical computer's used hard drive space. This external hard drive or network location must be formatted with NTFS, FAT32, or ExFAT. Converter does not recognize destinations that are formatted with HFS+ (Mac-formatted).

Note: If you have installed the Fusion Migration Assistant, uninstall it before installing Converter Standalone.

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: How can I turn on or turn off the firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later versions?
- Windows Vista: Turn Windows Firewall on or off
- Windows 7: Turn Windows Firewall on or off
- Windows 8: Windows Firewall from start to finish
- Windows 10: Turn Windows Firewall on or off

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.
Disable all third party services on the physical machine, except the vCenter Standalone Converter services.

Note: If you are running an OEM version of Windows, the migration may fail. VMware cannot support OEM copies of Windows migrated to virtual machines as this is a violation of Microsoft licensing conditions. If you purchased your computer with Windows pre-installed, you are most likely running an OEM version of Windows.

Downloading and Installing Converter

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

For more information about installation, see:

Converting your physical machine

Start vCenter Converter.
Go to File > New > Convert Machine.
From the Select source type menu, select Powered-on machine.
Under Specify the powered-on machine, select This local machine and click Next.
From the Select destination type dropdown menu, select VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine.
From the Select VMware product dropdown 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.
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.
If you want, change the name of the virtual machine by editing the Name field under Virtual machine details.
Click Next.
(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.

Note: If there are more than one partitions listed, choose the C: drive as the main partition to convert.
Deselect the partitions that you do not want to convert.

Note: If your physical machine has a recovery partition, deselect this partition.
Click Next.
Click Finish to start the conversion.

After the conversion process is complete, disconnect the external hard drive that stores the converted virtual machine 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 Workstation virtual machine using existing VMDK virtual disks (2010196)

Additional Information

If you encounter any issues with Converter, see the product documentation or one of these articles:

VMware Converter Agent fails to install due to a connection error
Troubleshooting when vCenter Converter fails to complete a conversion of a physical or virtual machine
Troubleshooting vCenter Converter when conversion fails at reconfiguration
Troubleshooting missing drivers or Windows file errors that can cause VMware Converter to fail during reconfiguration
Creating a virtual machine from an existing virtual disk in VMware Fusion
Creating a Workstation virtual machine using existing VMDK virtual disks
使用 Converter Standalone 转换物理机，以用于 Fusion、Workstation 或 Player
Converter Standalone を使用して Fusion、Workstation または Player 用に物理マシンを変換する