Hey guys.
(not sure if I'm posting in the right part of the forum but didn't know where to do it)

I have a windows operationg system runing VMware Workstation and on it I have a Ubuntu virtual instance. Is there a way to to install that virtual instance as my main or besides my windows installation.

Thanks guys.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

It depends upon the CPU you have in the system. Current/recent Intel chips have the ability to support virtual machines at the hardware level, allowing you to install/run them directly on the hardware. However, VMware Workstation does not support that as far as I am aware. Some of their higher-end enterprise products may support it, as does (I think) Xen. All that aside, I have never done this. I normally run an enterprise class of Linux as a host, and run other systems in virtual machines on top of that.

So, my question for you is, why do you want to do that? What benefit do you think it will provide?

I recently stared work at a company and I has given a PC with sedulously a clean install of windows 7. But it was not. I had information of the previous user as well as a lot of his settings. I work as a software developer and had to install and configure a lot of stuff on the windows but I also set up a ubuntu instance with all that I need. I still need to add new configurations on my machine but due to the error of the technical team my machine will be reinstalled in the coming days. And the more I wait the more the more work I will have to repeat. If I could do what is said in the title it will save me a lot of work and headaches.

If you have any ideas years are open.

I think what you are asking is for "parallel" operating systems running on the same hardware. You can do this with a hypervisor, if your hardware supports it. VMWare and Xen both have products that do this. Windows has it as well (hyper-v), but it runs ontop of a full installation of Windows Server. However, its not common to run this type of configuration for a workstation. Generally, you would install a host OS, then run a VM appication such as VMWare or Virtual PC, or Virtual Box to host your guest VMs.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.