You can install Player on Windows and Linux host operating systems. Windows Vista or Windows 7 virtual machines on some graphics hardware. DVD, or ISO image that contains the installation files from an operating system vendor. Download and install the Windows XP Mode virtual machine on the host system.

Does anyone know where I can get windows images for vmware.

I know Microsoft gives away the images for Virtual PC. These images work pretty well, but when I try to import them in VMware I need to activate the copies again, because the virtual hardware they use is just to different.

I want Images of different versions of windows 2000, xp, vista. Does anyone where I can download them, or do I need to build them from CD.

4 Answers

Windows images for VMware have no legal existence.

Microsoft doesn't actively market XP any more, so no trial downloads exist.
In fact, no downloads exist at all for XP except for service packs or for floppy setup diskettes! (go figure...)

Your best bets are:

1. If you have an MSDN subscription, or know someone who does, XP is still available for download.
2. Find someone that can loan you the XP installation CD
3. Find an installed XP computer, and use VMware vCenter Converter to convert the physical machine to VM. The resulting VM will probably not need re-activation.

I faced the same problem around one year ago. I found out, that it is possible to import virtualpc images to vmware. So, you could download the WinXP image from Microsoft and then try this tutorial.

It helped me verry well.

If such an official would ever exist it could only be given by Microsoft itself because of license issues. Microsoft hates Vmware and Vmware hates Microsoft. So I don't think that you can find any official prebuilt Windows OS images for VMware workstation. Even if they existed they would only be on trial licenses. The best solution is to download trial iso's from Microsoft and do a clean install. After that use the base snapshot to copy this base installation. (Until the end of trial date if you're going to set your Guest OS' system date to the real date)

I realize this is a pretty old thread, but I recently came across it. Although the images aren't listed for download 'officially' from the following link. I was able to get a copy of IE8 WinXP image for VMWare workstation. I don't have access to MSDN so had no other recourse to download the xp images.

1. Goto https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/
2. Select ie8 for win 7 as virtual machine
3. select platform (vmware in my case)
4. Copy the link from the download .zip button
5. In this case, the link was https://az412801.vo.msecnd.net/vhd/VMBuild_20141027/VMware/IE8/Windows/IE8.Win7.For.Windows.VMware.zip
6. edit the link the IE8.WIN7.For.Windows.VMware.zip -> IE8.XP.ForWindows.VMware.zip
7. Download image and profit, save a copy of the archived file or make a snapshot so you can continue to use.

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