Download VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide

Choosing and Installing Guest Operating Systems
VMware Workstation or VMware ACE on a Windows host: Use a text editor such as
Notepad to edit the configuration (.vmx) file for your Longhorn virtual machine. Add
the following line:
Ethernet[n].virtualDev = "vmxnet"
Replace [n] with the number of the Ethernet adapter. The first Ethernet adapter is
number 0, so the line for that adapter is
Ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
Include a line for each Ethernet adapter configured for the virtual machine. You may
install VMware Tools either before or after changing the virtual network adapter.
Product Activation
The Longhorn product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual
hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of
the virtual machine may require you to reactivate the operating system. There are
some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.
• Set the final memory size for your virtual machine before you activate Longhorn.
When you cross certain thresholds — approximately 32MB, 64MB, 128MB,
256MB, 512MB and 1GB — the product activation feature sees the changes as
significant.
Note: The size reported to the Windows product activation feature is slightly
less than the actual amount configured for the virtual machine. For example,
128MB is interpreted as falling in the 64MB–127MB range.
• Install VMware Tools before you activate Longhorn. When the SVGA driver in the
VMware Tools package is installed, it activates features in the virtual graphics
adapter that make it appear to Longhorn as a new graphics adapter.
• If you want to experiment with any other aspects of the virtual machine
configuration, do so before activating Longhorn. Keep in mind that typically you
have 14 days for experimentation before you have to activate the operating
system. (Your EULA may define a different period before activation is required.)
For more details on Longhorn product activation, see the Microsoft Web site.
Display Hardware Acceleration
Longhorn has display adapter hardware acceleration disabled by default. This slows
down graphics performance and mouse responsiveness in the guest operating
system.
21