Run other Oses on your pc

There are occasions where you probably want to run a different os without really installing it. If you are running windows you probably would like to refresh your Linux skills but dislike the idea of installing it on one of your partitions. The guys at wolphination explain an easy way to run on os inside your real os.

All you need are three ingredients. First, you need the free vmware player, then you need os.zip which is used to install the operating system and finally you need a iso file or a cd / dvd of an operating system.

Installation is simple as well:

Install vmware player and unzip os.zip. Change to the unzipped directory and open os.vmx in a text editor.

Change the following lines:

memsize = “512″
ide1:0.fileName = “c:\image.iso

Edit the memsize line with an amount of ram that you want to provide for vmware and the second operating system. For most Linux distros 256 should be enough, make sure you leave enough for windows. The second line is the location of your .iso file. change it accordingly. If you have it on a cd or dvd edit the following three lines

ide1:0.present = “TRUE
ide1:0.fileName = “c:\image.iso
ide1:0.deviceType = “cdrom-image

into

ide1:0.present = “TRUE
ide1:0.fileName = “auto detect
ide1:0.deviceType = “cdrom-raw

Start Vmplayer and open the os.vmx, as soon as you see the starting screen press ESC to enter the list of bootable devices. Select Cd-Rom and hit enter. The Os should load just fine and you are ready to go.

The vmware site offers some prebuild virtual machines.

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Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday December 19, 2005 -
Tags:computer, pc, virtualization

Responses so far:

1. Martin says:

   December 19, 2005 at 12:24 pm

   Its also possible to use the freeware Colinux
   to linux on windows nativly.

   Reply
2. Aaditya_DMW says:

   July 23, 2008 at 5:05 pm

   I already Have An Installed XP and Ubuntu 8.04 on My Hard Disk. currently I Installed VMware On Ubuntu 8.04 ,
   I want to Boot My Already Installed XP Using VMware(I Didn’t Installed Xp Using VMware) And Work on it. Plz Help By Giving Ur Suggestion, i m Desperately Waiting For FollowUp Comments

   Reply
3. Rarst says:

   July 23, 2008 at 5:51 pm

   >I want to Boot My Already Installed XP Using VMware(I Didn’t Installed Xp Using VMware)

   It won’t work directly, pluging existing OS into virtual pc usually ends up breaking that OS.

   Easy solution – re-install XP under VMWare.
   Complex solution – make image of XP partition, restore it to VMware, fix broken drivers and such.

   I highly recommend easy way, complex one is total mess that is not guaranteed to succeed. :)

   Reply
4. andy says:

   December 28, 2008 at 5:46 am

   looks like wolphination got suspended. I can’t download OS.zip file. Could anybody provide a valid link for OS.zip file? Many thanks.

   Reply
5. jryan says:

   December 29, 2008 at 4:10 am

   I can’t get the files either. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone can find another source of the files or exactly what is needed to build it from scratch maybe.

   Thanks

   Reply
6. AaDiTyA_DMW says:

   January 7, 2009 at 6:43 am

   Hi Guys,
   U don’t Have to Download It from any where else..
   U can create one of your own.
   Just Grab an OS CD or DVD..
   Make a Virtual Image of It..Using Magic ISO Or any other Deamon Tools..
   And then Just load it after Running VMware..And then it will Take care of all those missing or broken Drivers(IN case of XP)..

   Reply
7. Pooko says:

   January 21, 2009 at 11:37 pm

   Hey AaDiTyA_DMW, I’m stuck too, and your instructions are too concise to follow. Where can I get step-by-step instructions for the procedure you are outlining?

   Thanks

   Reply
8. vreezver says:

   February 7, 2009 at 1:25 pm

   were you realy interested in sharing knowledge with people, you would have been clever to check up the links your are displaying
   I don’t know what is all your problem with showing the same link which ain’t working
   OS.zip on that damn linux /linux.wolphination.com is a shit dead end
   CHECK IT UP!!!#@~~

   Reply
9. XenonVector927 says:

   March 18, 2009 at 10:16 am

   I would also like a valid link to the file.

   Reply
10. fateh says:

    October 28, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Hi, it wok in windows vista? I try it but is not working, it say: “Error while powering on: Check for missing files failed:
    Insufficient permissions to access the file.”
    help plz

    Reply
11. jamers says:

    March 28, 2010 at 11:52 am

    I’m getting the same permission error on win 7 as fateh has in vista…Error while powering on: (Unable to open file “C:\OS.vmdk”: Insufficient permission to access file)… I found the os.zip file at http://teamnirvana.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/OS.zip
    Under the properties of all the files the permissions are all checked as allow. Anyone know what could be tripping this error?

    Reply
    • guest says:

      August 14, 2010 at 2:27 pm

      Thanks jamers

      Reply