The next few screens allow you to configure RAM size, networking method, and other devices. If you need to change these settings later, you can do so by choosing Edit | Edit Virtual Machine Settings from the VMware menu.
Choose a memory allocation based on the recommended guest range. This is provided by VMware based on your total available memory (Figure A).
| Figure A |
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| You can allocate virtual machine RAM in increments of 4 MB up to the total permitted by VMware. |
Next, configure networking. Choose Bridged, Network Address Translation (NAT), Host-Only, or None (Figure B). NAT requires few or no additional steps and is the easiest to set up; Bridged Networking involves setting up a separate IP address for the guest on the network.
| Figure B |
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| Choosing NAT will be the quickest way to get your new virtual machine on the network. |
On the following screen, select Create A New Virtual Disk. Other choices are to reuse an existing virtual disk and have VMware access a physical disk. In the latter case, the guest OS reads and writes directly to the drive or partition. This is useful for multiboot machines if you want to run the alternate operating system(s) as a guest. However, it is not the best choice for a test machine, as directly accessing the physical disk invalidates the protections of using isolated virtual disks.
Next, specify a virtual disk capacity (Figure C). Remember to leave ample room for testing, as well as enough space on the hard drive where the virtual disk will be stored for shrinking and defragmenting. Splitting the disk into 2-GB files makes it easier for VMware to perform these operations. If you desire, choose to allocate the entire virtual disk at this time rather than having it grow dynamically.
| Figure C |
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Virtual disks grow dynamically unless you specify otherwise. Splitting the disk into 2-GB files will ease later defragmentation and shrinking operations.
Maximum disk capacity workaround
The Specify Disk Capacity dialog states that a virtual disk can never be larger than the maximum capacity you allocate now. This is not strictly true. VMware has published a workaround usi ng Norton Ghost to increase disk capacity later. However, the process is tedious, so it's better to set a workable limit at the beginning. An easier way to work around a disk capacity limit is to add additional virtual disks to a guest OS.
After you complete the Disk Capacity dialog, VMware will allocate the space. This operation can take some time.
Figure D shows VMware's tabbed display. You can switch from one guest to another using this interface. Highlighted is the new virtual OS, "Windows 2000 Pro on X:\." After configuring this guest, it receives a tab even though it has not yet been powered on. The summary lists all configured devices for that virtual machine.
| Figure D |
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| The new virtual machine is displayed in its own tab. |
Whenever the guest is powered down, you may add or modify a device by clicking Edit Virtual Machine Settings. For example, to allow printing through the host, in the settings dialog, click Add, then select Parallel Port. VMware supports most standard devices you will need.
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