[ltp] VMware: Modify virtual machine BIOS...advice? Thinkpad and IBM Recovery CDs

[James C. Mankin]

I went down that road.  Except I had a dual boot machine so just had to 
run the converter program in the Windows system.   But it doesnt work 
because you
cant log into Windows in the virtual machine without reactivating XP 
(which doesnt work with the code printed on the machine I believe 
because the
VM has a different bios than the real machine as per the originator of 
this thread)   Anyway I ended buying a new copy of XP and installing 
that which worked fine.

Jim



Pablo Vera wrote:
> You could reinstall your T40p using the recovery CDs (obviously you 
> will lose everything, including Gutsy), then you would use VMware 
> Converter which is a free program that converts physical machines into 
> virtual machines.  You can get it here:
>
> http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
>
> I don't know how it works, but it is supposed to be easy.  After 
> creating your VM, you wipe your Windows installation, reinstall Gutsy, 
> install WMware, use your Windows VM whenever you need it and be very 
> happy from there on.
>
> If you go down this road, please let us know how it went.
>
> Pablo
> _____________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> briwood wrote:
>> I installed VMware and got to the point where I can Power On my virtual
>> machine.  I have a Thinkpad T40p that dual boots XP/Gutsy.  IBM did not
>> provide Windows XP CDs with this machine.  After a lot of whining I 
>> got them
>> to send me the 4 IBM Recovery CDs and waive the $50 fee.
>> I can get boot off the 1st CD, but I promptly get the message
>>
>> [INDENT][B] Your bios is not compatible with this recovery 
>> cd[/B][/INDENT]
>>
>> I've read that it's possible to modify the virtual machine's bios.  I am
>> wondering if there is any way to create a "snapshot" of my real BIOS and
>> then get the VM to use use the same settings.  If the VM BIOS 
>> contains the
>> "magic key", I should be able to install XP of the recovery CDs.
>>
>>  ...or am I going to have to purchase XP? *shudder*
>>
>> Thanks for any comments...
>>
>> Brian
>>
>>
>>