How do I install Windows Home Server in VMware Workstation

Before we begin, you will need several downloads. If you do not already own VMware Workstation, you can download an evaluation copy at www.VMware.com. You will also need the Windows Home Server software, which is also available for a trial period. Furthermore, it is much easier to load a virtual operating system by creating an ISO image (see “Using WinISO to Build a Virtual Machine Installation Directory“) as opposed to running it directly from the DVD. The Windows Home Server (WHS) installation takes a good bit to load, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
Our first step is to configure our virtual machine by opening VMware Workstation from the Start (orb) menu. Once VMware Workstation is open, choose File | New Virtual Machine (Figure A).

Figure A

Next, choose Custom Install and choose Workstation 6 as the VM platform of choice, as shown in Figure B and Figure C.

Figure B

Figure C

Since Windows Home Server (Figure D) is not an option as a supported guest OS in VMware, choose Windows Vista and its location on your network (Figure E).

Figure D

Figure E

Now you can choose the number of processors you want to run. If you have a Duo core CPU, you can use two processors for your VM, which greatly increases the performance (Figure F).

Figure F

On the next window, set the memory to 512, as shown in Figure G, or your OS load will not be successful.

Figure G

On the Network Type Window, you can choose several types of networking. For the purposes of this example, choose Use Bridged Networking and for the I/O Adapter, choose BusLogic, as shown in Figure H.

 Figure H

You are now ready to create your virtual disk, as shown in Figure I.

 Figure I

On your Specify Disk Capacity, choose a disk size of 80GB. During the Windows Home Server installation, the disk is automatically partitioned. I spent a while trying to figure this out (Figure J). If you do not have a minimum of 80GB, the install will fail.

Figure J

Note: You can add more drives with larger amounts of disk space if you are going to use this scenario to really back up all your computers on your network. I purchased a terabyte backup drive for $200.00, and I added a 350 GB virtual disk to my Windows Home Server virtual machine.
You can now name your disk file, as shown in Figure K, and click Finish. Congratulations, as Figure L shows, you have now created the skeleton to load Windows Home Server.

Figure K

Figure L

We will move on now and attach the Windows Home Server ISO image to your virtual machine. Click Edit Virtual Machine Settings (Figure A) from the WHS VM and highlight CD-ROM |Use ISO Image (Figure B) and browse to the image you created. Alternatively, you can just choose Use Physical Drive, but be prepared to wait a very long time for the OS load.

Figure A

Figure B

Click OK. Before we fire up our VM, we must first download the VMSCSI-1.2.0.4.flp driver. This is a floppy image that allows us to use the buslogic adapter.
We are now ready to Start this virtual machine. You will get a message stating that Windows Vista does not support BusLogic SCSI adapter (Figure C). Ignore and click OK.

Figure C

Windows Home Server will now go through an install screen very similar to Windows Vista until a Windows Home Server Error appears telling you that it can’t find a hard drive. At this point, you are ready to load the floppy image driver that you downloaded from VMware’s Web site (Figure D).

Figure D

Your next step is to choose VM | Settings from the File menu. On the Hardware tab, choose Floppy and browse to your floppy driver (Figure E). Please make sure you tick Connected under the Device Status or you will not be able to load your floppy driver. Click OK.

Figure E

Now, click Yes to load additional drivers (Figure D). The floppy driver is mounted and ready for us to choose by browsing, as shown in Figure F, to the Floppy Disk Drive (A:). Select vmscsi and choose open. BINGO, we have passed the hardware requirements and you can now begin the Windows Home Server Setup.

Figure F

Figure G through Figure N show you the basic process of installing Windows Home Server by using the wizard.

Figure G

Figure H

Figure I

Figure J

Figure K

Figure L

Figure M

Figure N

On the last screen of the initial installation (Figure O), you are prompted to select Start. After you do so, the install process begins, and at some point the machine will reboot. If you receive the error message NTLDR is missing, as shown in Figure P, it is because you did not deselect the floppy image from connecting on the reboot.

Figure O

Figure P

Figure Q shows you how to correct this issue. Simply select VM | Settings from the File menu. On the Hardware tab, choose Floppy and deselect Device Status | Connected | Connected at Power On. Click OK and restart your virtual machine.

Figure Q

As far as I am concerned, this is the trickiest part of the tutorial. During the reboot, you need to press F6 and reload the SCSI driver again. If you fail to press F6, you will get a BSOD (BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH). When you hit F6, you will be presented with Figure R to specify the SCSI driver.

Figure R

You must again choose VM | Settings from the File menu. On the Hardware tab, choose Floppy and check the Device Status | Connected (Figure S). Next press the “S” key on your keyboard and press Enter to load the SCSI driver, as shown in Figure T.

Figure S

Figure T

Next, press Enter to select the VMware SCSI controller (Figure U) and press Enter (Figure V) to continue with the installation.

Figure U

Figure V

Note: During the reboot, if you receive the Ntdlr missing error (Figure W), remember to choose VM | Settings from the File menu. On the Hardware tab, choose Floppy and deselect Device Status | Connected | Connected at Power On and restart the VM again. You can now go to Starbucks and get a Café Mocha, because you deserve it. Sit back and let the install of Windows Home Server complete.

Figure W

Once the installation is complete, you are presented with a Welcome Screen. After you configure a password and are on the Desktop, choose VM | Install VMware Tools from the File menu (Figure X). And last but not least, don’t forget to download and install Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 as shown in Figure Y.

Figure X

Figure Y