VMWare?

[karina1]

Okay. I run IT in a relatively small legal firm with 20 or more workstations. For being the IT manager and running our 2003 SBS Exchange environment, I honestly feel like I know very little. Translation of this disclaimer: I may sound like I don't belong here at all.

VMWare. I am getting overwhelmed by all the information, even unfamiliar terms all alone, that there is on VMWare.

I want to take a few (or more) of the extra computers I have lying around and turn them into virtual hosts for multiple OS's so that my contract attorneys can "share" towers from remote locations simultaneously, utilizing the same software that is used by the rest of us here in our normal one-user-per-computer set up.

Is VMWare the right place to start? Some day I want this hosted by one of our servers, but this is kindof a test run.... I just need to get my toes wet....

Thanks to anyone!!!

 

[franimal]

Karina,

If I may recommend you start by installing VMWare player (the free version of vmware) to get your feet wet. This version will allow you to load already created virtual machines (that are shared and legal of course) or install your own from an ISO image or even disk. With VMWare player you can get you feet wet with installing VMware tools (which will allow seamless integration with the host OS) and network settings.

If I understand correctly you want remote users to access these VMWare virtual machines remotely via VNC or remote desktop connections? This should be relatively simple and I would personally be happy to help if you have more configuration specific questions.

The link to the VMware player download is below:
VMware Player: Run Windows 7, Chrome OS - Free Download for a Virtual PC

This specific link will assist you in installing a guest OS (virtual machine)
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf

Here is a link to their general documentation and knowledge base pages:
VMware KB - Knowledge Base Articles for all VMware Products

Hope this helps!

-Francisco

 

[karina1]

Thank you for the tips! I was going to say... I also saw something saying that VMWare wouldn't work on a 32bit OS.... But this looks like it will...
Update... What is this jibberish?! If it's common with an easy fix, great.... I'm googling.....

oh i guess i can't paste my error image... it says:
Error 1935. An error occurred during the installation of assembly component {74FC3CE6-2A8D-0E9C-A01F-C8B3B9A1E18E}. HRESULT: 0x80070BC9

(jeepers.... nice of them to keep all those letters on the left hand )

 

[franimal]

Looking around it appears that this may have been an issue with extracting the installer. Was the installer compressed when you ran it?

Is this error during the installation of vmware player, workstation or vmware tools?

Perhaps this will assist (if this is an error with vmware tools)

This issue occurs when the Microsoft Installer is unable to find the Microsoft Foundation Classes.

To resolve this issue:

1. Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
2. Run this command:
   
   regsvr32 mfc90.dll
   
   This command re-registers the library needed by the installer.

If the installation continues to fail, download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package from the Microsoft Download Center.


That was found here:
VMware KB: Installing VMware Tools fails with the error: Error 1935: An error occurred during the installation of assembly

Let us know if that solves the problem.

-Francisco