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Author Topic: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)  (Read 2998 times)

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Pieter

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15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« on: November 18, 2007, 05:33:39 AM »
Just came across an article on VentureCake.com telling you how to run your existing Windows installation and apps in Ubuntu (i.e. no Wine or virtual hard drivers necessary!).

Here's what you need:
- Windows running on your computer
- VMware Server (free download)
- Ubuntu or any dualboot OS that can run VMware Server

Please don't ignore the preparation they want you to do on Windows. I did, and I got a BSoD as soon as I tried to start Windows within VMware.

Another cool thing about this is that it runs way faster than if you were to install a fresh copy of Windows on a virtual disk.

Link
« Last Edit: November 18, 2007, 05:38:19 AM by Pieter De Decker »
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Ryan Wagner

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2007, 10:03:17 PM »
Thats really awesome that someone took the time to figure that out. I'm sure a lot of people will be happy that they don't have to completely reinstall windows to get it working. I'll have to write an article about this.
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Pieter

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2007, 09:30:21 AM »
There's one thing you should know though: that Windows Genuine Advantage thingy started nagging me about having changed too much of my hardware after I first ran Windows in VMware so I had to reactivate Windows. Sure, you can do that every time you alternate between VMware and "real" Windows but I think that you can only reactivate Windows once every 120 days or so.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2007, 09:33:35 AM by Pieter De Decker »
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Ryan Wagner

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2007, 03:00:58 PM »
Ouch, that is kind of a deal breaker. :( Microsoft does limit the number of times you can reactivate Windows, so it could definitely cause some problems.
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Pieter

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2007, 06:15:26 AM »
The strange thing is that they didn't mention that in the article. Maybe this didn't happen to them or I forgot to set an option telling VMware to simulate my real hardware.
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Ryan Wagner

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2007, 02:13:04 PM »
Quote from: Pieter De Decker on November 21, 2007, 06:15:26 AM
The strange thing is that they didn't mention that in the article. Maybe this didn't happen to them or I forgot to set an option telling VMware to simulate my real hardware.
I don't know if you can have VMware simulate your real hardware. From what I gather they always use their own drivers for things like graphics and audio drivers.
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spock1982 (Ernie)

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Re: 15 minutes to using your existing Windows install and apps in Ubuntu (w/o Wine!)
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2007, 07:39:16 PM »
There is a tool to convert a physical machine to a VM machine. I do not have any experience with it though.
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