Vmware boot from hard drive. Step 2: On the Boot Menu, highlight SCSI Hard Drive (1.
Vmware boot from hard drive. 7 and earlier, the command is firmwareConfig. To access these devices, use Fusion's Shared Folders feature to share their 2. 2. Jun 17, 2025 · This tutorial explains how to add a new hard disk or remove an existing hard disk from the virtual machine on the VMware Workstation. Jul 7, 2025 · This comprehensive guide details the process of enabling a one-time boot to an ISO file or CD-ROM in VMware Workstation, covering all relevant steps, tips, and troubleshooting advice. It's like what VMware Fusion did on a Mac which boots Windows in Boot Camp as a virtual machine. Of course, there is workaround. Feb 27, 2023 · A recently created VM in VMware ESXi (7. The USB, in this case, is connected but there is no success to boot from USB. Boot an ISO Image Directly From VirtualBox VirtualBox is a hugely popular free software to create and run virtual operating systems and it can run a virtual CD/DVD disc inside a virtual machine (VM) by using the computer’s real optical drive or an ISO image. Hello my dudes! Having trouble with a VM that all of a sudden won´t boot from the disk file. Don't have VMware ?. Jul 21, 2022 · How to create virtual machine in VMware without ISO file, How to use USB drive or hard drive to VMware virtual machine. 10 on /dev/sda5. Oct 22, 2015 · I'm searching for a solution to boot a native OS on a hard disk as a virtual machine. Create a new virtual machine First of all, what we need is the virtual machine that we want to boot using a bootable USB drive on Vmware. The only thing I've figured out is to convert a physical installation into a virtual, and boot from that. If you want to boot a VM from an ISO image instead, you need to change the boot sequence of the VM, so that it starts with CD-ROM drive. Note: For ESXi versions 6. And make very sure that you shut down/suspend the VM and quit VMWare before either sleeping the system or unplugging the external drive. Thus, for Nov 22, 2011 · But have you ever tried booting from a USB drive in VMWare? It doesn't allow doing so, but we will force it to boot from a USB, with a bit of old geekery. It is possible to craft a VM setup in such a way that it boots from your external drive, but you shouldn't do that here - you'll still need to install the VMWare drivers for the sound, network, chipset, and video anyway and if you did that to your physical drive then you'd have a hard time booting it back up in the original system. In this article, CloneZilla is used because it is based on a live OS and thus the cloning process can be performed directly on the host. And it turns out this is related to a new virtual EFI boot manager having replaced the previous virtual BIOS. In detail, I have Windows installed on /dev/sda2 and Ubuntu 11. 3) was unable to boot from a mounted ISO. Jun 25, 2025 · This article provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide on how to boot a VMware virtual machine from a bootable USB drive, covering various VMware products (like VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware Fusion) and offering actionable insights for seamless implementation. 0) (the USB drive) using the ↓ or ↑ key, press Enter to confirm, and the virtual machine will boot from the USB drive. Mar 22, 2023 · This guide will show you how to use a physical hard drive with a VirtualBox virtual machine, plus pros and cons of that approach. Here're the steps to boot from USB in VMware. Nov 29, 2020 · When you run a virtual machine (VM) on VMware Player, the default boot sequence of the VM is removable devices → hard drive → CD-ROM drive. Sep 8, 2025 · How to boot Windows from USB drive in VMware Workstation? Here is a step-by-step guide for you. EFI Boot Manager not booting from mounted ISO When starting up a VM, you get a tiny moment to press [ESC] to enter the VM's boot menu. Step 2: On the Boot Menu, highlight SCSI Hard Drive (1. vmdk is still in… Jul 30, 2023 · I'm using VMware Workstation 16. The hands-free install then proceeds without issue, up until the automated reboot phase. If you want to use a hard drive from another computer, you need an enclosure for it that has a USB connector. Spinning external disks are really really slow. Simply follow the given instructions. To access these devices, use Fusion's Shared Folders feature to share their Need to boot into or create a VM via a USB drive in VMware? It is easier than you think. If you remember, we have showed you how to boot from a USB drive even if your old PC doesn't allow booting from one. 2, and there is a small deficiency. This is ideal for booting and testing an ISO but there are a several steps to go through each time you want to boot a different These are only instructions I've found for VM drive pass-through, but they appear to only describe how to make a physical USB peripheral visble to the VM as a virtual USB peripheral, not how to use an arbitrary physical drive as the VM's internal boot drive. Our VMware Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns. Of course Oct 12, 2019 · For this reason, you may wish to make a virtual hard drive (VHD) copy of the physical drive, and use that virtual hard drive in the VM, using Microsoft’s Sysinternals tool for that purpose, as Paul T has suggested in another thread on this site. I have a copy of VMware Workstation, but I can't figure out how to do it that way. Jun 26, 2025 · This passage tells the benefits of booting VM from ISO and the detailed steps to boot VM from ISO images in VMware Workstation and vSphere. Jan 31, 2023 · In this guide, you will learn how to attach, mount and access the physical hard disk (entire disk or particular partition) inside a virtual machine on VMware workstation. I don't know how to select a specific hard drive to boot. Also, random behavioral caveat; when I attempt to boot and then shutdown the Guest VM, the 'connect' tick mark is always unchecked next to the virtual CDROM drive (Datastore ISO file) Sep 14, 2023 · A bootable USB drive of the OS you want to install on the VM Workstation Pro or Player installed on Windows or Linux The steps given here will work for all major operating system that supports Vmware player such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. Jan 3, 2025 · This article guides you through the process of connecting and using a USB external hard drive inside your Fusion virtual machine. It just goes straight to PXE boot. Apr 24, 2025 · When the VMware logo appears, press the Boot Menu key (ESC), and the Boot Menu will appear. Note: FireWire and Thunderbolt devices are not supported in VMware Fusion. Jan 24, 2016 · I then create a vSphere VM with disk 1 (sda) defined to point to this boot image and disk 2 (sdb) defined as a new disk taken from one of my datastores. 1. sh Replace boot disk using Clonezilla If there are signs that the boot disk is about to fail, cloning can be used to move the installation to a new disk of the same size. Dec 24, 2019 · No option to add USB while booting even after a start I power on and connect USB in VM when VM is powered on and reboot. Stop the VM, From menu "VM", Oct 25, 2023 · Learn what to do if VMware EFI boot is unsuccessful. It can be handy in some cases to share data between guest and host machines. The . 0. However, that doesn't mean I'm booting from that physical drive, meaning no changes are retained. The VM boots fine with this configuration, booting off the boot image I've defined as drive 1. Jul 23, 2020 · Use a USB-C External SSD, and it should work fine. That's right, using Plop Boot Manager. wawuy2h9q5fh7bi4myoz1hk1bvqfuhcbhqu4ws31bv27w