Setup a Windows 10 virtual machine using VMware Workstation Pro.
A Windows 10 virtual machine (VM) is a software emulation of a physical computer running the Windows 10 operating system.
This will allow you to run Windows 10 alongside your main operating system (which could be Windows 10 or Windows 11) without the need for a separate physical computer.
The emulation software we’re going to use in this guide is VMware Workstation Pro. Despite the Pro designation, it is actually free to use How To Download VMware Workstation Pro For Free.
Download The Windows 10 ISO File.
To install Windows 10 as a virtual machine, you’ll need to download the Windows 10 ISO image file. The ISO file is completely free to download and use and you can get it directly from Microsoft.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
On the Windows 10 download page, scroll down a little to the “Create Windows 10 Installation Media” section. Click the Download Now button.
That’ll download the media Creation Tool to your computer. It’s a very small file, something around 10 MB, so it shouldn’t take long. Once it’s downloaded go ahead and launch it.
Downloading Windows 10 ISO.
The Media Creation Tool will download and create the ISO image file that you’ll need when setting up a Windows 10 VM.
- Accept the Applicable notices and licence terms.
- Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO file) for another PC. Then click Next.
- If you want to change the Language for Windows 10, uncheck the box “Use the recommended options for this PC”. Edition and architecture can be left at the defaults.
- Be sure to select ISO file. Although you could use a USB flash drive to set up a Windows virtual machine, it’s much easier with an ISO file.
- Save the ISO file to your computer. Anywhere will be fine as long as you remember where you saved it. You’ll need it later.
- The Windows 10 ISO will download to your PC.
- When it’s finished, you’ll have the option of burning the ISO to a DVD. That’s not what you want to do. Just click the Finish button.
How To Set Up A Windows 10 Virtual Machine In Workstation Pro.
Now that you’ve got a Windows ISO file you can start using it to install a virtual machine using Workstation Pro.
Open Workstation Pro. On the Home screen click Create A New Virtual Machine.
Workstation Pro Easy Install Wizard For Windows 10.
The Workstation Pro easy install wizard will open This’ll guide you through the process of setting up a virtual machine for Windows 10.
- Leave Typical (recommended) selected and click Next.
- Select Installer Disc Image file (iso). Then click the Browse button. Locate and select the Windows 10 ISO file that you downloaded earlier. You should see it loaded in the window. Click Next.
- You can give your new VM a descriptive name if you wish to and also change the location of the virtual machine files. To leave them at the defaults, click Next.
- Workstation Pro will allocate around 60GB for the virtual drive disk capacity (assuming you have enough space on your PC). You can change that but for now, I’d leave it. Select “Store virtual disk as a single file”. this setting will give a slight performance boost to your Windows 10 VM.
Ready To Create Virtual Machine.
The “Ready to create virtual machine” window will appear. This is just a confirmation of the settings that you’ve made.
You can change any of the settings by clicking the Customise Hardware button. For example, if you wanted to assign more Memory (RAM) to the VM, you could do it from this screen.
However you can also change the hardware settings after the virtual machine has been created. You don’t have to set it all up perfectly here.
Ensure that the “Power on this virtual machine after creation” option is selected.
Then click the Finish button.
Workstation Pro will then create the virtual hardware for you to install Windows 10 on to.
Guest And Host Machine.
When we’re describing virtual machines, there are two terms that you’ll need to be aware of, Guest and Host.
The guest is the virtual machine, or virtual computer. It doesn’t matter which operating system is being used, the VM is always the guest.
Conversely, the “real” computer is always the Host. The host is the physical machine that you’re using. Again it doesn’t matter which OS it runs on.
It’s important to know the difference because you’ll be switching between the host and the guest as you install Windows 10.
Installing Windows 10 On Workstation Pro.
After the virtual hardware has been created (it doesn’t take long), Workstation Pro will boot the virtual machine from the Windows 10 ISO file. It boots as if it were booting from a DVD drive. Which indeed it is, only it’s a virtual DVD drive.
You’ll see the “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD” message appear.
You need to left click once inside the virtual machine (guest) window before any keystrokes are sent to the guest.
To be clear, click inside the window and then hit any key on your keyboard.
That’ll start the Windows 10 setup routine.
Virtual Machine Didn’t Boot From Windows 10 ISO.
The “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD” screen doesn’t stay there very long. Something around 5 seconds or so.
If you’re not quick enough to click and then press a key on your keyboard, you’ll see either a Time out screen, or possibly the Boot Manager screen appear.
In either case, click the “Send CTRL + Alt + Del to this virtual machine” button. That’ll cause your VM to reboot and you’ll get another chance to “Press any key” etc.
Installing Windows 10 Virtual Machine.
When the virtual machine boots from the Windows 10 ISO file, you’ll enter the setup (installation) process.
- Check your language, time and currency and keyboard settings are correct then click the Next button.
- Install Now button
- You can enter a product key if you have one, but generally I’d do that later. Click the “I don’t have a product key” link.
- Select which version of Windows 10 to install on the virtual machine.
- Obviously you’ll need to accept the licence terms.
- For “Which type of installation do you want” click Custom: Install Windows only”
- Windows 10 will be installed onto the virtual hard drive that you created in Workstation Pro earlier. Click Next.
- After that Windows 10 will start installing itself onto the VM.
Note.
The VM will restart several times during installation. Then you’ll need to confirm your language, region and keyboard settings. For a full walkthrough of installing Windows 10 click How To Install Windows 10.
Sign In With A Local Account On Windows 10 Virtual Machine.
During the installation of Windows 10 you’ll be asked to sign in to your Microsoft account. Do you want to that on a virtual machine?
I’d suggest that you don’t, but it’s entirely up to you. It really all depends on what you intend to use the VM for.
You have 3 choices –
- Sign in with your own Microsoft account.
- Create a new MS account.
- Sign in with a local account.
Windows 10 Personal Data Settings.
After signing in to Windows 10 with an account (whether that be an MS account or a local account), you’ll see several screens requesting that you give Microsoft access to your data and activities on the computer.
It’s your choice but I’d suggest that you answer No on each screen.
You won’t lose any functionality, the virtual machine will work exactly the same.
Installing VMware Tools.
The Windows 10 virtual machine will boot up to the desktop when the installation is complete. Now you need to install the VMware Tools.
VMware Tools are a set of virtual drivers that enable the VM to function better. They need to be installed onto the virtual machine in much the same way as you’d installed drivers onto a “real” computer.
At the bottom of the Workstation Pro window, click the Install Tools button.
This will unload the Windows 10 ISO file from the virtual CD/DVD drive, and load the virtual Tools CD.
VMware Tools Setup.
Installing the VMware Tools is much like installing any other software. When the Autoplay notification appears, click on it, then click Run setup64 exe.
The installation wizard will open. Click the Next button to continue.
Just accept the defaults on each screen that appears and the Tools will be installed.
Restart your virtual machine and you’re done.
Summary.
Setting up a Windows 10 virtual machine isn’t difficult once you get the hang of it. VMware Workstation Pro does all the heavy lifting and works extremely well. When you’ve finished, don’t forget to run Windows Update.
Use your new VM to visit dodgy looking websites, test out software and Windows updates and also making changes to the OS. But before you start, back it up. Create a full backup, it’ll save you so much time going forward.
