3.0

Installing and Running VMware Player 4
The installation instructions for VMware Player require a product CD to install on Windows and Linux hosts.
If you do not have a product CD, download VMware Player from the VMware Web site.
If you are installing VMware Player from a CD and autorun is enabled, follow the prompts when you insert
the CD in your CD-ROM drive.
If you are installing VMware Player from a CD and autorun is not enabled, double-click the VMware-Player-
<xxxxx> .exe installer file in the Windows directory of the CD. In the filename, <xxxxx> is a series of numbers
representing the version and build numbers.
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Install VMware Player on a Windows Host on page 21
To begin creating and configuring virtual machines you must install VMware Player on your Windows
host.
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Install VMware Player on a Linux Host on page 22
To begin creating and configuring virtual machines you must install VMware Player on your Linux host.
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Start VMware Player on page 23
To start VMware Player you must open the .vmx virtual machine configuration file.
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Close VMware Player on page 23
Close VMware Player before you shut down the host computer.
Install VMware Player on a Windows Host
To begin creating and configuring virtual machines you must install VMware Player on your Windows host.
If you downloaded the software, follow the installation procedure, but install from the directory where you
saved the installer file, rather than the Windows directory on the CD.
Prerequisites
Make sure that your host and guest operating systems are supported. See Chapter 3, “Supported Host and
Guest Operating Systems for VMware Player,” on page 13.
Procedure
1 On the Welcome page, click Next.
2 On the Destination Folder page, select the location for VMware Player files.
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If you want VMware Player to be installed in the default location, click Next.
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To choose an alternative location for VMware Player files, and click Change.
3 (Optional) Deselect any shortcuts on the Shortcuts page, and click Next.
VMware, Inc. 21