How to Install Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine step by step

After several failed attempts to install Windows 8 developer preview build on Windows Virtual PC, VMWare Player and Oracle Virtual Box, I was able to successfully install Windows 8 today on VMWare Workstation. Read this post to learn how to install Windows 8 on VMWare Workstation.


Step 1. Download Windows 8 installer from the official Microsoft Windows website - https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/index.php

The process to download VMWare Workstation is bit tedious. You need to first register in their website during the process. In addition, before you can download the software, you need to obtain a product key by following the instructions you receive from the automated email from VMWare.

Step 3. Install VMWare Workstation
The installation is a pretty straight forward process. During installation, you will have to provide the VMWare product key you received in the email. (I deleted the email without reading, but luckily I could recover it from the Trash folder).

Step 4. Launch VMWare Workstation. You can find the shortcut to launch VMWare Workstation on your desktop or start menu.

Step 5. Create new Virtual Machine by clicking on the appropriate link in the welcome screen or in the File menu.

Step 6. When you create a new virtual machine, choose the option "I will install the operating system later.". The option to install from the Windows 8 installer ISO image may not work since VMWare cannot recognize the Windows 8 operating system yet.

Step 7. Choose Windows as the operating system. Since you won't find Windows 8 in the list, choose Windows 7 or Windows 7 64-bit, whichever is appropriate. Choose the default options or appropriate options in all other screens.

Step 8. After you complete creating the new virtual machine, VMWare will open the new virtual machine with a blank screen.

Step 9. Click on the "Power on this virtual machine". It will try to boot the virtual machine, but will fail to start the operating system since there is no OS installed yet. 

Step 10. The next step is, mount the ISO image as DVD drive and install Windows 8 from it. To mount the Windows 8 ISO image, click on the tab for your virtual machine in VMWare window and select "Removable Devices" >> "CD/DVD (IDE)" >> "Settings". 

Step 11. Click on the CD/DVD (IDE) settings on the leftside. On the right side, choose the option "Use ISO image file" and select your Windows 8 installer ISO image file.

You are all set to install Windows 8 on the VMWare Workstation. All you have to do is, click on "Restart VM" in the bottom of the VMWare Workstation screen and it will restart the virtual machine and boot from the Windows 8 ISO image.

The whole installation process takes only about 10 minutes, depending on your computer and resources available for virtual machine. The Windows 8 installation process is straight forward and you can choose default options or select obvious settings. It will ask for a Windows 8 product key, which you can skip and choose to provide it later.