Windows 8.1 documentation covers information on how to install the operating system in a virtual machine. For additional information about the operating system, refer to the instructions included in the installation media.
Windows 8.1 documentation includes the following topics:
- Installation Instructions
- Installing VMware Tools in a Windows 8.1 Guest
- Knowledge Base Articles for Windows 8.1
- VMware Compatibility Guide
Installation Instructions
You can install Windows 8.1 in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows 8.1 distribution CD.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, verify that the following tasks are complete:- Read General Installation Instructions for All VMware Products.
- Read the Microsoft System Requirements for the recommended storage and memory values.
- Create and configure a new virtual machine with the appropriate virtual storage and virtual memory to support the intended workload.
Installation Steps
- Insert the Windows 8.1 CD or DVD in the CD-ROM drive.
- Turn on the virtual machine to begin installing Windows 8.1.
- Select Windows 8. This is option supports Windows 8.1.
See Knowledge base article 2067000, Microsoft Windows 8.1 guest operating system option is not available, at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2067000. - (Optional) If you are using VMware Paravirtual as the default SCSI controller, you can install Windows 8.1 32-bit using the pvscsi-windows2003.flp driver and Windows 8.1 64-bit using the pvscsi-windows2008.flp driver.
- Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
- Install VMware Tools.
- (Optional) On VMware Fusion, install Boot Camp drivers so that
the guest operating system can access hardware devices on the physical
machine.
Windows 8.1 32-bit supports only Boot Camp 3 drivers and Windows 8.1 64-bit requires Boot Camp drivers to be installed individually.
VMware Tools in a Windows 8.1 Guest
For information on VMware Tools, see Knowledge base article 1014294, General VMware Tools installation instructions, at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1014294.
Knowledge Base Articles for Windows 8
The following links refer to knowledge base articles on operating system specific issues.- See knowledge base article 2006859 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2006859 for more information on how to install and run Windows 8.1 on ESXi and ESX.
- See the VMware knowledge base for a list of known issues about the operating system.