So, the err in the subject was the first one.
Resolved that - no thanks to any vnware support or kb or forum pages.
The resolution is rather easy, despite all the meaningless and useless responders to anyone that has asked the question. I note that, as a programmer, this issue should not even arise if vmWare were doing a half decent job of checking system parameters prior to running the converter. I believe the same to be true of the subsequent issues.
Bottom line, VM is Not ready for primetime. Too many stupid coding errors and displays of laziness on the part of the development team!
Why do I say this?
The initial error required hours of pointless research and review of useless support pages and (quite frankly) idiotic but well meaning replies via the forums. I'll post the fix in a follow up (or request via info_@_riscanalysis.com) but, my point now is that the resolution could have been error coded.
What do I mean by this?
I code for a living, and (imho) the most important part of any program or app is error coding.
The most frustrating app or program is one with cryptic error messages or one that could have easily done some checking to solved the problem before it became an issue.
The above error is caused by certain Win services not being turned on, and a missing registry value on Win xP. It would have taken about about 30 lines of code to determine this and generate an advisory msgbox BEFORE running the installer.
After fixing that, the VM Clone fails with a hal.dll error. Think I can resolve that. But again, it could have been caught in initialization code.
Third error, different system, now getting locked file errors on the Win7 machine, and sysprep errors on the build machine. Yet again, this could not have been inspected PRIOR to converter running?
Incidentally, why, with two identically configured systems does one generate the error when the other does not?
Who Am I?
I create/distribute a software app that is used by around 2,000 people worldwide. I am disgusted by Microsoft's reneging on the promise they made to ISV's back when they needed our help in the 90's. Their stated direction for Win-9 is especially troubling..
To us, VM - whether Citrix, MS, or VMWare has always been an issue. As a small independent Software dev, we face multiple licence violations by users cloning our software via VMs.
We are now able to detect users installing to VMs, and we can defeat multiple running instances of our software, regardless of the cloning technology. Consequently, VM is no longer the bugaboo that it used to be.
Given Microsoft's stated direction, we have pretty much done a complete 180 and now embrace the VM philosophy. It makes more sense to load a VM clone of an existing system into a VM, rather than having to fight with the next version of Windows.
Case in point. I have some coding and dev programs that were originally available only on floppy disk. Each upgrade requires proof of the installed app. Most convert to a stick but some don't. Although I have a USB FDD, it still means that for a new O/S, I have to reload everything from the get go - running every upgrade. - which is nuts.
When our clients upgrade to Win 9x, and realize that I am not gonna give Microsoft 30%, (not to mention limiting our SOFTWARE to 'APP' capabilities) the logical solution is VM.
That's why I'm testing it now.
But, there is no way I can recommend this lack of system checking, lack of error handling, piece of 3rd rate software to my clients as a solution, the way it stands.
VMWare Corporate!: If you read this post, you need to take only one thing away from it. Your market is no longer Unix geeks looking to run Win on Unix (No offence to Unix geeks intended - we are deeply involved with IBM AIX).
VM is now a viable solution to those of us who are professional software developers, who may have hated you a few years ago. If my tiny outfit can generate potentially 2,000 new clients for you, what can bigger firms do?
But, I can not recommend a solution to my clients that is this UNNECESSARILY problematic!
I'll be testing Microsoft VM and other VMs in the next few. I can't believe they are all gonna be this bad, so unless I hear from you, VMWare seems to be a non starter. It's really annoying because you could have coded for these stupid errors, that waste so much time - and that your support is so useless for.
My name is Gary and I support this message.