In addition, some operations like disk defragmentation cannot be performed on the partition storing the virtual machine, because that may cause the virtual machine to fail (virtual machine files are corrupted). Putting the VM file and other program files in the same partition will affect the running speed. Running virtual machines will generate a lot of disk fragmentation. Make a Partition for the Virtual Machine Windows 7 You can choose a VM program according to you needs.ģ. But VMware also offers the free version (VMware Workstation Player). The former is totally open-source (free) while the latter is paid software. If you are using these Windows versions, you don't need to install other VM programs.Īs for VirtualBox and VMware, they are famous virtual machine programs.

Hyper-V is a virtualization technology tool embedded in 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education. I will recommend you to choose a VM program from Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and VMware.

Please download a Windows 7 ISO file from a reliable website. To create a virtual machine, you need an ISO file of the operating system. (Of these I would recommend an outdated version of VirtualBox to run the x86 OS).ĭRAWBACKS: The OS is limited to 90 days before it expires but the default Internet Explorer wallpaper that comes with the OS explains how you can extend your trial period using command prompt.Before you create a Windows 7 virtual machine, you should do some preparations. After that you can choose which VM platform you want to install it on including VirtualBox, VMWare, Vagrant, HyperV, and Parallels. (Of these, I would recommend x86 Windows 7 running IE8). There you will see a drop-down menu of which OS you want to pick including x86 versions of Windows 7 running IE8 - IE11, x86 Windows 8.1 running IE11, and 圆4 Windows 10 running MSEdge. When you click on the link at the end of this post it will take you to Microsoft Edge developers website and to the VM’s section. Many of you may not know this, but Microsoft gives out free activated virtual machine copies of Windows 7.

Windows 7 iso for virtualbox free