Taken from this months Web User magazine - a nifty idea if you actually want to keep a working 'appliance' version of an old PC when you upgrade...


(1) Get the free converter from bit.ly/vmware320. You'll need to create and active an account then click the "manually download" link.

(2) During installation, choose "Local Installation", then run the software. Click the "Convert Machine" button. "Select Source Type" should be set to "Powered-on Machine". Select "This Local Machine" and click Next.

(3) In the "Select Destination Type" menu, choose "VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine". Next to "Select VMware product", choose "VMware Workstation 8.0.x".

(4) Click the Browse button and choose a place to store the file. Since you're going to be transferring this to another machine, you can select an external hard drive.
Alternatively, you can save it locally or to a network share.

(5) Click "Data to copy". Select the drives and partitions you want to save (excluding restore partitions). You can keep the "Ignore page file and hibernation file" and "create optimised partition layout" ticked.

(6) Click Devices, then Memory tab. If your new PC has more memory than the old one, set the memory allocation to the maximum value. If it is the same, or you want to run other software while working on the virtual PC, set it to the recommended size. Click Next.

(7) Click Finish and the process of creating the virtual machine will start. It takes a while and will create a large file. An estimated completion time is displayed.

(8) Download and install VMware Player by going to https://www.vmware.com/uk/products/d.../overview.html

Make sure your new Virtual PC file is available locally.

(9) Open VMware player and click "Open a Virtual Machine", and locate the Virtual PC file you created above. Click "Play Virtual Machine" to load it up. Note the "Edit Virtual Machine Settings" link is here if you ever need it.

(10) The old computer should launch and run on your new PC. Make sure everything is working properly before you do away with the old PC.

One thing I would say is make sure your new PC has the juice for VMware and your old PC's memory/disk space requirements, otherwise it will probably run like a pig.