Windows 11: How to install a virtual machine with VMware Workstation

January 22, 2024

A virtual machine with windows 11 is really handy as a test environment these days. You can try out the virtual machine risk-free, for example, for unfinished software, future Windows updates, as well as beta versions of various programs. It is also possible to use the “Windows Insider Program” to test the latest Windows versions in advance.

To install Windows 11 as a virtual machine in VMware Workstation, all you need is a Windows ISO file. You can get them in our shop windows 11 ISO file conveniently by email. the VMware Workstation you can also buy it cheaply from us.

Once you have started the VMware Workstation, click on “Create a New Virtual Machine” to start the setup wizard.
In the next step you select the recommended installation type “Typical”.
Once there, you must next the downloaded windows 11 Select ISO file. To do this, first click on “Browse” and switch to the appropriate path, select the ISO file there and click “Open”. Then click on “Next” to go to the next step.
Now select Microsoft Windows under “Guest operating system” and under “Version”, windows 10 and later x64. windows 11 is only available in the 64-bit version. A 32-bit version is no longer available.
In the next step, you can give the virtual machine your desired name and specify the storage location for the other files under “Location”. For Windows 11. a fast SSD with at least 64 gigabytes of storage space is recommended.
Under “Specify Disk Capacity” you can specify the maximum size of the virtual machine’s simulated hard disk. It makes sense here to specify at least several hundred gigabytes, even if your virtual machine does not take up that much space. VMware only uses the memory you actually use, but more free memory is allocated within the virtual environment. Also select “Store virtual disk as a single file”, since the other option is only useful in special cases.
The preselected settings are displayed in the next overview. You can open the hardware settings by clicking on “Customize Hardware”.
Under “Memory” you can assign the available main memory for your virtual machine. For windows 11 at least 4GB is recommended. If you have more memory (RAM) installed in your computer, you can of course also select 8GB or more so that your virtual machine works particularly quickly.
Under “Processors” you can enter the number of CPUs available on your system under “Number of processors”. You can also choose the number of CPU cores available in your system under “Number of cores per processor”. You can leave the other settings as suggested.
All settings for the VM are now set and the wizard is closed by clicking on “Finish”.
With a click on “Power on this virtual machine” you can now start your VM.

The virtual computer then runs in window mode with the installation program windows 11 high. Installation is the same as on a normal computer. Once the installation is complete, you can use the virtual windows 11-Use system.