Problem installing Server 2000 on VM

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Hi,

Im having some problems with VM Workstation 5 - I'm trying to install windows 2000 server onto a seperate NTFS Drive but keep getting this message:-

Setup was unable to locate such a drive with the required amount of free space

Is this because the drive is NTFS and not Fat32??

Please help

 

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Hi,

I've never used VM Ware 5, but do you not have to create a virtual hard disk before you install the OS?

I use Virtual PC and you do for that.

 

Leey, can you flesh out the situation for us? There doesn't seem to be enough details for me to figure out what the issue is. You have created a VM in VMware. At the point to start the installation, the virtual drive is not formatted with a file system. You do that during the installation. Are you talking about a VM where you've added a second drive? Curious minds want to know. Thanks.

 

Ah yes - I dont think i allocated the Drive space when I created the VM.

I'm trying that now!

 

No - still the same error message.

1) I installed VM Workstation 5 to a second hard drive formatted NTFS. 80GB spare

2) created a new VM - using server 2000 advanced from the drop down list

3) Disk Capacity - I choose 4GB and then finish

4) i choose "winnt.exe from the command line within vm it runs but then comes up with the message from above - cannot find a drive with free space on.

Am i doing anything wrong?????

 

Ok, you installed VMWare 5 on the second HDD of your host machine. That machines's hard drive runs Windows Server 2000 which is formatted with NTFS as the file system. This drive has an 80 GB capacity. You don't mention what's on the first drive of the host machine but I guess it doesn't really matter.

That part seems clear.

Ok, you created a 4GB drive. I'd have to be at my host machine to see what the options are in terms of "finish". Seems like you might be a little skimpy on the HDD size. Microsoft says 2 GB with 1 GB free space. Additional free hard disk space is required if you are installing over a network.. While you'd think 4 GB would be enough (barely), I usually create VMs with around 10 GB space just to be on the safe side.

Maybe I'm just being picky, but you never talk about actually inserting the installation CD into the disk drive. I assume you must, but I'm a real bug for details.

Do I have this right so far? Seems like perhaps creating a virtual drive with more space would be one place to start.

 

Hi Trip,

Well my pc is running Win XP - i meant that VM Software is installed on an NTFS Drive

Im trying to install Win Server 2000 on the VM but it keeps saying no free space i dont know what else to do! i mean theres nothing in the help files and the error message isnt very informative.

I dont know how else to explain it!

 

This is the message that appears -

Windows 2000 requires a hard drive volume with at least 263 megabytes of free disk space. setup will use part of this space for storing temp files during installation. The drive must be on a permanently attached local hard disk supported by windows 2000, and must not be compressed drive.

Setup was unable to locate such a drive with the requested amount of free space.

Setup cannot continue. press enter to exit


I have no idea was else to do - I have selected everytype of option there is even added a second hdd to the vm still doesnt work.

Any idea's???

 

When you create the drive, do you use "typical" or "custom"? I use custom. I don't know who recommended it, but it does give me more direct control over the configuration of the drive. Did you try and increase the size of the hard drive? Also, VMware recommends selecting SCSI instead of IDE. I would tend to choose IDE if it were up to me but the SCSI option seems to work fine.

Have you been reworking the settings on the same VM or blowing it away and starting fresh? Sometimes, I hose a VM up so badly that my only option (at least from my point of view) is to blow away all of the VMs files and create a completely new one.

 

Hi Trip,

Yeah custom and then use physical disk and I then select my physical partition.

Im retrying from a new VM again!

 

It would be best to blow the VM away and start again fresh.

Choose the custom setup and 4 GB is more than enough for Win2K server. When you get to the end of the setup phase you should return to the home screen with the details of the new VM. Insert the CD with the Win2K Server OS on it into the cd-rom and then click the 'start this vm' button. It should start just like any other OS install where you agree to the license, choose fat or ntfs etc.

Just to clear up any possible misconceptions
I take it you have enough disk space on your 80 GB drive. When you allocate 4 GB to the VM it will need 4 GB of real disk space (when you choose allocate all disk space now in the setup phase).
You need a real cd with a real OS on it or point the cdrom drive to an ISO image to boot from. The VMWare program is just a 'shell' to contain the vm's. The program doesn't come with all the OS files.

Sorry if you already know this but it's not too clear (for me) as to what's going wrong.

 

why are you typing winnt.exe?
that cd should be bootable, i suggest booting from the cd and following the steps, your less likely to run into trouble
4gb is more than enough
host file system should be irellivent

 

Everything you say is correct, Nugget. You need the real OS on a CD or an ISO image and you need to have the real space on the host's HDD. Why don't you make the VMs hard drive larger? The 4.0 default is changable. I still suspect that you aren't using enough space for the server install. Also, I'd echo Phoenix's question. You should just be able to boot from the CD and install. I've done numerous Windows 2000, 2003, and XP VM installs and they've all gone off without a hitch.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice well I retried installing the OS yesterday and booting it from an ISO file instead and it worked - not sure if it was because i had not restarted the computer after first installing VMware.

Well anyway its working now! Thanks for the advice