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I'm using VMWare converter to virtualize an existing Windows XP Pro SP3 partition to run in Windows 7.

At the end of the Converter process, it warns "Unable to locate the required Sysprep files...".

I went looking for these and found the VMWare KB on Sysprep file locations and versions. This page provides a link for Windows XP Pro SP2, but nothing for SP3. The KB pages shows a date of 17 Dec 2009, so they should be aware that SP3 is out there.

To further confuse matters, Microsoft has a specific download page for Windows XP Service Pack 3 Deployment Tools

Should I assume that VMWare knows what their product needs, and I should use their link to the SP2 Sysprep for any Windows XP service pack level? Or should I use Microsoft's sysprep for SP3 if I have SP3? Or does it matter at all?

For that matter, are sysprep files required if all I want to do is clone a running partition to run as a VM? When I see a yellow exclamation, I assume it is a problem that needs to be fixed, but maybe not in this case? Will VMWare Converter run correctly if there are no sysprep files provided?

tim11g
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2 Answers2

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Since I know what sysprep is supposed to do, and I didn't need to do those things, I ignored the warning and went ahead and created the virtual image without sysprep. It seems to work just fine, so I can say, at least in my one specific case, that the sysprep warning can be ignored without any apparent problems.

tim11g
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I've used VMware Converter (the P2V converter) before and I hadn't received that message before. When I used it, I just wanted to transfer an old system from a physical box to a virtual machine. I'm wondering if the converter thinks you want to use the conversion to deploy the image as a new machine.

Sysprep is the tool used to remove a Window's system identity. It is normally used when you want to configure one computer, then clone it a number of times onto new machines. Obviously you can't have all the computers with the same computer name and various information, so sysprep removes all the system specific data so when you power the computer on you need to tell it what it's name is and so on.

I wish I could be more help on this one, but I hadn't used the converter utility in a while.

I hope this helps.

Scott McClenning
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