Every day we try different programs on the PC, some downloaded also on the advice of the various technological and IT information sites, without worrying about the impact they can have on our Windows operating system.
In fact, by installing numerous programs we will obtain "residual" (even in the case of uninstallation) registry keys, files scattered around the PC and useless folders that will inevitably slow down the PC after some time.
If we have to try a new program on Windows and we want to keep the performance on the PC, we can try them using a virtual machine, so as to "dirty" a virtualized environment that we can uninstall or reinstall at any time.
Let's find out how to use the VMware Player program to create virtual machines for free.
READ ALSO -> VirtualBox Guide to create, start and manage virtual machines on PC
1) VMware Player installation
First we need to install the program on our PC with Windows, so that we always have it available when we need to test unknown or dubious software.
VMware Player is the free version of a much more complex paid program, but which offers all the basic functions to better manage any virtual machine.
The program can be downloaded from here -> VMware Player .
On the page that will open, click on the Download now button at the top right, then choose to download the latest version available.
Once downloaded we start the executable and follow all the recommended steps by clicking Next ; at the end of the installation you may be asked to restart your PC to complete the configuration.
On restart, click on the program icon on the desktop or search for its name in the Start menu.
The interface will appear as in the image below.
The program is only available in English, but the buttons and functions are easily understandable so as not to create major difficulties even if we have little knowledge of the English language (then there is this guide, so the risk of making mistakes is very low!) .
Now that the manager of the virtual machines is ready, let's see how to download the ISO of the operating systems that we intend to install on it and how to actually create the virtual machine with VMware Player.
To run all virtual machines correctly, we recommend using a PC with the following characteristics:
- quad-core CPU (or higher)
- At least 8 GB of RAM
- At least 200 GB of free disk space
- Dedicated video card
- Internet connection via Ethernet cable or WiFi
2) Download ISO images
In order to create a virtual machine with the operating system that we intend to virtualize, we will need disk images in ISO format, so that we can use them as a basis to install the system as if we were on a real machine.
If we want to try a 100% free operating system we recommend downloading a GNU / Linux distribution like Ubuntu, whose ISO image can be downloaded from here -> Ubuntu 18.04 .
By downloading this ISO, we can have a complete operating system without the need to install a user license, completely free of charge.
If, on the other hand, we want a Windows operating system to be added to the real installation so as to immediately try the programs inside it, we can download the ISO of the Windows editions still supported by the following links.
- Windows 7 ISO download
- Download ISO Windows 8.1
- Windows 10 ISO download
We choose the system to be installed on our PC and download the respective ISO image: we can also create virtual machines with all three systems, obviously we will have to start them one at a time!
If instead we want to create a virtual machine with Mac, I recommend reading our dedicated guide below.
READ ALSO -> How to install Mac OS on Virtualbox (on Windows PC)
3) How to create a virtual machine
Once you download the ISO image of our interest (for the article we will see how to create one with Windows 10), open the program and click on the item Create a New Virtual Machine .
The window that will let us choose where to install the system will open immediately; since we already have the ISO of the chosen system available, click on the Installer disc image file (iso) item and then on the Browse button, so as to open the file manager and indicate the downloaded ISO image as the file.
We click Next ; in the next window you will be shown the information to enter to make the quick installation of Windows 10, immediately entering the license used, the version to be installed, the name and any password.
We can safely not enter your password and license, but choose the version and username, then click Next .
Note: this window may be different or not appear at all if we create a virtual machine of other operating systems (remember that we are creating a virtual machine with Windows 10).
In the window that appears now we will have to choose the name of the virtual machine and its location.
If everything is OK, we simply click Next ; if we want to place the virtual machine on another disk or in another folder, we use the Browse button.
After confirmation on Next, a new window will open, where you can decide the space to reserve for the virtual machine.
We follow the advice and just press Next ; if we want to reserve more space we act on the numeric field in relation to the residual space of our hard disk.
Note : to get more performance we enable the item Store virtual disk as a single file .
After confirmation, the final window will open, where you can start the creation of the virtual machine by simply clicking Finish after checking if the parameters automatically configured by VMware Player are correct.
If we want to change anything on the virtual machine, just click on Customize Hardware .
In the specific case we always recommend raising the memory allocated to 2 GB, so as to emulate a PC with 2 GB of RAM memory (all modern operating systems should run discreetly).
Obviously we can raise the limits also in reaction to the amount of RAM we have: with 16 GB we can go up to 4 GB for virtual machines.
After clicking on Finish we just have to wait for the end of the creation of the disk and start the virtual machine by clicking on it, in the sidebar of
Note: to significantly increase the performance of the virtual machine, let's go to Customize Hardware -> Processors and enable the items under the Virtualization engine field.
These changes will be effective on Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and some Mac configurations.
4) Better VMware Player or VirtualBox "> Create virtual machine with Hyper-V in Windows 10 and 8
