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    Windows 11 Upgrade

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    Windows 11 Upgrade

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    sanosuke_sama
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    8 views13 pages

    Windows 11 Upgrade

    Uploaded by

    sanosuke_sama

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    You are on page 1of 13

    How to Create a Windows 7 Virtual

    Machine on Windows 10/11


    A virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/emulation of a computer
    system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide
    functionality of a physical computer. If you want to run a different OS on
    the current operating system, creating a VM is a good choice.

    Preparatory Work
    Before you create a Windows 7 virtual machine, you should do some
    preparations.

    1. Download Windows 7 ISO File

    To create a virtual machine, you need an ISO file of the operating system.
    Please download a Windows 7 ISO file from a reliable website.

    2. Install a Virtual Machine Program

    I will recommend you to choose a VM program from Hyper-V, VirtualBox,


    and VMware.

    Hyper-V is a virtualization technology tool embedded in 64-bit Windows 10


    Pro, Enterprise, and Education. If you are using these Windows versions,
    you don’t need to install other VM programs.

    As for VirtualBox and VMware, they are famous virtual machine programs.
    The former is totally open-source (free) while the latter is paid software.
    But VMware also offers the free version (VMware Workstation Player). You
    can choose a VM program according to you needs.

    3. Make a Partition for the Virtual Machine Windows 7

    Running virtual machines will generate a lot of disk fragmentation. Putting


    the VM file and other program files in the same partition will affect the
    running speed.
    In addition, some operations like disk defragmentation cannot be
    performed on the partition storing the virtual machine, because that may
    cause the virtual machine to fail (virtual machine files are corrupted).

    Therefore, I recommend you to create a partition dedicated to the virtual


    machine Windows 7. To do that, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard.
    This software can complete this job well. Here is the guide:

    Step 1: Click the above button to download and install MiniTool Partition
    Wizard. Launch this software and go to its main interface. Then, right-click
    the partition you want to shrink and choose Move/Resize from the context
    menu.

    Step 2: In the pop-up window, drag the slider to choose how much size you
    want to shrink and click OK to continue. The number in the box
    following Unallocated Space After is the space size you reserve for the
    new partition.
    Tip: If you only install a virtual machine, 30 GB space is fine. However, as
    you use the guest virtual machine, the guest virtual machine file grows.
    Sometimes, this file can be up to 100 GB or even more. Therefore, the
    larger the space for the virtual machine, the better.
    Step 3: Right-click the gray unallocated space and choose Create from the
    context menu.
    Step 4: In the pop-up window, choose partition properties like file system,
    partition label, drive letter and so on. Then, click OK to continue.
    Step 5: Preview the changes and click Apply to confirm the changes.
    How to Create a Windows 7 Virtual Machine
    In this part, I will show you how to create a Windows virtual machine on
    Windows 10/11 using Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and VMware.

    1. Create a Windows 7 Virtual Machine Using Hyper-V

    Step 1: Verify whether the PC hardware is compatible with Hyper-V.


    • Type “cmd” in the Windows search box. Then right click the best-
    matched result (Command Prompt) and click Run as administrator.
    • Type the command “systeminfo” and then press Enter. After the
    result comes out, please check the Hyper-V Requirements Only when
    all Hyper-V requirements are Yes, you can run Hyper-V without
    problem. If you can’t run Hyper-V, please use VirtualBox or VMware
    instead.
    Step 2: Update Windows to the latest version. If your Windows version is
    too old, the VM creation process may be a little different.
    • Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
    • Go to Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates. PC
    will download and install updates automatically.
    • After Windows updates are installed, press Windows key + R to call
    out the Run Type “winver” into the box and press Enter. Make sure
    the Windows version is later than 1709.
    Step 3: Enable Hyper-V.
    • Right-click on the Windows button and select Apps and Features.
    • Scroll down the right pane to find Related settings. Under this
    section, click Programs and Features.
    • On the new window, select Turn Windows Features on or off.
    • On the Windows Features window, select Hyper-Vand click OK.
    Please make sure Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V
    Platform under the Hyper-V directory are selected.

    • When the installation has completed, you are prompted to restart


    your computer. Do as required.

    Step 4: Open Virtual Switch Manager and create a virtual network for the
    Windows 7 VM.
    • Search and open Hyper-V Manager.
    • In the Hyper-V Manager tool, in the left pane, select your PC and then
    click the Action menu > Virtual Switch Manager…
    • In the Virtual Switch Managerwindow, in the left pane, select New
    virtual network switch under the Virtual Switches
    • In the right panel, choose External. Then, click the Create Virtual
    Switch
    • For the new virtual switch, please type the name, ensure External
    network is selected, and select the physical network card to be
    paired with the new virtual switch.
    • Then, click the OK button apply and save changes.
    Step 5: Create a Windows 7 virtual machine.
    • In the Hyper-V Manager, click Action>New>Virtual Machine.

    • Follow the wizard to configure the settings of the new virtual


    machine. For example, the name, the location, the memory, the
    network, the virtual hard disk. What’s more, you should choose the
    Windows 7 ISO file as the image file.

    • Then, you can go through the Windows 7 installation process. After


    that, a Windows 7 virtual machined is created successfully.

    Tip: Please choose the new partition created just now as the location of the
    VM.

    If your Windows version is earlier than 1709, or you want to get a more
    detailed guide, please refer to the following post:
    How to Create a VM with Hyper-V [Virtual PC Windows 10]
    This post shows you how to create a VM with Hyper-V, which can be
    viewed as Virtual PC Windows 10.
    READ MORE

    2. Create a Windows 7 Virtual Machine Using VirtualBox

    Tip: Both VirtualBox and VMware can run on almost any Windows versions
    (no matter the Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit; and no matter the Windows is
    Windows 7, 8, or 10).
    Step 1: Open VirtualBox and click the New icon (the gear icon).
    Step 2: Type the name of the new VM, choose the location of the VM, and
    the type and version of the VM. Then, follow the wizard to configure the
    memory size, virtual hard disk, etc.
    Tip: You can keep the default value of these parameters.
    Step 3: After the VM is created, highlight the VM and then
    choose Settings icon. In the new window, you can configure more settings
    of the VM. But the most important thing is to load the Windows 7 ISO file.
    Please go to Storage, highlight Empty under the Controller, click the drop-
    down menu beside the Optical Drive, and then click Choose a disk file.
    Step 4: After you have configured all settings, save changes and click
    the Start icon to go through the Windows 7 installation process.
    If you want to get more detailed tutorial on VirtualBox, you can refer to this
    post: How to Install Ubuntu on VirtualBox? Here’s the Full Guide.

    3. Create a Windows 7 Virtual Machine Using VMware

    Step 1: Launch VMware Workstation, click Create a New Virtual Machine,


    and choose Typical (if you use the free version, the typical is chosen by
    default).
    Tip: The free version cannot run multiple VMs at the same time. If you want
    to run another VM, please upgrade to the paid version or delete the existing
    VM.
    Step 2: Choose Installer disc image file (iso) and click Browse to find the
    Windows 7 ISO file. Then, follow the wizard to configure VM type, version,
    name, location, and disk size. Then, right-click the Windows 7 VM and
    choose Settings, you can configure/change network, memory size, and
    more parameters there.
    Step 3: After all are configured well, you can right-click the Windows 7 VM
    and chose Power On.
    If you want to get more detailed tutorial on VMware, you can refer to this
    post: How to Use Windows 10 as a Virtual Machine – A Step-by-Step Guide.
    Tip: If the VM become bigger and bigger and the free space of the VM
    partition is used up. You can delete the VM and create a new one or extend
    the VM partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard.
    Here is a post talking about how to create a Windows 7 virtual machine on
    Windows 10/11. This post offers 3 ways and it may solve your
    problem.Click to Tweet

    Bottom Line
    Is this post useful to you? Which VM program are you choosing? Have you
    encountered problems when following the above guides? Do you know
    other good ways to create a virtual machine Windows 7? Please leave a
    comment in the following zone.
    In addition, if you have difficulty in moving/resizing or extending a partition,
    please feel free to contact us via support@minitool.com. We will get back
    to you as soon as possible.
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    About The Author

    LindaFollow Us
    Position: Columnist
    Linda has been working as an editor at MiniTool for 5 years. She is always
    curious about computer knowledge and learns it crazily. Her articles are
    simple and easy to understand. Even people who do not understand
    computer can gain something. By the way, her special focuses are disk
    management, data recovery and PDF editing.

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