Is there any way to create a VMWare image that can be ported to a real laptop or desktop? If yes, is there a way to define the hardware to VMWare so that the proper drivers are installed as part of the install?
please be more specific in thread title, so knowledgeable persons can help. like "How to use VMWare image to install on a real laptop/desktop, as like in restoring from system image".. just a suggestion, no offence. as far as question is concerned, sorry, i dont know.. i would like to know too.
I dont understand why you would use a vmware image and export it to your laptop.. You would have real problem with drivers.. Just install W7 on your laptop, how hard is that? If you want to create a generic image with software, check out anarethos recovery tool, it makes things alot easier.
He probably wants to test with legacy software. My company is going through this, we in IT are guinea pigs, rolling out a few Win7 builds to see any issues. Your best option is dual boot current OS (prolly XP) and Windows 7. Use windows 7 for everything you can, use XP for what you cant. Windows 7 pro + VM bios would allow you to use XP mode within Windows 7 though.
Use SPAT (System Preparation Assisted Tool) , create an image of your VM with ghost/acronis/.. Restore your image to real hardwares. I tried it with XP, and it supports W7 too. It automatically takes care of HAL and other drivers.
download its own driver packs which is 150-200 MB and you have a fully working system with lots of drivers. The drivers get installed during windows deployment process automatically too. You will have all your softwares and application which were previously installed on your VM.