VMware Workstation Pro: A Free Tool for Retro Gaming
VMware Workstation is a program that allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on one computer. It's often used by IT professionals to test software in various environments, but you can also use it for retro gaming.
VMware stands out due to its excellent 3D accelerator drivers and stability, which means you can set up a virtual retro PC with VMware. However, for gaming, VMware is currently recommended for systems from the Windows 2000 generation onward, but preferably with Windows XP 32-bit, as the 3D display driver is only supported from Windows 2000 onwards.
Fortunately, Windows XP 32-bit is also backward compatible with older software, often back to the Windows 3.11 era, because it can run 16-bit/32-bit applications, which are supported on 32-bit OSs but often not on 64-bit OSs.
In this guide, I'll show you how to download and install the virtualization software VMware Workstation Pro from manufacturer Broadcom for free. Finally, I'll also show you how to install Windows XP with the 3D accelerator driver so you can play older titles like POD or Forsaken, among others.
Downloading from Broadcom: The Website is Cumbersome
To do this, go to the VMware page on the Broadcom website at Link and click the "Download Fusion or Workstation" button.
This requires a Broadcom account, which is now a bit complicated. Click "Log-in" in the upper right corner and then click Register.
You should now be taken to another page. Enter your email address and password, and solve any CAPTCHA challenges. Once registered, go back to the Login Page and log in normally, using your email address as the username.
Now go to the VMware download page again (the first link at the top) and you will be redirected to the additional support page here. Next to your name in the upper right corner, there is a button where you can select the products.
Click on "VMware Cloud Foundation" and the correct downloads should then be displayed. Under the "My Downloads" menu item, look for VMware Workstation Pro. After clicking on this product, you can download it normally.
For example, select VMware Workstation Pro 17.0 for Windows and then the corresponding latest version, 17.6.2. You may need to accept the license terms before the download button becomes usable. Now you should be able to install it, and when the application is launched, you can use the "For Home use" option, which makes it free for you and doesn't require entering a product key.
Setting Up a Virtual Machine in VMware
In the meantime, we can create a virtual machine by clicking on File → New Virtual Machine or the "Create new Virtual Machine" button directly on the start page. A configuration window will open, and we will proceed with "Typical" configuration.
VMware will now prompt you to insert a CD with the Windows XP setup or select the ISO image file for installation. It should be detected, and the selection will automatically default to Windows XP. You can now assign a name to the virtual machine. The hard drive size shouldn't be too small; I find 10 GB to be an acceptable minimum.
Finally, you can customize the virtual hardware, such as increasing the virtual memory to 4096 MB. 3072 MB would be better because the graphics memory also counts towards this 4 GB limit. This is the maximum possible value that can work under a 32-bit operating system. You can configure the graphics memory to 256 MB; retro games don't need that much graphics memory.
Installing VMware Drivers (Control Programs) on the Guest System for Windows XP
The included VMware Tools only work from Windows 7 onwards, so they won't work under Windows XP. First, we need the ISO image file called "winPreVista.iso" because the driver is for guest systems prior to Windows Vista. We have linked the download link here.
When the virtual machine with Windows XP is running, click on the CDROM icon in the lower right corner, and then select the ISO image file winPreViso.iso in the settings.
The installation program should then start. If not, double-click the CD-ROM drive icon in the My Computer window. You can proceed as usual in this installation program, and it will install the 3D accelerator driver as well.
After the virtual machine is restarted, you can check the status of 3D graphics acceleration using dxdiag. To open the DirectX Diagnostics, go to the Start menu and click on Run. Enter the command "dxdiag" in the window and it should start.
In the "Display" tab, you can find out if 3D acceleration is enabled. If it says yes, you could test the output, and if you see the rotating cube, it means it's working correctly.
Important VMware Features Explained
With VMware, you can also create snapshots outside of games. Snapshots save the state of the VM at a specific point in time. This helps you if you make a mistake in the VM and then restore the current state of the VM to the previous state using the so-called snapshot.
How to use them? Go to the VM → Snapshots → Take Snapshot menu. You can assign a name to the snapshot there. In case of an error or if you want to reset the VM to the previous date, you can repeat this, but select the VM → Snapshots → Revert to Snapshot … menu instead.
There are 3 different network modes in VMware. With Bridged, the VM is directly connected to the host network by running through the same network card as the host system. So-called network bridge is what that is.
With NAT (Network Address Translation), the VM's network is isolated from the host network, and the host system acts as a gateway router. This is the default setting.
With Host-Only, the network is completely isolated, and there is only a connection between the VM and the host. Presumably, no internet connection will be possible unless the host has shared it.
In addition, VMware can divide the network into multiple network segments or select a specific virtual network. This is helpful if you want to build a virtual network between only 2 VMs, but it should be isolated from other VMs.
Finally, there is the useful "Shared Folder" feature, which allows data on the host computer to be shared with the VM, and you can then exchange data between the VM and the host. You would have to activate this option yourself in the VM settings and select the folders to be shared.
Further Uses of VMware
VMware is not only used for running older operating systems, but also for a wide range of applications. In software development, for example, the developer uses VMware to check how their software behaves under different operating systems and whether it works cleanly, without constantly having to purchase a lot of hardware just for testing, or to develop cross-platform software directly.
VMware is also used for virtual training environments where users can safely try out different scenarios, and live demos can show software or operating system configurations without damaging the host system.
Professional security researchers also use it for penetration testing and analysis of malicious software. Virtual machines provide the security that suspicious software can be run without affecting the host system. Or also, among other things, complex network simulations and firewall tests are carried out.
Installing Games
If 3D acceleration is successfully enabled, you can now install classic 3D games like Need for Speed I - III, Pod, or Forsaken. Don't forget to update DirectX to the latest version for improved performance.
Try it out with the old games that no longer run on current 64-bit operating systems.
Possible Assistance with Problems
Slow performance? Check in your BIOS or EFI whether virtualization VT-x or AMD-V is enabled. This is the configuration tool in your computer; it appears when you turn on your computer, even before it boots the operating system. You can also check in the Task Manager under Windows beforehand whether it is not already active.
No network? Check the network settings of the VM to see if it is misconfigured, such as on a Host-Only network. Also make sure that your virtual network adapter "VMware Network Adapter" is enabled on your host operating system.
Slow DirectX 3D performance? You may need to update your DirectX to 9.0 separately in your Windows XP guest operating system so that it runs more reliably. Also, check your 3D accelerator status to see if it is not active or if the driver is not installed.
Conclusion
VMware may be sufficient for many 3D games, but DOSBox should be used for DOS applications or DOS games, as it is designed for that. This is because DOSBox forms the complete DOS execution layer and can reduce the processor speed if necessary.
VirtualBox is also a free virtualization software, but its 3D drivers are often buggy and unusable. However, there is also the option to pass through a second graphics card to the VM via passthrough, but here we have described the native execution without passthrough.
If you need an even more accurate replica of a retro PC, you can use 86Box or PCem. There, it emulates the complete retro hardware, but they are also much slower. With a 3 GHz processor, it can emulate a Pentium II 233 MHz processor.