When the New Virtual Wizard detects an operating system that supports Easy Install, the wizard prompts you for information about the guest operating system. After the virtual machine is created, the guest operating system installation is automated and VMware Tools is installed.

For Windows guest operating systems, you must provide the following Easy Install information.

Table 1. Easy Install Information for Windows Guests
Easy Install Prompt Description
Windows product key (Optional) Type a product key unless the installation media contains a volume license product key. If you provide a product key here, you are not prompted to provide a product key when you install the guest operating system.
Version of Windows to install Select the Windows operating system edition to install.
Full name The name to use to register the guest operating system. Do not use the name Administrator or Guest. If you use one of these names, you must enter a different name when you install the guest operating system.
Password (Optional) The password to use for an account with Administrator permissions on Windows operating systems other than Windows 2000. On Windows 2000, this is the password for the Administrator account. On Windows XP Home, an Administrator account without a password is created and you are automatically logged in to the guest operating system.
Log on automatically (requires a password) (Optional) Save your login credentials and bypass the login dialog box when you power on the virtual machine. You must enter a name and password to use this feature.

For Linux guest operating systems, you must provide the following Easy Install information.

Table 2. Easy Install Information for Linux Guests
Prompt Description
Full name The name to use to register the guest operating system, if registration is required. Workstation Pro uses the first name to create the host name for the virtual machine.
User name Your user name. You can use lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes, but avoid using user names that begin with a dash. Do not use the name root. Some operating systems set up sudo access for this user and other operating systems require this user to use su to obtain root privileges.
Password The password for the User name and the root user.

See Use Easy Install to Install a Guest Operating System.