Are you tired with manually downloading and installing the ISO files? This guide will teach you about how to configure and run the Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD on the Oracle VirtualBox or on the VMware Workstation in simple steps.
The Windows Server 2012 R2 Virtual Hard Disc version had been released with many latest and advanced updates and the Microsoft has also claimed that there is a "Start Button" available on it but it seems to be not working. You can learn more about the Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD on official Microsoft website.
The problem with the VMware Workstation is that it do not support the VHD files and it supports only the VHDK file format. So you need to convert your VHD file into VMDK which can be done by many third party softwares such as the WinImage, StarWind V2V, etc.,. The WinImage has the 30 days free trail version and you can make use of it. If you decide to use the WinImage for the conversion process then click the Disk > Convert Virtual Hard Disk Image > Select the VHD file which you wants to convert to the VMDK format and give the default options.
The Windows Server 2012 R2 Virtual Hard Disc version had been released with many latest and advanced updates and the Microsoft has also claimed that there is a "Start Button" available on it but it seems to be not working. You can learn more about the Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD on official Microsoft website.
Install and run Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD on Oracle VirtualBox
- After downloading the Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD, you need to extract the it since you only need the VHD file only which can be found under the folder "Virtual Hard Disks".
- The Virtualbox supports importing the VHD files manually unlike its counterpart VMware Workstation. You need to have the Oracle Virtualbox version 4.2.16 or higher to support the Windows 8.1 (2012 R2). If you face the error message "Your Pc needs to be restart" then you are running a Virtualbox version older than 4.2.16 and if so then please try to upgrade it.
- You need to choose Windows 2012 as the client operating system for creating the new Virtual Machine and select the existing VHD file and you don't want to create the new hard disk.
- Now you will successfully start your VM and the admin password will be R2Preview!
Install and run Windows Server 2012 R2 VHD on VMware Workstation
The problem with the VMware Workstation is that it do not support the VHD files and it supports only the VHDK file format. So you need to convert your VHD file into VMDK which can be done by many third party softwares such as the WinImage, StarWind V2V, etc.,. The WinImage has the 30 days free trail version and you can make use of it. If you decide to use the WinImage for the conversion process then click the Disk > Convert Virtual Hard Disk Image > Select the VHD file which you wants to convert to the VMDK format and give the default options.
- If you had finished converting and had obtained your VMDK file then its the time to create the new virtual machine in the VMware Workstation.
- Choose "I will install OS later" option and make Windows Server 2012 as the guest OS.
- In the next step, you had to delete the default VMDK file and needs to replace it with our new Windows Server R2 VMDK file which had been converted from the Windows Server R2 VHD file.
- Now choose the existing disk option in the next screen and attach the Windows Server R2 VHD in the next step.
- You can select the other settings as per your wish according to your requirements.