Creating a new VM on a 2025 Macbook Air M4

[MacDaddy]

Is anyone familiar with setting up a VM using VmWare Fusion in an new Mac that has the M4 chip? I just upgraded my laptop and it won't run my old VM because it was created on an Intel based Mac. I have the latest version of the VmWare Fusion(13.6.3) that will work on the new Mac, but as I understand I also need Windows 11 (ISO) for Arm, and I am a little confused about the steps involved to set that up properly, installing software from the old one in the new one, getting rid of the old one, etc., so any help is appreciated…thanks!

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Ben
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[Technogeezer]

Have a look at the Unofficial Fusion for Apple Silicon Companion Guide for tips on how to not only obtain the Windows 11 ARM installation media, but how to use it. 

Installing software: My suggestion is to find the installation media for any software you want to install in the new VM and perform a fresh installation - it's not easy to move software (and registry entries) between different Windows machines -- especially when migrating from Windows Intel to Windows ARM.

Getting data from your old VM: You might want to consider adding the old VM's virtual disk as a second virtual disk to the Windows ARM VM (see the Fusion Help for information on how to configure additional disks to a VM). As long as you didn't use BitLocker on the old VM, they should mount easily once the VM finds they exist.  Then you can use File Explorer to copy files/documents from the old system to the new one.  

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[MacDaddy]

Thanks for your help, I have successfully downloaded Windows 11 for ARM and created the new VM. I assume the next step is to Install Vmware tools, do I just do that right from the Virtual Machine tab in the Menu Bar?

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Ben
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[Technogeezer]

Yes. From the Fusion menu bar click Virtual Machine > Install VMware Tools. Answer the dialogs that will pop up asking you to connect the tools installer to the VM. You should see Windows ask to run the Tools setup program once it has discovered the installation media that you just told Fusion to mount.

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[MacDaddy]

Tools are installed, anything else I need to do in order to start adding software? Also, am I going to have to purchase a Windows license?

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Ben
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[Technogeezer]

You should be good to go to start installing other applications.

Microsoft expects you to purchase a license for any system (including virtual machines). You can get cheap Windows 11 retail licenses if you look on the web - and they works for both Intel and ARM versions of Windows. I would avoid OEM or “system builder” licenses since they are locked to hardware.

Windows won’t stop working if you don’t activate it with a license but to remain legit you should license it properly.

Sent from my iPhone