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  • 1.  windows 2003 R2 tools and network driver

    Posted Mar 12, 2021 07:27 PM

    I converted a physical windows server 2003 R2 32 bit machine to esxi virtual. Now it boots up but no network driver for the auto selected network card. Also if I try to install vmware tools from esxi it does nothing. Other windows systems automatically mount the tools cvc and install. This one does not even mount a tools dvd.

    I am heading over to that branch this wekend and hope someone has some pointers on how to proceed to get a working network card and vmware tools installed. This is esxi 7. When I converted I did not use latest esxi hardware version. It suggested I use version 18, I went with version 14. I know I can upgrade later but cannot downgrade. so first question is should I update to a higher hardware version or leave it at 14.

    Next, where do I find the tools DVD on the esxi host so I can manually mount it on this virtual machine? or can I download the tools dvd somewhere?

    Finally what do you suggest to use as network card. I see in the compatibility guide I can use e1000, vmxnet or vmxnet3. I think what it automatically selected was an AMD something adapter so I obviously have to change that.



  • 2.  RE: windows 2003 R2 tools and network driver
    Best Answer

    Posted Mar 12, 2021 08:05 PM

    The "E1000" network adapter type should work out of the box for Windows 2003. "VMXNET3" is a virtual 10G adapter, which however requires an additional driver (included in VMware Tools). AFAIK VMware Tools 10.0.12 is the latest version that supports Windows 2003.

    André

     



  • 3.  RE: windows 2003 R2 tools and network driver

    Posted Mar 13, 2021 12:59 AM

    Thanks a lot a_p_  That will save me a lot of time



  • 4.  RE: windows 2003 R2 tools and network driver

    Posted Mar 14, 2021 03:35 AM

    It worked perfectly, thanks