How to Upgrade VM Hardware Compatibility in VMware

It would be best if you reconfigured the hardware compatibility of the virtual machines that you previously created using one of the older versions of VMware when you upgraded the program to the new version.

VMware Hardware Compatibility

How to Upgrade Hardware Compatibility on VM Workstation/Player Virtualization Software

When you create a new VM with virtualization program that you used, the virtual machine hardware version is determined by default.

If you update your VM Workstation to a new version, the hardware number of the virtual machines you have previously installed will be adjusted to the previous version.

Therefore, when you do the VM Workstation update, you must upgrade the build number of the VMs that are installed on your computer.

It is easy to configure the compatibility of the virtual machines installed on the VM Workstation on your Windows 10 computer.

How to Upgrade HW Compatibility in VMware 15 Pro

Follow the steps below to change or upgrade the compatibility of your virtual machines on VM Workstation 15.

Step 1

After you install VM Workstation 15 on your computer, double-click the .vmx file of the VM that you created on VM Workstation 14. After running the virtual computer, you will see the option Upgrade this virtual machine as in the following image.

The version of system compatibility that you see in VM Details belongs to the previous version of VMware. Click on Upgrade this VM to change your machine’s compatibility.

Upgrade this virtual machine

Step 2

In the HW Compatibility Wizard window, click Next.

HW Compatibility

Step 3

Change the version of the VM to Workstation 15.x.

Choosing HW Compatibility

Step 4

Click Next.

Selecting a Virtual Machine Hardware Version

Step 5

After you change the version, select Alter this virtual machine and click the Next button.

Alter the Virtual Machine

Step 6

Click Finish to apply your changes.

Viewing Changes

Step 7

Once the VM has converted, click Close.

Converting a Virtual Machine

Step 8

You can check the version compatibility of the Windows 10 machine in the details section in the image below!

Hardware Update

How to Change HW Compatibility on VMware 15 ⇒ Video

You can watch the video below to change the version of a Linux, Windows, or macOS VM on VMware 15, and you can also subscribe to our YouTube channel to support us.

Watch on YouTube

How to Update HW Version in VM Workstation 14

If this program is not installed on your computer, you can download VM Workstation 14 to your computer and install VM Workstation 14 on Windows 10.

Follow the steps below to upgrade or update the HW compatibility of the VM.

Step 1

Open the virtualization program and click on the machine you want to update HW Compatibility.

How to Upgrade HW Compatibility in VMware 15/14

Step 2

In the VM console, click Upgrade this VM. In the Details area, you can see the current version.

Upgrade this virtual machine

Step 3

In the VMware HW Compatibility window, click Next to continue.

VMware HW Compatibility

Step 4

In the Choose the HW window, the VM you selected is now VM Workstation 12.x. Click the pop-up window to update this VM to Workstation 14.x.

Select Virtual Machine Compatibility

Step 5

After selecting VM Workstation 14.x, click Next.

VMware Version Update

Step 6

In the Clone before Converting window, select the Alter this virtual machine. If you want to clone the VM, you can continue by choosing the upper option against any errors.

Change this virtual machine

Step 7

The settings to be configured in the VM compatibility update were reported. Click the Finish button to start the VM update process.

VMxnet Compatibility Added

Step 8

After successfully updating the system compatibility, click Close.

Converting Virtual Computer

Step 9

To check that the selected machine has been updated, you can check the compatibility section in the VM console in the Details.

VM Details

How to Update HW Version ⇒ Video

After updating from VMware 12 to version 14, you can view the video below to update the build version of VMs and also subscribe to our YouTube channel to support us.

Watch on YouTube

What You Need to Know About Hardware Compatibility in VMware Version Updates

Why does my old virtual machine give an ‘Upgrade’ warning after updating VMware Workstation?

Even though this warning scares most users, it is actually a very innocent reminder. Each major version of VMware Workstation brings a new virtual hardware set with it. For example, if you set up the machine with Workstation 14, its motherboard chipset is old generation.

When the program is upgraded to 15, it wants to introduce this machine to the new generation virtual hardware. This way you can get higher USB speeds or better graphics support.

So if you ignore this warning, the machine keeps running but you cannot eat the cream off the performance cake.

Does the hardware compatibility upgrade process delete the files inside the virtual machine?

This process only updates the virtual BIOS and motherboard setup. Your Word files, pictures, or installed programs on the desktop stay in place. However, you must pay attention to some critical points.

Especially on antique operating systems like Windows XP, a blue screen risk can come up because new hardware drivers are not found. Also, the activation key may detect the hardware change and ask you for a license again.

But do not worry, in this case VMware offers you an automatic cloning option before the process.

How should I choose between ‘Alter this virtual machine’ and ‘Clone before Converting’?

Here, this question is worth its weight in gold. If your virtual machine is a critical server of your company, do not ever click the ‘Alter’ option. First create a backup with ‘Clone before Converting’.

Because if the power goes out or an error happens during the hardware change, your VM file can get damaged. If you have a backup, in the worst case you go back to the start.

However, for a simple test machine at home, you can save time by directly saying ‘Alter’. The decision depends fully on the importance of the data.

Does the virtual machine’s boot speed or performance increase after the upgrade?

It definitely increases, and this increase is especially felt in graphics-heavy tasks. Old hardware versions imitate old DirectX and OpenGL versions. With the new version, 3D acceleration support is updated and screen transitions flow like oil.

Together with this, modern features like USB 3.0 and NVMe virtual disk controller also become active. So to speak, you bring an old car together with a new engine brain.

In short, even VMware Tools communicates more stable and faster on the new hardware version.

What happens if I want to go back to an old Workstation version?

Sadly, this road is a one-way street. Once you pull the hardware compatibility to Workstation 15.x level, you can no longer open that machine on Workstation 14. The program immediately shuts the door in your face by saying ‘incompatible hardware version’.

So especially if you work with different teams, you must make sure everyone uses the same program version. Otherwise your effort can go to waste.

Luckily, the wizard clearly warns you about this before the process starts.

Can I manually change the hardware version on VMware Workstation?

Honestly, this method is a rare gift for lazy users. You do not have a chance to go into the virtual machine settings and lower or raise the version from a menu. The only valid way is to click the Upgrade button on that yellow warning bar that appears when you open the machine.

You are forced to follow this wizard from start to finish. As another alternative, you can open the ‘.vmx’ file with Notepad and edit the ‘virtualHW.version’ line by hand.

But I only suggest this method to advanced users who know very well what they are doing.

Conclusion

In this article, we have examined step by step how to upgrade the hardware version of a machine installed with an older version of VM Workstation.

How to Upgrade Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility in VMware