Setting up a Windows VM (Mac - personal student device)

Computing Device Requirement

Students majoring in engineering, mechanical engineering technology, and engineering management should plan to have a laptop for in-class instructional purposes in required Engineering Fundamentals courses.

For engineering students: You will need a Windows-based laptop. A Mac will not allow you to fully participate in course activities, as there is software you need to use that will not run natively on a Mac or on a Windows VM (virtual machine). 

Please visit Computing Device Requirement for more information.

Before you begin

Check that you have an Intel-based Mac. It will also need to meet the system requirements for VMWare Fusion and Windows.

Check the available disk space on your Mac. Please visit the support article to find out how much storage is available on your Mac. You will need a total of at least 20GB of free space for a Windows VM, plus the space needed to install additional software on the VM.

You will need to have enough RAM to run both your Mac OS and your Windows VM. We recommend to have enough available RAM be able to dedicate a minimum of 8GB to your Windows VM while you are using it. In VMWare Fusion, you can find this in Window > Virtual Machine Library > Settings > Processors & Memory.

Intel-based Mac required

Compatible with Intel-based Mac computers only: Windows VMs are not able to be setup on Mac computers with Apple silicon at this time.

Installing a Windows VM

Download and install VMWare Fusion 

VMware Fusion gives Mac users the power to run Windows on a Mac. You can setup a VM, or virtual machine, install Windows, then launch a virtual Windows machine on your Mac. 

For more instructions on how to use VMWare Fusion, please visit VMware Fusion documentation. Check VMWare System Requirements.

Fall 2021 - Latest version is VMWare Fusion 12 Pro

1. Log in to the Software Distribution Center with your Michigan Tech account name (without the @mtu.edu) and password.
2. Select the VMWare Fusion software information page on how to download and install the latest VMWare Fusion version that works with your Mac.
3. Follow the instructions provided to download, install, then open VMWare Fusion.
4. Allow VMWare Fusion to run by going to Apple icon > System Preferences > Security & Privacy and checking the box for VMWare Fusion.
5. Save any VMs that you create on your Desktop or you will likely get errors.
    

Download and install Windows

Once you have VMWare Fusion installed, download a Windows ISO disc image to setup the Windows VM.

For more instructions, please visit Installing Windows 10 as a guest operating system in VMware Fusion - Process to Install Windows 10 in a virtual machine using Windows 10 ISO disc image.

Fall 2021 - Latest version is Windows 10 Education, version 21H1 – DVD

1. Log in to the Software Distribution Center with your Michigan Tech account name (without the @mtu.edu) and password.
2. Select the Microsoft ​​​Windows software information page on how to download and install the latest Windows OS Education version.
3. Follow the instructions provided to download the Windows ISO image.
4. Save the Windows ISO disc image to your Desktop. Keep this on your Desktop or you will likely get errors.
5. Open VMWare Fusion.
   You may have to go to System Preferences  --> Security --> General to allow your computer to open the VM. Select the padlock in the lower left corner of the window to make changes.
6. Create the Windows VM using the Easy Install method.
   1. In the VMWare Fusion menu bar, go to File --> New. You will see a window with Install from disc or image.
   2. Click, hold, then drag your Windows disc image from your Desktop. Then, follow the rest of the prompts to finish.
      You may have to go to System Preferences --> Security --> General to allow your computer to open the VM. 
   3. Choose More Isolated. VMWare Fusion will not share your Mac's documents and applications with Windows. To copy files between  your Mac and Windows, use drag and drop. Do not choose More Seamless, which is the option to share your files between the Windows system and your Mac. Select the padlock in the lower left corner of the window to make changes.
   4. When prompted to save the Windows, browse and save to your Desktop or you will likely get errors.
   5. Launch your Windows VM from your virtual machine list.
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