Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is now RTM and launched. I would like to play with it in a virtual environment. I added a new virtual machine in VMWare Server 2.0 (beta 1) with the 'Guest Operating System' set to 'Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)'. The host machine is Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition 64-bit Edition so I didn't expected problems.
However, VMWare Server 2.0 didn't allow me to run a 64-bit guest operating system. After booting the guest with the Win2008 DVD (ISO image) I got this error: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. And Attemting to load a 64-bit application, however this CPU is not compatible with 64-bit mode. The status code is 0xc000035a.
After surfing a while on the internet I found the reason. I have to enable Intel Virtualization Technology in the BIOS of the server. I didn't test it yet because for this change I have to take the car, drive an hour to the data center, switch the BIOS setting and drive back :-(
How do I know if I can run a 64-bit guest Operating System?
It's nice to know that VMWare released a nice utility that checks whether or not your PC can run 64-bit guest operating systems. You can find it their web site: http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html.
Note: This utility tells me that I can run 64-bit guests, although I doesn't work (with the VT-option disabled).