How do I enable Ethernet wifi access within VMware for Windows 7?

I've been experimenting with Microsoft Windows 7 beta on my Mac OS X system through using VMware Fusion and while I don't know of anyone else doing this, I have read on the Internet that it's a viable combo. Problem is, when I actually try it, I find that there's no Internet access and Windows 7 complains that there's no "Ethernet driver" installed? How do I fix that?

Dave's Answer:

You're not alone with this problem, the "missing Ethernet driver" error, where opening Internet Explorer in Windows 7, for example, generates the error message "cannot display the webpage" and when you click on "diagnose connection problems" you get to see the new improved Windows Network Diagnostics system run, just to have it report the relatively unhelpful error: "Windows did not detect a properly installed network adapter. If you have a network adapter, you will need to reinstall the driver."

Here's what you need to do, and it involves munging around (yes, that's the technical term) with one of the VMware Fusion configuration files. To do this, your first step is to completely shut down VMware and Windows 7 within it.

Done with that? Good. Now you need to find where the system is storing your VMware Windows 7 image.

Probably it's in /Users/your user ID/Documents/Virtual Machines/the name of your Win7 VM

On my system, for example, it's:

/Users/taylor/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows 7.vmwarevm

In that directory are a bunch of files:

3722496 Windows 7-s001.vmdk
3815936 Windows 7-s002.vmdk
2635904 Windows 7-s003.vmdk
    128 Windows 7-s004.vmdk
 266880 Windows 7-s005.vmdk
    512 Windows 7-s006.vmdk
     24 Windows 7.nvram
      8 Windows 7.vmdk
      0 Windows 7.vmsd
      8 Windows 7.vmx*
      0 Windows 7.vmx.lck/
      8 Windows 7.vmxf
   1584 vmware-0.log
    280 vmware-1.log
    144 vmware-2.log
    784 vmware.log

The file we seek is called "partition name.vmx". Mine is "Windows 7.vmx". In that file are a few lines that define the Ethernet configuration:

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "nat"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

You need to add one line to the file here:

ethernet0.virtualDEV = "e1000"

This can be easily done with "TextEdit" or any other editor that'll leave the file as plain text. I used the "vi" editor within the "Terminal", but I'm kind of old school in this regard.

With this line added, simply restart your VMware, restart Windows 7 and, if the bitgods are with you, you'll find that you miraculously have Internet connectivity!

If not, make sure you have networking enabled, and that you've selected NAT:

Hope that helps you get up and online with Windows 7 on your Mac. It's a weird concept, but it's helpful to know what's coming!

Disclaimer: The link to VMWare Fusion is an affiliate link. Your cost for the product is identical but they pay me a commission that helps us keep the lights on. Thanks!

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Categorized: Mac OS X Help , Windows PC Help (Article 8858, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: mac os x, microsoft windows 7, virtual machines, vmware fusion
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Reader Comments To Date: 31

Dominic said, on May 12, 2009 3:21 AM:

That was a SUPER solution by Dave...
It worked like a GEM....

mehdi said, on May 26, 2009 10:51 AM:

Awesome.
I lost a lot of time on this problem but still, you made me save a lot.
Many thanks !

Cliff said, on June 24, 2009 2:17 PM:

This was exactly what I needed to make my installation talk to the network. Just what the doctor ordered and saved me tons of time wondering why things weren't connecting.

Jeff said, on July 21, 2009 11:12 AM:

I have the following situation.

VMWare Fusion - Windows 7
Networked using "Bridged"
I can see my home other computers on my home network. But I can not access the internet. Windows 7 keeps suggesting to reboot the physical router!

If I change the network type to "NAT" from "Bridged" I have the opposite problem. I have internet access but can not see other computers on the home network.

Please help!

Thanks!

Dennis Lillee said, on August 18, 2009 11:55 PM:

I have the same problem as described by Jeff above. That is:

Environment: Windows 7 (RTM) running on Mac OS X VMWare Fusion 2.0

If I set the network adapter to NAT, I have internet access but can't see my home network.

If I set the network adapter to 'bridged' I can see the home network but can't access the internet.

Whats going on and how can I fix this?

Thanks.

Pavlov said, on August 30, 2009 4:44 AM:

Great Man!!!
Thank you so much!
It works!

I use Boot Camp partition and on my Mac virtual machine config files stores in
/Users/epavlov/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual
Machines/Boot Camp/%2Fdev%2Fdisk0/Boot Camp partition.vmwarevm/
It's not the directory. I had to open it in another file manager, not in Finder.

Thank You once again!

ammoun said, on November 7, 2009 6:52 PM:

Guys, Having the same problem I selected "bridged". I went into the adapter properties, set a fixed IP address like (192.168.1.117) mask 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.1.1 and DNS 192.168.1.1 (these depend on your network and router. Doing so this worked fine but not for NAT! When I run a VPN with my IP set to automatically selected I can connect normally so the problem is with WIN7 (Vista) there is an error in obtaining an IP address from the router using bridged and NAT connections so try to fix (assign yourself) an IP address and hope it works for you! :-)

ammoun said, on November 7, 2009 7:20 PM:

To be fair the error is evidently that of VMware not Win 7!

ammoun said, on November 10, 2009 2:50 AM:

Just to confirm, if I set my own IP address, Gateway IP and DNS IP, my "Bridged" network adapter works fine and I can see my network printer ...etc. If I leave the IP to Automatic then I cannot see the printer, my "Bridged" network adapter setting does not connect to the internet, my "NAT" connects, however it fails to see local network, only the internet! This is weird and most definitely has to do with the VMware/Win 7 combo failing to obtain and IP address (register on the network) properly. Any suggestions from anyone? I do not wish to keep my IP set as I move from one WiFi network to another at different venues.

ammoun said, on November 11, 2009 3:08 PM:

I just tried a fresh Win 7 installation with Parallels Desktop 5 and it is exactly the same problem as with VMware Fusion 3 with Win 7. So.... it seems that the problem is Win 7 (and Vista before it)!
So I withdraw my comment up there the error is that of Windows 7 not VMware!
This is as far as my knowledge goes! Anyone with an answer?
Bless you all.

darviol said, on November 11, 2009 7:59 PM:

Helllo
I have same problem with Ethernet controller but not sure understand when you mention to shut down VMware and Windows 7, need how to find VMware tomake this change

ammoun said, on November 17, 2009 6:46 AM:

Guys,
I just changed my router to Belkin (from LiveBox that came with my ISP provider subscription) and my NAT and BRIDGED networks both worked well!! It seems that neither VMware Fusion v3 nor Windows 7 are at fault, it was my router!! So please try to change your routers or fiddle with the settings!
Bless you all.

ammoun said, on November 17, 2009 7:11 AM:

I am sorry, I rushed my comment! I restarted and found out my NAT network does not "see" my printer or other computers on my local network! We are back to square one with no help from VMware or Microsoft!

ammoun said, on November 17, 2009 4:18 PM:

My final comment and the resolution of my problem; as explained to me by the VMware support (very good people indeed); NAT networks use virtual IP addresses assigned by the virtual machine's DHCP not by the router and hence the virtual machine is not given an IP in the physical local network which explains why NAT networks do not "see" network printers and other computers on the physical network (router and devices connected to it), it only connects to the internet through the NAT (and router) and connects to the MAC of course.
Bridged networks, however, obtain an address from the DHCP of the router and are, therefore, part of the physical network and hence can "see" the local network devices and other computers connected to the router and are on the network along with the MAC of course.
The above has been the case since I changed my router and so I am now OK. Support tells me that some routers act weird and for some reason refuse to assign IPs to some computers on the network and this is documented with several models out there. So, if your computer is not able to get an IP from the router or the router is failing to act as a DNS for your network in Bridged network configuration, then try another router before anything else.
I hope this is useful to someone.
Good luck to all and God bless.

MDD said, on December 2, 2009 4:55 PM:

Thank you so much! Spot on, as always!

Chris said, on January 12, 2010 5:23 PM:

Worked perfectly for me! Absolute life-saver: THANK YOU!

Chris

Adrian said, on January 14, 2010 11:48 AM:

Thanks alot buddy. Thank goodness for people like you!

Jos said, on August 5, 2010 5:02 PM:

Yes, it worked. Network hardware not found.

Jos said, on August 6, 2010 2:28 AM:

I mean: it really worked!

Surendra said, on November 30, 2010 1:22 PM:

It worked like a champ. Thank you very much.

Regards,
Surendra

Vmwarerr said, on December 1, 2010 4:45 PM:

I would like to know if it is possible to have wifi into vmware knowing that i use windows xp

more specifiqucly i have a os windows 7 and i have a guest under vmware that is windows xp 32 bit , i would like to have my wifi on it but it doesnt work , i tryed it , but i cant figure out ... also i have a dell 1545 inspiron , if you could give me further explanation thank you

mish said, on April 14, 2011 11:42 PM:

didnt work..as a matter of fact, when i looked it was already in there.,

Mike Lee said, on May 15, 2011 12:07 PM:

Ha, awesome! I added that line in the file and it worked perfectly!!! I had this issue on another Mac and couldn't remember how I fixed it. I still don't remember how I fixed it on that machine, but I'm happy to be up and running.

The only thing I add for NOVICES LIKE ME is that when you locate the .vmx file, you need to right-click on it, select "Open With" and in the next window, select TextExit as the program. You have to have that .vmx file opened by an application that is an editor, not just open that application itself. Once you open it with Text Edit, you'll see all of the text the author refers to, insert a cursor at the end of the last ethernet line in the file, hit enter, type in the new line, save the file and then close it. Then you can reopen Fusion and start the virtual machine.

Eva said, on June 14, 2011 5:28 PM:

Thanks a million!! I've been fighting with this all day and probably googled 50 different sites. This one's definitely going in my favorites in case any of my Mac buddies need help too :)

BELPAIRE said, on June 24, 2011 6:31 PM:

Merci!!!!!
Thanks!!!

Otter said, on August 11, 2011 3:02 AM:

Thanks so much - that worked!

Martin said, on August 25, 2011 6:35 AM:

Thanks sooo much!

Rasmus said, on August 25, 2011 11:50 PM:

Dude, you rule!!! Been struggling with this for days! Thanks!!

fellfree said, on October 6, 2011 2:29 PM:

thx bro, rly thx, rly helpful.

Krishna said, on December 30, 2011 1:40 AM:

Hi Dave,

What I wanted to know was, will this method work If I have windows XP on Vmware in macbook should I try the same steps please let me know.
Wish u a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Regards,
Krishna

DTam said, on November 5, 2012 5:20 PM:

worked like a charm so good.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How do I enable Ethernet wifi access within VMware for Windows 7?

Reader Comments To Date: 31

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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