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Cloning a VM?
 

Is it ok to clone an existing VM that already had an ebay account running on it? I'm not sure if cloning will copy over cookies or other things to link me to the account. I know the MAC address is different, and I will be using a different IP, anything else to worry about?

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

You should create an "empty" VM template, and clone it. If you clone a used VM, you will need to clear all cookies in the browser!

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

1. Look into portable VMWare
2. MAC Address Isn't tracked by Ebay/PP

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

To clone a VM do you just simply copy the folder and rename it and the vmx file?

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

So you'd create a "ready machine" and set it up to the very first stage of its life. Then just keep copying it to new machines, not machines to machines?

Never tried it before but I'm about to start using it, just trying to get infrmation.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

With Portable VMWare you can put it on an Portable HDD and run all your VMWares off any Computer, no cloning required.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

I doubt a "portable VMware" exist (or at least would be fully functional), considering the application installs many drivers onto the host system for it to work properly (eg: it installs its own virtual network interface on your host computer in order to give guests networking capabilities).

You're better off installing the real Vmware Workstation onto all your computers, and carry the actual virtual machine files around. The virtual machines are easily reconfigured by VMware Workstation automatically when running on different machines.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

You doubt? I use Portable VMWare. I've tested it with my Home PC and Laptop. But I guess I'm wrong.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

I have no clue using VM. I just need a program that will give me different browser fingerprint configurations. Like 30 different browser configs a month. Screen res etc.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

VMware can do that, with every installation you can change the number of fonts, different browsers, etc.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

Can you send me a link of where you got it from? I'd like to see how they implemented its portability.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

I expect an apology soon....

Portable-VirtualBox | Download of Portable-VirtualBox

And for the newbies.....

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

Haidukken - create 1 MAIN VM machine.

Install OS to this one and activate etc.

Rename it to MAIN CLONE

Right Click the name on the left 'MAIN CLONE' > Manage > Clone > Full Clone > Use image you have made > Enter name for new VM machine > Finish.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

I really like this!

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

You do realize Vmware Workstation and Virtualbox are two completely different software made by different companies right?

Either way, you still need to install kernel drivers to support networking according to that project page, and that defeats the purpose of portability. You're better off just installing the normal Virtualbox software on your computers and carry the VM itself around instead for better reliability.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

OMG! yes....I did.

So maybe you should try it before you knock it. I'm trying to help the non-tech savy on this forum.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

Thank you MM78, I'm going to try this, as I would love to carry all my VMs around on my external hard drive. Do you know offhand if I can use the portable installation with VMWare instead of Virtual Box this way?

Love this forum!

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

Just install VMware Workstation onto machines you're intending to use your VMs on, and carry your actual VMs on the external hard drive.

The "portable" virtualbox MM78 linked still requires driver installation for networking, which could result in a huge system mess if it's not cleaned up properly. The same story applies for any potential "portable" vmware software too.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

Thanks BiN4RY. That makes sense. I installed 2 VMs on the portable drive each running XP Prof and the VMWare Workstation player on my laptop and everything works fine. Now all I have to figure out is how to attach the VPNs, as I bought fresh IPs for each of my VMs.

What are these issues with networking that you are referring to? Am I going to run into issues attaching the VM (that is on the portable drive) to a VPN with a fresh IP?

Considering what I am trying to accomplish here, should I scrap the VMs on the portable drive and just install all the VMs directly on my laptop?

Thanks so much for your help.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

There are no issues with networking if you install the VMware Workstation/Player software natively onto the computers.

You can still carry the actual VM files for your accounts around on portable drives.

Re: Cloning a VM?
 

My vote goes for cloning VMWare machines, too. Create multiple machines, with multiple operating systems, which you will clone later and use for different accounts.

I said 'multiple' because I would use
- a Windows XP/Firefox/1920 x 1080 machine for an account,
- a Windows 7/Chrome/1280x720 for another account,
- a Windows 10/Opera/1366x768 for another account...and so on (take into consideration that many other things are being seen by a website, on your computer; things like: plugins versions, flash version, fonts bla bla bla.

Variation is the key nowadays.

Use whoer.net/#extended to check each and every machine you're going to use and make sure that as many elements as possible are different from a machine to another.

Don't worry about the MAC address of the VM...it will be the same if you clone the machine but any kind of website could see (it's impossible for a website to see the MAC address without a plugin which will look for it in the system settings of your computer...quite hard to implement and very abusive technique) the MAC address of the last machine your internet connection is going through, before accessing that particular website. And the last 'machine' would be: your computer, your router, your dongle, the VPN server etc (depending on what sort of connection are you using).