Can an x86 host run x64 guests?
Is it possible to run x64 guests on x86 host in VMWare Workstation 6.5? It would probably make my life easier due to notebook device drivers...
Edit
Just to make it clear. I also added my CPU to tags. Based on your answers I should be able to run in this configuration because I do have support for VT in BIOS.
Solution 1:
Yes, VMWare Workstation can run 64-bit guests on a 32-bit hosts...however it is required that your hardware can support 64-bit OS's (it doesn't have to run a 64-bit OS, it just needs to support it).
- Blog post talking about it
- Free tool to check if your CPU is capable of running 64-bit guests
Solution 2:
It depends on your hypervisor. As Chopper and davr have pointed out, VMware Workstation 6.5 supports 64-bit VMs on a 32-bit host with VT extensions enabled in the BIOS.
Some older versions of VMware did not support this.
Solution 3:
Contrary to other answers I'm certain that you can do this, so long as your processor and BIOS support hardware virtualisation anyway. It's not a great way of doing it and I wouldn't suggest giving the guest too much memory either, but yes, yes it will work.