Re: Portable VMware Player ggeldorp Sep 10, 2009 4:24 PM ( in response to vikram01 ) No, unfortunately not possible since VMware Player uses kernel-mode drivers.
I'm with Bruce. You probably could do it (I've never tried though), but performance would be an issue. USB is both a bottleneck in itself (certainly USB 2.0) but also places a significant load on the processor. By installing on the HDD, you get very fast disc access and more CPU resources directed at what you should be doing.
Or, are you thinking perhaps as using it as a kind of live drive? If so, get a multiboot loader (SARDU, YUMI etc) and install the system on your USB, it'll work just fine without being 'virtual'. I am wondering why you would even want to run VMWare from a USB device. Just install it to your hard drive, create a new virtual machine for whatever operating system you want and install it to that VM.
![Laptop Laptop](http://loadion.com/ii/4732444906_b9197aca77.jpg)
You will no longer need the CD and you are not dual-booting your system. Whenever you want the alternate operating system, you siimply start the VM with no need for a pendrive to do so and it is always available on that system. And unless changes have been made recently, a VM created on one system using VMWare Player can't be used on another computer, so portability isn't possible there.
![Vmware Vmware](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125385204/366851922.png)
(Although, if a VM is created with VMWare Workstation - their paid product - it can be moved to other machines.).