VMWare Player > Log in to guest from host login screen?

[linux]

Windows 7 - VMWare Player 3.1

I recently got Ubuntu 11.04 installed and set up nicely in a virtual machine. I have fixed resolution problems and removed the top bar from the application so it looks almost like an actual native GNOME desktop.

However, as I will be using this VM in class, I really don't want to wait for all of Windows to boot and then load VMWare and select the guest OS.

When VMWare was setting itself up, it created a user account for itself (my machine no longer automatically logs me in, I need to click on my username when Windows 7 boots). Is there any way to enable the guest OS to start from the host OS login screen? Either by creating a new account in Windows and disabling a bunch of startup processes and adding a batch file to start VMWare AND the guest (I don't want to have to choose Ubuntu, to needs to happen automatically). Obviously if I see the Windows desktop for a minute, that's life, but I really just want an easier way to boot Ubuntu.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Mouche]

I don't know of a way to boot to VMware from the login menu of Windows, but you have VMware automatically start once you login to windows.

To do this, you need to create a shortcut to run your VM and then put the shortcut in your Startup folder.

For me, the shortcut looks like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player" "M:\vms\ubuntu.vmx"

Replace those paths with the correct paths to your VMware Player and your VM.

Next, you need to put that shortcut in the Startup folder. For me (in Windows 7), this is the path:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Here's a reference on VMware's website:
Startup Options on a Windows Host

[linux]

Thanks a lot! I didn't realize VMWare accepted the path to an appliance as a flag.