You have two versions of of VMWare to choose from.

VMWare Workstation Player

• Free for personal use.
• Good choice for running a single virtual machine.

VMWare Workstation Pro

• Drag-able Tabbed Interface for managing multiple virtual machines.
• Snapshot VM's to prevent data loss.
• Easily clone virtual machines.

Host Hardware

• CPU - GW2 is very demanding on the CPU. Buy the fastest CPU you can afford, with a preference for more cores over the mhz.
• GPU - GW2 will need 1GB of video memory per VM, plus a gig or two for your host machine. Prioritize getting a video card with lots of video memory over a faster GPU. You can use multiple video cards (if your motherboard supports it) to run more VM's.
• RAM - You will need at least 4GB of memory per VM, plus another 4GB for the host machine. Buy the slowest cheapest RAM your motherboard will support.
• Disk - Buy at least a 2TB Solid-State Disk. (SSD) Major performance issues may occur if your disk is not solid-state.
• BIOS/CMOS - Make sure all of the virtualization settings are enabled, otherwise you won't be able to run VMWare.

Virtual Machine “Hardware” Configuration (For guest Virtual Machines)

• Firmware: UEFI without secure boot is preferred. Select BIOS only if you're having trouble booting.
• Memory: At least 4GB (4096 MB) of physical memory.
• Processors: Set 1 processor with 4 cores per processor.
• Hard Disk: SCSI Interface. 120GB size or 60GB/60GB for separate Windows and Game. Solid-State drives are HIGHLY recommended.
• Network Adapter: NAT
• Display: Accelerate 3D Graphics with 1GB graphics memory.

Windows Software Configuration

• Windows 10 Download ISO You do not need to have a valid CD key to install Windows 10.
• VPN Private Internet Access Connect up to 10 VM's to different locations.
• VMWare Tools This is REQUIRED to be installed on any guest virtual machines or GW2 will crash upon launch. Create a free account at VMWare and search their downloads section for VMWare Tools to get the latest version.

The following VBScript file (.vbs) will give all your VM's high priority after they have been started. You'll need to run this script with elevated privileges on the host machine. (right-click, choose Run as Administrator)

Const HIGH_PRIORITY = 128
strComputer = “.”
Set objWMIService = GetObject(“winmgmts:” _ & “{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\” & strComputer & “\root\cimv2”)
Set colProcesses = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ (“Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'vmware-vmx.exe'”)
For Each objProcess in colProcesses objProcess.SetPriority(HIGH_PRIORITY) Next

The following command line arguments should be specified in the Minion launcher, without the quotes.

“-dx9single -forwardrenderer -nosound -nomusic -shareArchive -fps 5”

• -dx9single: Direct3D in single-threaded mode.
• -forwardrenderer: Forward Rendering instead of Deferred Rendering.
• -nosound: Disables sound.
• -nomusic: Disables music.
• -fps 5: Limits FPS to 5 at the character select screen.

The following batch file (.cmd) will prevent Windows from automatically rebooting after Windows Updates are applied. You'll need to run this batch file from an elevated command prompt.

@ECHO OFF
CD /D “C:\WINDOWS\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator”
:LOOP
DEL /S /Q Reboot
MD Reboot
IF NOT EXIST Reboot\NUL GOTO LOOP

The following batch file (.cmd) will uninstall a ton of bloatware programs that come with Windows. You'll need to run this batch file from an elevated command prompt.

powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowscalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowscamera* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *phone* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage”
powershell -c “Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage”

The following registry file (.reg) modifies the compatibility flags for GW2, which can make it run better.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
“D:\\Guild Wars 2\\Gw2-64.exe”=“~ DISABLEDXMAXIMIZEDWINDOWEDMODE WIN7RTM DisableDWM HIGHDPIAWARE DISABLETHEMES”

The following registry files (.reg) will disable a ton of unnecessary processes.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\TextInputHost.exe]
“Debugger”=““
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBar.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBarFT.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBarFTServer.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBarElevatedFT.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBarElevatedFT_Alias.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GameBarPresenceWriter.exe]
“Debugger”=”“
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\smartscreen.exe]
“Debugger”=”“

The following registry file (.reg) will disable a ton of unnecessary services.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AudioEndpointBuilder]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Audiosrv]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ClipSVC]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DusmSvc]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DoSvc]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DiagTrack]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DispBrokerDesktopSvc]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Power]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes]
“Start”=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
“Start”=dword:00000004

The following registry file (.reg) will disable a lot of Windows Security that you may not need on an isolated VM.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
“MoveImages”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BFE]
“Start”=dword:00000004

Holding shift and restarting the Windows 10 VM will allow you to boot to a diagnostic command prompt, in which you can delete some apps that otherwise cannot be removed.

CD /D C:\
DEL /S /Q TextInputHost.exe
DEL /S /Q *gamebar*.exe
DEL /S /Q MsMpEng.exe
CD /D “C:\Program Files\Windows Defender”
:LOOP
DEL /Q MsMpEng.exe
MD MsMpEng.exe
IF NOT EXIST MsMpEng.exe\NUL GOTO LOOP