A systematic growth of CdTe films on two kinds of substrates, Coming 7059 glass and SnO2-coated glass, has been performed by hot-wall vacuum evaporation (HWVE). From the dependence of deposition rare on source temperature, the growth in the HWVE system is limited by the transport of CdTe vapor from source to substrate. The deposition rate of CdTe films grown on either 7059 glass or SnO2-coated glass gradually decreases with increasing substrate temperature, while the grain sizes increase with substrate temperature, X-ray diffraction showed that all of the CdTe films on either Coming 7059 glass or SnO2-coated glass deposited at substrate temperature below 275 degrees C have a preferential orientation of the (111) planes parallel to the substrate. However, the degree of the preferential orientation in the films at substrate temperature of 300 degrees C reduced remarkably. High-energy shift of absorption edge in the grown CdTe films were also observed in transmittance spectra.