How?: Create a virtual box image from an existing computer

ajaygautam · Post by **ajaygautam** » 7. Mar 2009, 15:24

Hello,

I have an existing windows-xp laptop that I use for for work.
I would like to convert that OS into a Virtual Box Hard Drive Image (VDI?) file, and use it in virtual box as a guest OS.

Is it possible?

I cannot find related information in the user guide, tech docs, these forums, or google. I was hoping more people have tried it / asked for it.

Would appreciate any help / pointers in the right direction.

Thanks

Ajay
http://www.tapinferno.com/

Post by **Sasquatch** » 7. Mar 2009, 15:27

You can use imaging software like CloneZilla to make a full disk backup of the OS you want to convert to a VM, then restore that image in the VM with the same application. It would be best to have a network share available, so you can store it there and restore it from that same location. If you have more than one hard disk in your computer, or more than one partition, you can save it locally and share it from there to the Guest.

ajaygautam · Post by **ajaygautam** » 7. Mar 2009, 15:51

Holy Penguin!
Thats so simple. I wonder how I missed that.
Backup -> restore...

Thanks for the pointer to CloneZilla. (ISO download in progress).
I think an external USB drive would work as effective as a network share - that would be more convenient for me.

Thanks again

Ajay

virtualbox.org

How?: Create a virtual box image from an existing computer

How?: Create a virtual box image from an existing computer

Re: How?: Create a virtual box image from an existing computer

Re: How?: Create a virtual box image from an existing computer