Is Virtual XP running or not?

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
Post Reply
SteveHigham
Posts: 4
Joined: 29. Mar 2021, 13:06

Is Virtual XP running or not?

Post by SteveHigham »

Hello

I get this screen (attached) when trying to create a virtual XP on my Win 10 desktop: 'FATAL. No bootable medium found! System halted'. Yet, in VirtualBox
Manager, it says my virtual XP is running, so I am a bit confused. I have a Windows XP installation disk in my CD/DVD drive.

Thank you.
Attachments
VBOX.jpg
VBOX.jpg (69.3 KiB) Viewed 890 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Is Virtual XP running or not?

Post by mpack »

The message means what it says: "FATAL. No bootable medium found" means you don't have a bootable disk attached to the VM.

You understand I hope that there are no free licensed operating systems bundled with VirtualBox? VirtualBox provides the simulated PC (virtual hardware), but you have to install any software you want, including the OS, just as if you bought a blanked PC from eBay. If you haven't installed an OS then the PC's disks will be blank, and this error message would be the result when you try to boot.

And yes, the VM is running: the virtual PC's BIOS couldn't display that error message if it wasn't running. Obviously XP is not running because you did not successfully boot into XP.
BillG
Volunteer
Posts: 5100
Joined: 19. Sep 2009, 04:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows 10,7 and earlier
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Is Virtual XP running or not?

Post by BillG »

The vm has its own emulated optical drive. It does not use a CD in the host's optical drive unless you tell it that you want it to do so.

Go to the settings on the vm and select Storage. Click on the optical drive (which will be showing Empty) and then click on the blue disk at the right side of the optical disk display. Select the Host Drive from the dropdown list. Now start your vm and it should boot from the installation disk.
Optical.PNG
Bill
Post Reply