Windows XP Guest

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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JackWaterhouse
Posts: 3
Joined: 31. Jan 2009, 00:31

Windows XP Guest

Post by JackWaterhouse »

Hi...

Sorry if this is a well-known issue. I'm new to VirtualBox.

We have some fairly old machines running dedicated tasks under Windows XP.

Is there a way we could create a complete disc image of an XP hard drive - with all the updates and drivers and such we have installed therein - and run that as a guest under VirtualBox?

Thanks.

::Jack
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Windows XP Guest

Post by scottgus1 »

Yes. You're trying a Physical to Virtual, or P2V, and it's been done googolplexes of times. Web-search "XP P2V site:forums.virtualbox.org" for others who have done it, also see How to migrate existing Windows installations to VirtualBox:

In the link above, under "Step By Step Instructions For Windows XP", step 1 re MergeIDE is essential, can't skip it, also the "agp440.sys / intelppm.sys" part above the list. (If you're worried about damaging the running XP PC with these changes, make a full disk image of the PC as a backup. Macrium Reflect Free is good for this.)

Steps 2-4 are out of date. You can replace them with this:
2. install and run Disk2vhd on the XP PC. Make a VHD (not a VHDx) copy of all the XP PC's partitions, saved on a USB drive attached to the PC.
3. Bring the USB drive to the Virtualbox host that will run the XP VM.
4. Use Mpack's CloneVDI to make a VDI clone of the VHD. (VHD has a design error that can cause full loss of the whole drive file under not-so-hard-to-reproduce circumstances.)
Continue with step 5.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Windows XP Guest

Post by mpack »

Can I ask what the "dedicated tasks" are?

If, for example, it involved close control of hardware then that probably isn't going to work well in a VM. Better to buy new (old stock) PCs that XP can still run on, and transfer the XP image onto that (i.e. P2P).

What a VM can do for you is let you practice how to move working XP images between PCs. Scott touched on some of the problems people typically encounter.
JackWaterhouse
Posts: 3
Joined: 31. Jan 2009, 00:31

Re: Windows XP Guest

Post by JackWaterhouse »

Thanks.

To scottgus1 - thanks for the link, and the assurance that it can be done. It looks fairly straight-forward, and we'll give it a shot. We back up the disk images regularly.

To mpack: There's no PC-specific hardware involved - a few USB external devices, but I suspect these won't be an issue. Just lots of old software that would be difficult or impossible to update.

::Jack
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Windows XP Guest

Post by mpack »

JackWaterhouse wrote: To mpack: There's no PC-specific hardware involved - a few USB external devices, but I suspect these won't be an issue.
Well, I didn't say anything about the problem being confined to "PC specific" devices (whatever those are), and being on the USB bus doesn't really change things either. What matters is the intimacy of the connection, e.g. if the application expects tight timing, even for short periods, then it may fail in a VM. Of course it costs you little to try it.

If the devices were entirely passive and timing agnostic, say a bunch of temperature sensors communicating using serial ports, then it may be fine, if the host doesn't interfere. Though still not a job I'd use Windows for, especially not in a VM!
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