Migrate Windows XP to VirtualBox on Linux

mastermindg · Post by **mastermindg** » 18. Jan 2008, 08:32

I know that I cannot possibly be the first person to try to accomplish this task, but I don't seem to see any clear answers to this anywhere.

I have a pre-existing Windows installation that I use for work. I have a dozen mission-critical proprietary apps. It is not an option for me to install a clean install and then reinstall the applications as that would be time prohibitive and an overall PITA. I also use a VPN connection as well.

I am trying to migrate this existing installation to a VirtualBox install on my Ubuntu machine. I have installed a couple of clean versions of XP and 2000 for testing purposes (and in case i need a clean HAL). I have run the MergeIDE script per the Virtualbox Mini.

What I would like to do is to clone my HD and then set this up as a guest VID on my Ubuntu box.

Can this be done, and if so, how?

Thanks in advance.

Post by **frank** » 18. Jan 2008, 10:50

Please refer to the user manual section 9.9 and http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows

mastermindg · Post by **mastermindg** » 18. Jan 2008, 11:18

Thanks for the tip. I will read through section 9 in the manual. I have already read through the wiki and acted accordingly. My real question was how to translate my existing installation into a vdi-compatible format.

ledos · Post by **ledos** » 29. Jan 2008, 22:09

I have a similar situation. I used Acronis TrueImage to make an image of my vmware virtual machine (could be a real/hardware system too) then created a new *.vdi format drive and restored with TrueImage.

Similar programs like Ghost may do the same, i just promote TrueImage because it works for me in all cases...

Before i make an image i first followed the preparation stuff as indicated in the forum and manual. Hope this helps.