VirtualBox and BootCamp

[Traff]

I'm running in OSX 10.5.2
I've already installed Windows XP on my Hard Drive using BootCamp
But I also want to run it using VirtualBox

My understanding is/was that this can be done and that BootCamp and VirtualBox will use the same Windows XP installation/space, (actually the reference was that it could be done with Parallels/Fusion but I'm assuming it can be done with VirtualBox too) .
Ok - if I've got that bit wrong please stop me there!

Assuming I'm not already running up a blind alley...
I now have on my OSX host a partioned hard-drive containing WindowsXP already installed. I want to point VirtualBox to that partion - but I'm unsure at which point I achieve this...
In the Create New Virtual Machine panel The Boot Hard Disc drop down is showing <no hard disc> ... if i click 'Existing' it still shows nothing, (I was hoping to be able to select my Windows Partition at this point).
If I click 'New' it seems to go off and create a new area for the installation.

I've got a feeling I've not quite got the concept right here... but I'm not sure where to go - if any of that makes sense to anyone I'd really appreciate a nudge in the right direction...

[axet]

that impossible to do right now.

in future you can use VBoxManage utility for manage your harddisks and add them to VirtualBox diskmanager.

[Traff]

Thanks axet - that saves me chasing my own tail!
Think I'll take it out of BootCamp and load it in VirtualBox

[ramzez]

does it mean one should reinstall windows and all the programs or there is a way of creating an image of the current installation and importing it to the Virtual Box?

[csjjpm]

You would have to use an application like ghost to make an image of your hard disk partition Windows to an external drive.

Create yourself a suitably sized Virtualbox vdi file. Then use a bootable iso such as bartpe with ghost installed on it. Put it as the boot CD in VB and start up bartpe, open ghost and restore your image ghost image to the VDI.

The only problem I can see with this is that the hardware on your old system may cause problems when you bootup.

I have noticed that in Virtualbox the system devices are all 'Intel' something, 82371 PCI to ISA, 82441FX Processor bridge etc etc.

Other VMs have tools which you can apply in the physical system to 'neuter' it (so to speak) so that it will work in their VM. I know you can download the Parallels one for free so you might want to try using theirs as a test.

DISCLAIMER: Backup your system before you take any of my advice.

Paul

[csjjpm]

If you look at the last post in this thread
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=375

The person has said you can extract a VMWare disk image from the converted physical machine and open it straight in VirtualBox.

Haven't tried it but I will and will let you know.
Paul

[csjjpm]

I used the VMWare P2V converter and produced an image of my Shuttle PC (Nvidia chipset) to an external HDD. Copied the vmdk file to my Mac and started up VB.

Created a new virtual machine in VB and chose the existing hard disk option but XP wouldnt boot, tried it in safe mode and it stops at MUP.sys.

I think in principle this will work but it depends on the system devices.

I'll have a go with an Intel chipset and see how far I get.
Paul

[csjjpm]

I used an Intel chipset PC and repeated the steps to create a vmdk file.

Copied this onto my Mac but when I startup the session in Virtualbox I just get a white progress bar and it freezes.

If anyone has any suggestion they would be much appreciated.
Paul

[hamah]

I used an Intel chipset PC and repeated the steps to create a vmdk file.

Copied this onto my Mac but when I startup the session in Virtualbox I just get a white progress bar and it freezes.

If anyone has any suggestion they would be much appreciated.
Paul

at this point it sounds like the issue could be either the p2v conversion or with VB importing a vmdk.

You could install the trial version of Fusion and see if it loads the p2v vmdk

[csjjpm]

I used an Intel chipset PC and repeated the steps to create a vmdk file.

Copied this onto my Mac but when I startup the session in Virtualbox I just get a white progress bar and it freezes.

If anyone has any suggestion they would be much appreciated.
Paul

at this point it sounds like the issue could be either the p2v conversion or with VB importing a vmdk.

You could install the trial version of Fusion and see if it loads the p2v vmdk

My experience of using GHOST would suggest Windows is freezing because of a hardware driver conflict. When I tried VIA or NVidia or Intel ghost images on other chipsets this sort of thing would happen.

What I might have to do is sysprep the system with driverpacks to see if it can stop a proprietary driver loading.

[meatmanek]

I used to use Parallels, which allowed you to boot you BootCamp drive in a virtual machine. It's not all it's cracked up to be. For me, at least, there's not a lot of overlap between the applications I use in BootCamp and the applications I use in a VM, so there's not a lot of benefit from sharing a drive.

Sure, you might save some space on your hard disk, but if you use nLite from http://www.nliteos.com/, you can make a custom install disk for your VM which only takes a few minutes to install, only a few seconds to boot up, and starts out as only a few hundred megs (mine is 670 base install).

There are lots of issues caused by running your boot camp drive in a VM. Once you get it all working (which would be a lot of work to do by hand, I think), you still have to be careful when pausing the VM. If you pause the VM, then shut down Mac OS X and start up Windows, it's like you've done a hard shut down. Then if you shut down Windows, boot up Mac, and try to start your VM again, you're likely to get a whole bunch more problems, because the drive isn't in the state it was in when you paused the VM. A similar situation would occur if you hibernated Windows while running it natively and then tried to start it in VBox.

It just doesn't seem worth the effort to me; I'm happy with my shrunken Windows VM.