virtualbox.org

Hi,

I have a emachines Notebook with WIN XP, about 5 years old.
Athlon 3000+, 1,5 GB RAM, 128MB Graphics.
The DVD/CD-ROM can't read CDs anymore. It's still listed correctly in the hardware manager.

My problem:
I want to install a fresh XP on the harddisk.
The latest BIOS for my Notebook does NOT support USB booting or booting from any other external HD or CD-ROM.

Maybe it would work via network installation. But I don't know anything about this.

My question:
Is it possible to make a virtual OS physical?
Can i create a physical bootable partition with a fresh XP install based on the virtual OS I've created with VB before?
Can I use VB for it?

Of course, buying a new internal CD-ROM would be the easiest way.
The next computer shop is about 400 clicks away and I am sitting in the middle of nowhere between buffaloes and rice farms.....but we have UMTS here

Anyone can help?
If there is no solution with VB, please tell me how i can get a fresh XP on my notebook.

Thanks
thairicci

So what you are telling us is that the only boot option left for your rather aged laptop is from the internal HDD which has an existing XP installation on it? Dual booting Windows OSs Physical/Virtual etc. is difficult enough at the best of times doing this without an alternative boot device to call on is almost impossible. I wouldn't look to a visualization product such as VBox to get you out of this sort of hole. Sorry.

thairicci wrote:Of course, buying a new internal CD-ROM would be the easiest way.

That would be wise I would think. I can't think of a way to reinstall an operating system that doesn't involve wiping the current drive, and that certainly requires an alternate bootable drive with a (semi) decent capacity. If you have any kind of skill with a screwdriver then you could possibly order the replacement drive by online mail order and install it yourself.

Couldn't help myself:
Google: "pxe windows install"
Install Windows over network with PXE
Fully automating the installation of Windows ... or directly from the network
Guide: Install Windows without a CD-ROM or floppy drive

Thanks for your helpful replies.

I still have 10 GB left on my HD.
Would it be possible to create another partition with Acronis or similar programs and install a fresh XP from a mounted image?
Can I install a new XP on another partition while i am in my old XP??

Kind of confusing for me.....

Again, thanks for your help

To do a clean install of XP you need to boot off the XP installation medium which is normally a CD. You say that you can't do this.