No networking on XP guest (no matter the settings)

[CJolliffe@GCom]

Please bear with me I am new to Virtualbox. On a service call today I ran into a Mac OS X 10.6 host with an XP SP3 host. I initially got a .vdi error. After I recovered from that error, I started the VM and had no networking. It just kept going to the add hardware screen with configuration working. I tried NAT, Bridged, and all the driver options in the host and every driver in the guest and nothing worked. No one at the shop uses Virtualbox, we only support VMware. I really want to help this guy out though, his business depends on it. If anyone can help I would be eternally grateful. Thanks!

[Perryg]

With Windows XP you should select PCnet-FAST III for the adapter and NAT if there is no router.
Select Bridged if there is and can obtain a DHCP address from the router.
You will need to specify a little more about the actual condition that they are wanting to use the VM for.
Also if the guest had serious problems you may nee to delete the network adapter in Windows and reboot to allow Windows to actually install the drivers again.

[CJolliffe@GCom]

He is using the VM to run EagleSoft for a dentists office. It connects to the server for the patient files. I tried uninstalling the adapter, but XP cannot find the drivers when I go through the add hardware wizard. I tried the PCNet-Fast III and NAT and restarted the VM and I got the add hardware wizard and it couldn't find the driver. Should I manually point to the driver or let it find it? Thank you so much for the fast reply.

[CJolliffe@GCom]

Also, I tried to run Time Machine (to restore to working order), and it still didn't work; just as the someone warned in another post on a similar topic. Should I try renaming the preferences.pst file. Also the adapter works fine in the host.

[Perryg]

I am not much on a MAC but if that would clear the problem (I think I saw someone else do that) then yes give it a try.
I find it really strange that Windows can not find the driver though. It seems to be a standard Windows network adapter that works for any XP that I have every installed. I am guessing that XP can not see the network adapter that VBox provides.

Edit: If he is accessing a server then you will need to use Bridged.

[CJolliffe@GCom]

I'll go back today and try bridged with the PCNet Fast III adapter again. Should I let XP find the driver or point to it myself (should that even matter?). If that doesn't work I'll try the prefereces thing too. I'm not much for Mac either but I'm running in to them more and more so it looks like better adapt. I'll post the results later today. Thanks again for the help and quick replies.

[CJolliffe@GCom]

Is it possible to create a new VM using the virtual disk files form the old VM? I thought that may solve the problem. I assume it would be pretty straight forward, I think I saw that option somewhere.

[Perryg]

If there are no snapshots you can release the vdi from the guest, then remove (do not delete) using the media manager. Then create a new guest and attach the vdi instead of creating a new HDD. But this more than likely will not help any. Try installing a new guest completely and see if it works. You have some time with XP before it requires you to register it with Microsoft.