virtualbox.org

how do I install windows software onto Virtual Box on a mac OSX LION running Windows 7?

Just the same way that you would install a Windows OS to a physical computer. Mount the Windows install disk and start the vm.

If you have the physical install DVD, put it in the drive of the mac and set the drive in the vm to use the physical drive on the host. If you have it as an .iso file, mount that file in the DVD drive of the vm. (From VirtualBox Manager select your vm, select Settings then Storage).

I'm having trouble installing Windows XP as a guest OS on a Mac OS 10.5.8 host. I've created the virtual machine and when I start the first run wizard it asks me to select a drive with the installation media (I have the Windows XP CD installed in the CD/DVD drive). A box pops up stating "creating process for virtual machine 'VM-WindowsXP' (GUI/Qt)... (1/2)" with a progress slider, but it shows no progress.... If I force quit this (which I've done a couple of times) and continue with the first run wizard, when VM goes to create the Windows machine the screen reads "FATAL: No bootable media found. system halted".

So, what do I do? do I just need to be more patient with the process creating screen? I'm not a super tech person, but I can usually figure this stuff out....
Thanks,
E

The error says it all. It can't find any media to boot from. This means that the XP install disc is either not loaded in the VM (check the storage settings) or the disc is not made to be booted from. There's plenty of information on this forum to deal with the issue. Start by reading the VirtualBox FAQ and User Manual. Then Google around, specifying this forum as shown in my signature.

>>Just the same way that you would install a Windows OS to a physical computer. Mount the Windows install disk and start the vm.

If you have the physical install DVD, put it in the drive of the mac and set the drive in the vm to use the physical drive on the host. If you have it as an .iso file, mount that file in the DVD drive of the vm. (From VirtualBox Manager select your vm, select Settings then Storage).<<

Thanks! It is a DVD install. So, select settings, then storage? Where do I go to tell VB to accept DVD in Mac drive?

Sorry for dumb questions!!!

Click the disc icon after you selected the DVD drive in the VM settings. It's on the right.

Sasquatch wrote:Click the disc icon after you selected the DVD drive in the VM settings. It's on the right.

Thanks Sasquatch, but I don't have a DVD drive option in my VM settings. I went to storage, selected the right-hand disk, and selected select virtual DVD/CD. I navigated to my desktop and VM didn't recognize the DVD. I opened the DVD and looked for a way that I could drag installer to desktop, but no dice.

Where am I going wrong?

And ((Thanks))

So you're saying that when you open the VM settings, go to the storage section, click on the virtual DVD drive so more options show up, you can't select the ISO? Or you can load the ISO, but it won't boot from it? Remember, the image HAS to be in ISO format, it won't work with any other format. If the Guest can't boot from it, then it's not the right ISO and you need to download another one that can boot a machine.

Some Windows XP installation disks are not bootable.
at BootDisk site, http://www.bootdisk.com/, is a bootable Win 98 CD image that let you start up the XP installation process

I only know of two cases when an ISO is not bootable and that's when he either tried to create one himself and got just the files, not the boot record, or he downloaded an illegal copy. Any other source of ISO, like MSDN, will be properly bootable.

MSN, at one time, distributed a Virtual PC package with a non-bootable Windows XP installation CD - I own one.

That isn't a full install ISO. Like you said, it's a VPC package and thus not a complete installation media. My point still stands.