Is it possible to run Windows XP WIM file under Virtualbox?

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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realkhaki
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Joined: 29. Sep 2011, 10:22
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Is it possible to run Windows XP WIM file under Virtualbox?

Post by realkhaki »

Hi All,

I have Windows XP .wim file and would like to run it on VB. I've tried to convert it to .iso file first but didn't find any straight forward solution, after struggling with Win AIK I gave up as created iso file was not bootable in VB.

Is there any way to run .wim file on VB software? If not, do you maybe know how to convert wim to some other file type supported by VB?

Thanks,
Michal
Sasquatch
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Re: Is it possible to run Windows XP WIM file under Virtualb

Post by Sasquatch »

A .wim file is a Windows Image, which has to be restored using the WAIK toolkit. For that to work, you have to look at the usage of that tool. You could for example store the image on a USB drive, then boot the VM using an ISO that has the WAIK toolkit for restoring a wim file and do it that way. You can also put the wim file in the ISO itself. Remember, VB can't boot from USB drives.
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scp
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Re: Is it possible to run Windows XP WIM file under Virtualb

Post by scp »

And the reason why a .wim cannot directly attached as HDD or CD is because it is not an partition image (block based) its more like a "enhanced ZIP archive" (file based).
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