virtualbox.org

I have Windows XP installed as a virtual machine in VirtualBox on my Windows 7 PC. I would like to install Windows 8 over this Windows XP installation. First thing I did was to check the Win XP installation for Win 8 compatibility. The MS app reported that Win 8 couldn't be installed on the "machine" because of hardware issues. So, I thought maybe I needed to start win a Win 8 installation to get a virtual machine with suitable virtual hardware, then install Win XP, then install Win 8. Sounds crazy? No, I am planning for Windows 8 release. I will use the Win XP installation to upgrade to Win 8 at the discount price.

Anyway, when I tried to install Win XP on top of the Win 8 installation, it failed with a message that no hard drive was connected.

Any ideas about how to install one OS over an existing OS?

Thanks for any advice, Jim

Upgrading Windows is not a good idea. I dont mean the price, i mean the result.

Better make a clean install. And later copy the files from old image to new image. Just bind old image temporarily to the new guest for that.

stefan.becker wrote:Upgrading Windows is not a good idea. I dont mean the price, i mean the result.

Better make a clean install. And later copy the files from old image to new image. Just bind old image temporarily to the new guest for that.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I was going to do a HD format as part of the installation.

I am not sure what you mean by "bind old image temporarily".

What about the message that says there is no hard drive attached?

Thanks, Jim

Make a clean install from win8. After that you can bind the old image as second hd to the guest and copy files from old to new image.

I am missing something. I want to install Win 8 on the Win XP installation. (Proof of valid license, etc.) But, the Win 8 installation fails because of hardware that is not compatible with Win 8.

So, I thought I might be able to install Win XP on a Win 8 RP "machine". Then the hardware should be compatible with Win 8 and I would have a Win XP installation for validation of license.

But when I try to install Win XP to the Win 8 RP "machine" it fails with a message about no HD connected.

Thanks, Jim

Win 8 64 Bit?

stefan.becker wrote:Win 8 64 Bit?

Yes!

Thanks, Jim

Tehn you have to change the settings in VBOX before that. XP 32 => Win8 64 Bit.

stefan.becker wrote:Tehn you have to change the settings in VBOX before that. XP 32 => Win8 64 Bit.

Sorry Stefan, I still don't understand. I have Win 8 64 bit installed. What do I need to do to install Win XP so that the license is valid for a Win 8 final install?

Thanks, Jim

Another try. I installed Windows 8 RP 32 bit. No problems. Then I try to install Win XP 32 bit on the same machine. I put a WinXP 32 bit iso file in the virtual CD drive. Then when I boot the Win8RP machine, I press any key to boot from the CD. Boot proceeds to point where Win XP is being started. Then I get the failure message about no HD attached.

Is what I am trying to do possible? All I want is a virtual machine running WinXP that I can install Win 8 32 bit on.

Thanks, Jim

A VM is just a PC, same as any other PC. You can do anything on it that you can do on any other PC. So, if the Win8 upgrade doesn't work properly for you then you really need to contact Microsoft about that.

The problem was that Windows XP doesn't recognize SATA controllers. Once I mounted the Windows 8 HD on the IDE controller, Windows XP installed with no problems. Well, there was a problem with the network adapter. Windows XP didn't recognize the adapter that was installed with Win 8 RP, so I changed it to an adapter that Win XP recognizes. So now I have a virtrual PC with Windows XP , that should upgrade to Windows 8.

Jim