XP Guest on Windows 7 Host to support legacy network adapter

[Paul Stubbs]

Hello,

I have a legacy network adapter installed on my host machine that I am unable to get new (windows 7) drivers for. It is necessary that the host now runs Windows 7.

I hoped that i would be able to install windows XP inside a VBox and then use the legacy windows XP drivers for the network adapter in order to comminicate to the card. However, I can't figure out how to do it. In Windows 7 device manager, the network adapter is shown with an error, as there is no driver installed for the device. Does this prevent me from using it (forwarding it?) to VBox at all? I have seen a tutorial on forwarding legacy USB devices into VBox but i can't see how to do it with other devices.

Mnay thanks,
Paul

[mpack]

No, you can't do that. VMs are simulated PCs. They run on pretend hardware, not actual host hardware. The simulations call on the host OS when they want anything real done, which means that the real NIC must be supported by the host OS.

[Paul Stubbs]

Oh that's diappointing. I had hoped that they could access the hardware at a lower level and therefore bypass the host OS for network adapters.

OK thanks for your feedback. Time to uninstall.

Paul