Running Windows XP guest causes host to freeze

[omega1]

Hi all,

New here, please be gentle!

I am attempting to run an instance of Windows XP (SP3) with VirtualBox 4.3.2 on a host which is itself a Virtual Server running Windows Server 2008 R2.

Now I'm aware that it may not be recommended to attempt this, but I have successfully run Windows 98 on it, but am stuck trying to run Windows XP.

I have tried different ISO's of WIndows XP, but all stick at exactly the same place. It appears to boot past the Oracle splash screen and starts the install process 'Windows Setup', past loading the initial startup files, but when it gets to 'Setup is starting Windows' the freezes the host machine causing it to require a reboot.

I am getting nothing at all from the host audit logs (event viewer), but the VirtualBox log gives me the following:

Code: Select all

00:00:00.562500          Loading settings file "C:\Users\Administrator\VirtualBox VMs\Windows XP\Windows XP.vbox" with version "1.14-windows"
00:00:50.953125          ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_INVALID_VM_STATE (0x80bb0002) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={Machine} aText={Machine is not locked for session (session state: Unlocked)}, preserve=false
00:00:51.513671          Load [C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox/ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/win.amd64/VBoxHostWebcam.DLL] rc VINF_SUCCESS
00:00:51.620117          ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80bb0005) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={SessionMachine} aText={Saved screenshot data is not available (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)}, preserve=false
00:02:05.114257          ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_INVALID_VM_STATE (0x80bb0002) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={Machine} aText={Machine is not locked for session (session state: Unlocked)}, preserve=false
00:02:05.435546          Load [C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox/ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/win.amd64/VBoxHostWebcam.DLL] rc VINF_SUCCESS
00:02:05.444335          ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80bb0005) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={SessionMachine} aText={Saved screenshot data is not available (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)}, preserve=false

Apart from telling me to not attempt to run a VM on a VM, can this be done at all? Does anyone know why it fails at this stage causing the hsot to freeze and require a reboot?

Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions.

[mpack]

Provide the VM log file. Minimum information needed for assistance.

[omega1]

Hi mpack, thanks for responding, apologies for not reading the requirements!

I am running VirtualBox 4.3.2 r90405

Host is a VPS running Windows 2008 R2 64bit Intel Xeon E5620 @ 2.4GHz with 2GB RAM.
Guest attempting to run is Windows XP 32bit SP3 with 256Mb of RAM

Log attached.

Thank you.

[mpack]

Ah, I see it in the log file and now I see that you did mention it - however VirtualBox does not support nested virtualization. It may work, it may not. It wasn't a design goal.

Also, 192MB is not an awful lot to give an XP guest. 512MB is usually about right. Lack of memory will lead to thrashing and poor performance.
You should disable VT-x, which won't be available inside a VM (AFAIK only VMWare provides that).
Also... did you give the XP guest a 2.5GB drive? That seems way too low. A basic XP-SP2 install will just about fill that. My XP VMs have 32GB drives. Lack of disk space will make the thrashing problem worse, and all disk I/O will be slowed due to congestion.

[omega1]

Hi, thanks again. I was told it would not work, but wanted to give it a go!

I just tried again with 768Mb RAM and 20Gb space but it freezes and kills the VPS host at the same stage...

I guess it can't be done!

Thanks for replying.