[Solved] Can't activate Windows XP as Guest in Windows 7

[JJB]

Hello,

A bit less than a month ago, I finally got around to switching to Windows 7 SP1 (64 bit, 8GB RAM) and a brand new computer, but I still want to be able to run Windows XP SP3 (32 bit, 192MB RAM) on my new machine. I first decided to try installing Windows XP in VirtualBox from scratch to see if it worked, and I was able to do so without much fuss.

However, I'm now trying to get a copy of my old OS to work in Windows 7 (I created a VMDK file of it with VMWare), and I'm constantly running into the problem where I'm asked to activate Windows XP in order to proceed, and I'm unable to connect in order to activate it over the Internet (I haven't tried the "phone a representative" option, since I doubt I'd get any help now that WinXP is no longer supported).

I've spent hours searching for a solution on these forums and elsewhere, but there seem to be many more helpful suggestions than solid answers. I've tried changing the Network options, editing the UUID in VirtualBox.xml and my guest OS's VBOX file, repairing Windows XP via the setup program on the CD (there didn't seem to be an option for this), but so far, nothing has worked.

I can only reach my guest's Desktop in Safe Mode, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do from there that can fix anything. I can't even install the Guest Additions from there -- I can mount the CD, but it appears blank.

If anyone can give me any advice as to how I can fix this problem, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm very much a beginner when it comes to this sort of thing, so if I happen to say or ask something stupid in this post or any of the ones that follow, I apologize.


Also, I recall seeing someone in another thread mention that you will get prompted to activate Windows XP if you try setting it up on more than two or three different machines within 120 days. Could this be what's going on here? (I was setting up, testing, and deleting several different WinXP guest OSs in the last few days in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with the one I was trying to run -- also, the first time I installed a WinXP from scratch, I don't recall getting prompted to activate it.)

(I'm also using version 4.3.20 of VirtualBox.)

[JJB]

Just bumping the thread.

[mpack]

You really need to contact Microsoft about XP activation problems - and lack of support (i.e. no more security patches) doesn't mean that they can abandon people who have paid for a license. Not if they want to keep trading anyway.

The 120 day thing is the period allowed between online activations. It has nothing to do with how many hardware changes are allowed. Any significant hardware change will prompt an activation check. If more than 120 days have passed since the last check, or if there has been no previous activation, then the current hardware signature will be accepted. If less than 120 days have passed then it will only accept the same hardware signature as last time. Activation failure means you have to call the number.

Note also that not all XP licenses can still be activated. E.g. some volume licences were widely stolen and MS killed their activation keys.

Normally you get 3-30 days of grace before XP starts refusing to run properly. During that time you can verify that you have internet access - a rather important requirement for online activation that you don't seem to have mentioned.

The main tip when setting up a VM is to avoid Windows activation for as long as it allows, because it gets to be a hassle if you want to continue fiddling with the VM recipe after activation.

[JJB]

Thanks, mpack. You gave me a lot of good tips.

For a couple of days, I thought that my Internet connection might have been causing the problem, but strangely, when I set up another Windows XP VM, I could get an Internet connection just fine, but the network settings I used for that VM didn't work with the one I was trying to set up. I tried activating over the phone, but after I entered the number I was prompted for, I was informed that it wasn't valid.

At that point, I really didn't feel like attempting to get in touch with an actual human, but I was eventually able to get the VM working after doing a few more Google searches (after which the Internet worked).

Thanks again!