virtualbox.org

Win 8.1 host on HP Pavilion; VB v4.3.22 r98236; VM Win XP Home Ed.

Installed XP from CD. Installed program on XP from CD which then requires access to read back data from the CD but can't find it!

Tried other programs that work likewise. Also tried Win 98. All with same results.

The CD drive in VM is D: while that of the host is E: as shown in VB.

It seems there is no translation of drives back through the VM to VB.

I cannot change the drive letter in the host PC. Changed D: to E: in VM, reinstalled the program but still asks for disk repeatedly.

Hopefully there is a simple answer?

The host and guest drive letters for the cd drive don't need to be the same. The guest CD drive can be pointed at the host CD drive or an .iso file, which gets simulated as a CD in the guest's CD drive. There is a checkbox for "Pass-through" when you select the guest CD drive in the guest settings. Check that, and your guest will have greater access to the host's CD drive, possibly allowing the program to work. You will still need to point your guest CD drive at the host CD drive, which it seems you have already figured out how to do. Don't worry about the drive letter difference. Just think of the guest as an entirely separate PC that lives inside your physical PC.

Thank's, the pass-through was selected so just fiddled a bit more in the guest drive settings in XP (no .iso file) and it works! Simples after all! Brilliant program. 'All Hail BirtualBox!'