SOLVED: install not from iso

[jojopara]

Hello,

Is there a way to install Windows from copied directory from Windows installation disk?

I have made an iso with Brasero but I get the following error; 'fatal no bootable medium found. system halted'

Linux MInt Sarah if that matters.

Thank you!

[socratis]

If you copied the "C:\Windows" directory from a working installation, using Brasero, no. That is the result of a full installation of Windows on the working computer, which is what you have to do in your VM as well. You need a Windows installation disk, not a backup of Windows, which is what you have.

[mpack]

Is there a way to install Windows from copied directory from Windows installation disk?

Yes and no. Yes, there is a way to copy an existing OS installation, no - you can't do it from a bunch of copied files. You need a hard disk image.

What you want is called P2V. Google for "P2V site:forums.virtualbox.org".

[jojopara]

I must have expressed myself badly.

I have made an iso with Brasero with no error output. I have copied Windows installation disk, not the installe Windows to a directory.

My questions are:

1. Why do I get 'fatal no bootable medium found. system halted'?
2. Can I tell Virtualbox to use the copied Windows installation directory?

I hope a have made myself clear.

[socratis]

Oh, I see, you had a bootable Windows installation disk, like a DVD or an ISO, and you copied the contents of that disk with Brasero to an ISO.

I'm afraid that no, this is not a bootable disk. VirtualBox cannot use it. You have to make a duplicate from the original. The contents/files alone are not sufficient, there are other details that you don't see, like the bootsector. You can't "copy" that like a file. Only a one-to-one copy will do it.

[jojopara]

But I HAVE copied the installation disk one-to-one on the hard disk!

And why that error whuile installing in the VM?

[socratis]

Sector-per-sector, not file-per-file. If it says not-bootable, it's not bootable. There's no arguing that.

[mpack]

There is only one alternative to what Socratis is saying: if you are insisting that you IMAGED (not copied files from) the original CD/DVD, and VirtualBox still says that the ISO is not bootable, then that means that the original CD/DVD was not bootable either.

People often mistake service pack and upgrade CDs for full install CDs. They aren't.

I've been using VirtualBox since 2008 and it is never wrong about this. If it says that the disk isn't bootable, then it isn't bootable. Start from there.

[jojopara]

Thank you everyone! Obviously, the making of the iso was not all right. I have downloaded an original iso and installed Windows.

Thank you once again!