virtualbox.org

Hello everybody,

I am a Linux Ubuntu newbie. I've just used VirtualBox running within Windows XP SP2 host to begin my Linux Ubuntu as virtual Linux PC.

After a week, I had a cool Virtual Ubuntu PC. Now, I want to turn the virtual PC to real PC (the performance will be better) without changing current HDD's structure (changing should be as less as possible). I don't want to install a fresh Ubuntu again into the real PC because of my very slow Internet (so apt-get ... is terrible - It gets some days).

Here is my HDD's partition (the illustration extracted from Disk Management of Windows XP):

I used Norton Ghost 8.3 within a virtual DOS PC (I connected the virtual HDD - which contains the complete Ubuntu - and an another virtual blank HDD). I had got Ghost's image and I copied it to the real PC.

I am going to boot the real PC into DOS in order to delete partitions (as I:, J: on the illustration above) (1) .

I will "Ghost" the ghost's image to the unpartioned at (1). I think I will have got an Ubuntu in my real PC.

The problem will be:

- How to tell my PC boot Ubuntu because its MBR, Track 0 has no Ubuntu's boot information? Will I reload LILO / GRUB with a installation Ubuntu CD?

- Real PC's Configuaration is different from the virtual PC. May Ubuntu work smoothly?

- Will "Blue Screen of Death" occurr? If I have BSOD, what will I do?

- I don't want LILO or GRUB install into MBR and overload my Windows XP or manage the boot process. How to modify Windows XP boot.ini file to guide the real PC boot Ubuntu. If it is not able, I want to use a external boot CD or others. I want to backup MBR, Track 0 also, what is utility?

Sorry for my terrible English!

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

I am assuming that your XP is legal and you have the original media (OM), and activation keys, because you will invariably need to reactivate XP at some point.
Use GRUB. If you get into a mess you can boot off your (OM) and reinstall the Windows MBR.
DON'T use FAT. It's a crap file system with no journalling, bad fragmentation, and no protection. Install Ubuntu on Ext3. There are tricks that you can use to copy from FAT to Ext3, but really the best way is to delete your FAT partitions and use the Ubuntu DVD you used to install in the first place an just grit your teeth over the 1Gb download. (If you haven't done an clear of the apt cache then you can reuse the debs that you have since downloaded, but you really need to ask on the ubuntu forums for how to do this).
The Ubuntu ubiquity installer will sort out the dual boot with windows. This is the first stage.
I am confused as to your H/W config, given that you only have a 40Gb drive. This would imply that you've either got a 3 yr old Laptop or a 4-5 yr old PC. How much RAM have you got installed? My advice if you have less than 1Gb is to stay with dual boot. Yes you can run Ubuntu + XP in 768 Mb, but you will die with only one serious app loaded.
You should not need to muck around with DOS etc. as you can always liveBoot from the Ubuntu CD. (I've copied mine onto a 1Gb USB which is far more convenient -- the Ubuntu User Community docs tell you how -- but this again assumes that your BIOS supports USB FLASH boot.
By far your biggest challenge will be migrating your XP config to a VM. Read the Wiki article. Doing this without ending up reactivating Windows is almost impossible IMHO.

I could go on but I'll yield the floor for your comments and Qs.[/list]

@TerryE: my PC has 512MB RAM, HDD was 74GB (1KB = 1024bytes, not 1.000), Pentium 4 socket 478pins, 1.8Ghz

Windows XP is OEM and legal.

I have 2 partition with FAT (or FAT 16) because I like playing classic game on real DOS (not DOS Box or simulation). When I use Linux or Windows, I will not access them.

OK, I suspect that you have SIMMs or v low clocked DIMMs so you can't even economically upgrade the memory given that they are out of production. With a 512Mb P4, I would forget using VBox for any serious work. I would stick with dual boot or in your case triple boot: XP over NTFS, Ubuntu over Ext3, DOS over FAT.

The order of patitions before I "ghost".

The system made me crazy

Yesterday, I converted & merged partition I, J into an ext3 partition. Then, I "ghost(ed)" virtual pc Ghost Image to the ext3. Ghost process was successful.

After rebooting the pc, as my guessing above, no Linux Ubuntu menu boot appeared. Windows XP booted.

The problem was:

- Windows XP cannot go to desktop. I had to Ctrl + Alt + Delete and typed explorer.
- I forgot to remove my USB Flash Disk => Windows XP told "him" had detected an a new disk (drive) => Order of partitions upseted, the letter of the partitions changed.

Now, G: is C: => Windows cannot run smoothly. Many fade shortcut icons on the Desktop, cannot access Control Panel,...

I try to boot in Last Good Known Configuration, Safe Mode to restore the previous status => No success

How do I make my Windows that "him" mistaked? (When changed G: to C: automatically). Can I use a dos utility to modify Windows XP's registry to return the previous status?

Your help is greatly appreciated !

Given that your dual booting this isn't really a VBox issue anymore, but I will stay with you on this one until you've got it working.

If you boot into windows, then go through the control panel administration manager, you can open disk management and with this GUI you can rename your partitions back to the original names. You have to do this in the right order possibly using a temporary letter for rotating (e.g. you can only have one C at one time so you do C->M, G->C, M->...

Now reboot and XP should come up OK.

Look up the wikipedia articles on MBR and GRUB. You've still got a Windows Boot record. This will boot from the first Active partition on the disk which is currently your XP configuration. The MS boot loader will only load MS OSes. To dual boot, you need to install a Grub or Lilo loader. This has a 1st stage component in the MBR then a 1.5 stage in the Ext3 root partition. To do this you just need to borrow just about any bootable LinuxCD media from someone (or off an old magazine). There are loads of howtos on the internet.

If you boot into windows, then go through the control panel administration manager, you can open disk management and with this GUI you can rename your partitions back to the original names. You have to do this in the right order possibly using a temporary letter for rotating (e.g. you can only have one C at one time so you do C->M, G->C, M->...

That's is good!

@TerryE: thank you very much. My Windows XP is running correctly now. I am reading about like "How to use LiveCD?"

Will you help me in case I have problem?

Thanks again. Have more fun!

TerryE wrote:Given that your dual booting this isn't really a VBox issue anymore, but I will stay with you on this one until you've got it working.

There are a few links you can try. For one, this is a nice idea. You can also check SuperGrub. That installs the Grub boot loader for your with minimal effort.

virtualbox.org

How to turn a virtual PC to a real PC?

How to turn a virtual PC to a real PC?