virtualbox.org

Hi All,
Im having a lot of trouble sharing files between the host which is a Lenovo ideapad 110 running Windows 10 and the VB VM running XPsp3.

I followed all guides and for the life of me cannot get file sharing to work.

I used this guide - sunshare

None of the mothods actually see the USB drive I want to share. So I created a folder on the windows 10 desktop and tried the advanced share option and it is not present in my network places.

If I try drag and drop - even though I set VB to bidirectional I cant drag and drop - the stop sign appears as I hover over the XP desktop.

If I add the USB drive to VB then the guest always sees the original WINXP setup image in place of the actual USB drive.

Any advice welcome.

Im using 5.2.38 as the host is 32 bit

That probably has nothing to do with VirtualBox. Windows XP is too old. It used the old NT-style file and printer sharing system which relies on SMB1. SMB1 is a very old and very security-poor protocol which is no longer supported and Microsoft actively discourages its use. For the reason, it is disabled in Windows 10.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ ... a-p/425858

When I need to transfer files between XP and Windows 10 (either way), I do it in two steps. I first transfer the file from WIndows 10 to Windows 7, then from Windows 7 to XP. Windows 7 uses the same sharing system as Windows 10, but understands the older system used by XP (since XP was still very much alive when Windows 7 came out in 2009). I would not try to share a USB. Just use normal file sharing.

A couple more thoughts:

Rake wrote:tried the advanced share option

If this means the Shared Folders in the Virtualbox settings, then you need Guest Additions installed in the XP guest. Drag-n-drop also requires Guest Additions:

Guest Additions Shared Folders are not real shared folders, so you will not have problems transfering files between XP and 10 because of the SMB1 incompatibility that BillG mentions. But GASFs are only for copying files and folders, not for anything else a real shared folder can support, like running databases, etc.

Get the GAs installed in XP, then set a shared folder in Virtualbox to point to the USB drive, and go to "\\vboxsvr\yourshardfolder" in XP to copy files. I have had drag-n-drop seize a guest and require an unceremonious power down, so I'd suggest the \\vboxsvr method.

Thanks for the replies I will try today.
I have another question which is related, the reason for transfering files is to load an application that will only run properly on XP but The application is a vehicle diagnostics program that relies on a ~USB cable connection between XP and the vehicle - can this be done with a VM at all ? Will XP see the USB port of the host ?

Rake wrote:program that relies on a ~USB cable connection between XP and the vehicle - can this be done with a VM at all ? Will XP see the USB port of the host

Yes, see USB basics and troubleshooting