Migrating Windows XP into Virtualbox

[Sabinbp]

NOOB HERE

 

So I'm currently trying to migrate a windows xp sp3 drive into virtualbox.

I've already done the running the MergeIDE utility althought I don't know if it worked.
I think I'm at step 4.b. Do I need to run ubuntu from a flashdrive then install vmware then I type the command?
 

[Electronics Wizardy]

IF you using Ubuntu or linux, use kvm, not virtual box. It performs better and is built into the system.

 

you don't need vmware for this.

 

 

[Mikensan]

This might be a little easier.. if your XP installation was not using AHCI, make sure whatever hypervisor you use (vbox) make sure you disable AHCI or else you'll get a blue screen.

 

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx

 

[Sabinbp]

So I'll disable AHCI at the BIOS then I use Disk2vhd while the system is on?
Can I use disk2vhd on a windows xp sp3 32-bit system?

I have a system with windows 7 ultimate and I can't get the \Windows Virtual PC to install.
The .msu package that I downloaded from microsoft just get's stuck at the "searching updates for this device" window and doesn't install the Windows Virtual PC.
I'm trying to migrate the windows xp sp3 32-bit system into the virtual machine and because I'm going to use only windows 7 I thought maybe just use Windows Virtual PC which is made for windows only?
In the event that I did install the Windows Virtual PC would I be able to dedicate a serial port ,monitor, hard drive,  and a separate mouse and keyboard for the guest OS (Windows XP SP3 32-bit)?

[Mikensan]

21 minutes ago, Sabinbp said:

So I'll disable AHCI at the BIOS then I use Disk2vhd while the system is on?
Can I use disk2vhd on a windows xp sp3 32-bit system?

I have a system with windows 7 ultimate and I can't get the \Windows Virtual PC to install.
The .msu package that I downloaded from microsoft just get's stuck at the "searching updates for this device" window and doesn't install the Windows Virtual PC.
I'm trying to migrate the windows xp sp3 32-bit system into the virtual machine and because I'm going to use only windows 7 I thought maybe just use Windows Virtual PC which is made for windows only?
In the event that I did install the Windows Virtual PC would I be able to dedicate a serial port ,monitor, hard drive,  and a separate mouse and keyboard for the guest OS (Windows XP SP3 32-bit)?

If you have AHCI already turned on for your physical Windows XP machine, then no. To be simple: you want to match whatever your physical machine is set to in your virtual machine configuration.

 

Yes you can should be able to use it on a 32bit XP system. It just uses windows shadow volume copy which xp has.

Windows Virtual PC is a whole other topic. You don't have to use windows VPC, once you have the VHD then you can use it with anything (Windows VPC / vmware / vbox)

 

[Sabinbp]

So I think the best way to do this would be to setup the virtual machine and just redo all the changes I made to the registry and transfer the files?

In VirtualBox would I be able to dedicate a:

hard drive (Sandisk Ultra Plus 60gb SSD I have laying around, enable trim once I dedicate it to the guest OS )

mouse and keyboard

the serial port

and be able to transfer files between the host OS and the guest OS?

I'm going to dedicate a Core2Quad q9400 and the only motherboard I have laying around is a Foxconn G41MXE-K ( which sadly does not support VT-D )

[Mikensan]

Step 1: Use Disk2VHD to convert hard drive to VHD (Either just boot the physical machine directly to WinXP or attach the WinXP hard drive as a secondary drive to another computer)

Step 2: Install vbox, create a virtual machine, when prompted to create a virtual disk, tell it you already have one and use the VHD

Step 3: Boot up the vbox machine, if it blue screens then shut it off, go into the settings, and then turn off AHCI.

 

If your only goal is just to transfer files from the XP machine just slave the drive or use an external hard drive? I'm not entirely sure I understand your ultimate goal.

 

I don't recall vbox giving me the option to pass an entire hard drive to the virtual machine, but you could just simply tell vbox to put the virtual disk there under "custom" during the wizard. That way it is essentially only using that 60gb disk. Vbox will use whatever mouse/keyboard you open up the console with and you can pass a serial port to vbox.

 

After you install the guest additions / software, then yes you can transfer files between host/guest.

 

Keep in mind vbox is not a type 1 hypervisor, you do not boot to it like you do ESXI. It sits on top of Windows / Linux.