ACubed10, I still have the same problem of being stuck half way between function systems, 10 days now, any ideas?
Hi Curbie,
I'm noting that no one else has responded, so here is what you need to know:
1. The OEM copy that you purchased won't install in a VM because it is checking for (and will only install on) a Dell BIOS. Since your VM shows a VirtualBox BIOS to the OS, it is refusing to install.
2. However, the important thing here is your license key. That was properly purchased and is presumably still valid. Your problem is, you just need a CD that doesn't check for a Dell BIOS.
3. Such disk images are not illegal and the MS site itself allows you to download one. MS knows that without a legitimate key, you can't run the OS past 30 days anyway. It's the key that is critical, not the disk image.
4. You can download the ISO from the MS site here. I found this site by simply Googling "windows xp iso download". You may wish to note my Google methodology. If you need to access further resources in the future, you simply phrase your query in a way appropriate to your needs (like I just did) and Google will return a ton of hits sorted in order of relevance. The MS site was at the top of my particular query.
5. You don't even need to burn this ISO to disk. VirtualBox can be configured to mount an ISO into its virtual CD drive so that it automatically boots. XP will then install as if it were installing on an actual computer.
6. Set up your VM properly before you run it the first time. If you mess up a setting, reinstall if need be without burning your key. It is important to get it right because XP chokes on changes to the VM after it has been installed. Knowing your needs somewhat, here are the settings I recommend (assuming your system has the resources to spare):
a. Give it two processors. Your heavy usage will make use of the 2 processors, but XP will not recognize more than 2 either.
b. Give it 4GB of ram. XP recognizes no more than 4GB, so max it out but don't waste any more on it either. You must turn on PAE before XP will recognize 4GB.
c. Give it half of your HDD space.
d. Give it 64 MB of video. You will find games rather slow, so do recreational stuff on Xubuntu instead.
e. Be sure to set a shared folder. I use my /home/duckhook/Public directory. Any files in this directory are now shared between your XP client and your Xubuntu host.
7. Run the VM and it should install. My XP installs take hours. Yours may take less time. The two processors will help, but be prepared for a long haul. This is another area where Xubuntu shines. My Xuubntu installs take 20 minutes.
8. Your biggest challenge will come when you must input the key. Because you purchased an OEM key, I don't know whether the XP install will allow activation. OEM keys work by recognizing the BIOS and automatically activating. However, if input manually into a mismatched system, you may have to phone up MS activation centre and activate manually. They may tell you that activation is permitted only on full licenses and OEM (read: discounted) versions don't qualify.
9. If so, you will either have to pay them for a full license key, or you will have to decide if you want to make use of the many workarounds on the net. The propriety of such action is up to you. I've already given you a good example of how to phrase Google requests. It is against forum policy to give help on something like this, so you are on your own here.
If you encounter difficulties setting up your VM or have further virtualization questions, I suggest starting a new thread in the virtualizing subforum. That's where all the VM gurus reside. Again, they will not be able to help you with "unofficial" XP activation. You are still on you own on that one.
Good luck!
Last edited by DuckHook; February 26th, 2013 at 07:53 AM.
A system upgrade is a heart, lung and brain transplant. !!BACKUP FIRST!!
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As mentioned above the Dell disc wil be checking the BIOS for some strings.
See here:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#changedmi
I have posted here on this before with a script that you run before trying to install XP.
I found it on the VirtualBox forum
Googling dmidecode and my name might help.
Now it is working I rarely use it, maybe I just wanted a challenge
As for legality, I paid for XP and I do not think that the EULA would stand in a European courtroom.
It came with this laptop and is running on it, what difference does it make if it is in a VM?
+1 coldraven
Wonderful tip. Thank you. Didn't know you could do that, but it makes sense that you would be able to.
Took up your suggestion and Googled "coldraven dmidecode ubuntu". Your thread was the second hit. For those interested, it is post #6 on the following thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2070347
+1 again. My thoughts exactly. Unfortunately, here in the DRM-police-state, sound logic isn't worth much.
How are things in Hyperborea? We are starting to thaw out here in Cimmeria.
A system upgrade is a heart, lung and brain transplant. !!BACKUP FIRST!!
Linux is Not Windows | A Great CLI Guide | Resources for Newcomers
The Best 'buntu Flavour | Remapping Keys | Sandboxing Apps with LXD
TD P { margin-bottom: 0in; }P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }TT.cjk { font-family: "WenQuanYi Micro Hei",monospace; }TT.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Hindi",monospace; } DuckHook & coldraven,
Real helpful posts, I spent yesterday going though both notions, I downloaded the ISO from MS, pointed VM's “First Run Wizard's” “Media Source” to the ISO, booted, and got a “FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted.” error, but I will search for other ISOs when I get time, today I have to setup racks for experiments (their closing in on me), and process the results of some time sensitive biological experiments.
I spend time yesterday reading about about and playing with dmidecode I grabbed a dell dmidecode script to change the VM's Bios to emulate a dell:
#! /bin/bash
VM_NAME="XP" # Name of your Virtual Machine
VSETED="VBoxManage setextradata $VM_NAME"
CFG_PATH="VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSVendor "Dell Computer Corporation"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSVersion "A12"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSReleaseDate "08/26/2004"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSReleaseMajor 2
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSReleaseMinor 3
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSFirmwareMajor 2
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiBIOSFirmwareMinor 3
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemVendor "Dell Computer Corporation"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemProduct "Dimension 4600i"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemVersion "<EMPTY>"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemSerial "JTGL999"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemUuid "99999C9C-9999-9999-999C-CAC99F999999"
$VSETED $CFG_PATH/DmiSystemFamily "X86-based PC"
I'm not trying to get it to register, just load, after I execute the dell Bios dmidecode script, and reboot, I get this error:
Failed to open a session for the virtual machine XP.
Invalid configuration for device pcbios device (VERR_PDM_DEVINS_UNKNOWN_CFG_VALUES).
Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component:
Console
Interface:
IConsole {1968b7d3-e3bf-4ceb-99e0-cb7c913317bb}
I start a new virtual machine for every new try. Any ideas?
On previous attempts, I recall that you had some issues with burning a CD (correct) vs copying the ISO file directly to the CD (incorrect). Please make sure that you burn the CD using brasero and try again. I know the ISO image can be directly attached to the VM using the settings in the graphical manager, but I don't set up my new VMs using the wizard, so can't tell you if the ISO is mounted before running (Linux must loop-mount the ISO to see the files inside, else same problem you had in the past). This whole unknown can be bypassed by burning a proper CD (which you probably want for safekeeping anyway) and installing it as you would to a real machine.
Can't help you with the script. I've never used it before, nor changed BIOS settings, so it remains only an interesting concept to me.
A system upgrade is a heart, lung and brain transplant. !!BACKUP FIRST!!
Linux is Not Windows | A Great CLI Guide | Resources for Newcomers
The Best 'buntu Flavour | Remapping Keys | Sandboxing Apps with LXD
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DuckHook,
Ok, loaded brasero with “Software Center”, rebooted, opened brasero, clicked the “Burn Image” button, pointed to MS's ISO for the “Select image to write”, loaded a blank cd, selected the cd for “Select a disc to write to”, and clicked the “Burn” button.
Brasero goes through its burning image to cd, says success, starts creating image checksum, then says “Please eject the disc from “ATAPI DVD A DH20A6L" manually.
The disc could not be ejected though it needs to be removed for the current operation to continue.”
I click the only button “Cancel”, I guess canceling the checksum, then brasero says “Image successfully burned to cd, and I hit the “Close” button.
All discs have many files and directories on them, not just the .ISO file as before, I test two discs booting with both VirtuakBox and re-setup my system with a XP bootable hard drive, and no go for either.
You deserve a medal for the most tenacious cussed Xubuntu convert award. I'm sorry you keep butting your head up against a wall. You have my admiration for your sheer determination.
It seems that your MS download did not create a bootable disk. Everything up to the Cancel/Close process was done properly. Brasero is often unable to eject a disk and it must be done manually, but the burn is finished by then and everything should be good to go. Either the download was corrupted or, irony of ironies, MS issues defective ISOs.
I can only think of two things that you can do at this point: Try an ISO from "another" site, or work out the VM BIOS change needed to fool your Dell OEM disk into thinking it is installing onto a Dell. Someone else will have to step you through that. Hopefully, @coldraven is still following this thread.
A system upgrade is a heart, lung and brain transplant. !!BACKUP FIRST!!
Linux is Not Windows | A Great CLI Guide | Resources for Newcomers
The Best 'buntu Flavour | Remapping Keys | Sandboxing Apps with LXD
IANAL The Windows XP license terms are silent on the subject of running an OEM version of XP in a virtual machine on the same computer, instead of running it directly on the hardwre. The Windows Vista and Windows 7 terms explicitly allow it. The Windows 8 terms explicitly forbid it. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal...s/default.aspx. Software licenses are legal contracts, so the first step is to actually read the license rather than blindly clicking “I agree”. The next step is to actually read the relevant copyright legislation in your jurisdiction since it may give you rights not in the license. Asking Microsoft will likely only give one their position on the contract in a non binding fashion. If one needs legal advice then one needs to talk to a lawyer.
Now for the technical part. I have done this with Windows 7 Pro with an HP OEM disk. It installed correctly but entered into a 3 day failed activation state. One has to manually change the key to the key provided on the sticker on the computer and reactivate and then it activates fine. This is because large OEM Windows XP/Vista/7 disks come with a pre-activated key that is tied to the OEM bios. This key is not the key provided to the end user on the computer. I have not tried this with XP but I suspect the behaviour will be the same. It will install but require reactivation with the key on the computer.
One final note with running Windows XP/Vista/7 in a virtual machine under VirtualBox. Do not activate until after the guest additions are installed and one has finalized the parameters of the virtual machine, since changing the virtual machine or installing the guest additions is a hardware change as far as Windows is concerned and may trigger reactivation.
Last edited by Dr. C; February 27th, 2013 at 06:33 AM.
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