Boot an existing XP (Physical HD) install with VirtualBox

[jflowers]

I am a little confused. So, can we use the open source version or do we require the close source one? I installed the open source and then tried to install the closed source using the debian package and it did not allow me to do it.

[Sand Lee]

To create the virtual disk you must have the closed source version of vbox. So, if you're a free software kinda person, you can install the closed version just to make the .vmdk, uninstall it, install the Opensource version and use the created .vmdk.

Or you can just install and use the closed source version.

[anxiousdog]

How can I do this without booting into XP? My original XP install was corrupted and I have never been able to fix it. Is there a way to still use the partition through VB?

[anxiousdog]

How can I do this without booting into XP? My original XP install was corrupted and I have never been able to fix it. Is there a way to still use the partition through VB?

Hmm, looks like I can't do this until I fix that corrupted boot issue. Dang.

[lengo]

I got to step 2b (like naknak987, page 10, #92). Terminal output was:

paul@T61-CTO:~$ VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ~/.VirtualBox/WindowsXP.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sda -partitions 1 -mbr ~/.VirtualBox/WindowsXP.mbr -relative -register
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 2.0.0
(C) 2005-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Cannot open replacement MBR file '/home/paul/.VirtualBox/WindowsXP.mbr' specified with -mbr: VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
The raw disk vmdk file was not created

I copied/pasted all the commands from the tutorial (so ` is actually ` and not '). The only similarity I can see is that naknak987 and I both specify /dev/sda1 as -partitions 1 whereas many others specify it as partitions 2. But I swear my XP partition is sda1. Any clues?

EDIT: I tried this (from here; note slightly different approach):

paul@T61-CTO:~$ VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ./WinXP.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sda -partitions 1 -mbr ./myBootRecord.mbr -relative -register
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 2.0.0
(C) 2005-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Segmentation fault

Different error; same result--no VirtualBox . . .

EDIT 2: I tried starting over at Step 1. This is what I get:

paul@T61-CTO:~$ sudo apt-get install mbr && mkdir ~/.VirtualBox && install-mbr ~/.VirtualBox/WindowsXP.mbr --force
[sudo] password for paul: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
mbr is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 233 not upgraded.
mkdir: cannot create directory `/home/paul/.VirtualBox': File exists

Funny thing is, I can't find .VirtualBox in /home/paul/. Funny peculiar, not funny haha . . .

EDIT 3: Oops. I didn't have 'Show Hidden Files' selected . . . But there is no "WindowsXP.mbr" in the .VirtualBox folder. Just 'compreg.dat', 'VirtualBox.xml', and 'xpti.dat'. Help?

EDIT 4: I renamed .VirtualBox to .VirtualBox1 and started over. This time it created a .VirtualBox folder with WindowsXP.mbr in it. I ran the piece of magic code and got a segmentation fault again. But now the .VirtualBox folder has six files in it: 'compreg.dat', 'VirtualBox.xml', 'WindowsXP.mbr', 'WindowsXP.vmdk', 'WindowsXP-pt.vmdk', and 'xpti.dat' What should I have in there?

[mssever]

I've followed this tutorial, but I've had two problems.

1. VirtualBox wouldn't recognize the mbr. I worked around that by using a rescue ISO, so I can now begin the boot process just fine.
2. XP hangs during the boot process for quite some time, while one of my processor cores is pegged. Finally, it reboots itself. I saw a blue screen once for a fraction of a second before the reboot, but it didn't stick around long enough for me to read it and I haven't seen it since. I'm attaching a screenshot of the hang when booting in safe mode. How can I fix this? By the way, I can boot just fine the normal (non-VM) way.

[Sand Lee]

In response to some errors, I want to note that this tutorial was tested to work with Vbox 1.6 - I will add this note on the 1st post. I will test newer releases when I have time and hopefully update this tutorial.

[mssever]

In response to some errors, I want to note that this tutorial was tested to work with Vbox 1.6 - I will add this note on the 1st post. I will test newer releases when I have time and hopefully update this tutorial.

Do you mean specifically 1.6, or does your test cover 1.6.4 (my version)? I'm assuming the former.

[lengo]

Good news: I successfully got to Step 4 with VirtualBox 1.6.6 (virtualbox_1.6.6-35336_Ubuntu_hardy_i386.deb)! I sailed through the setup without a single error or glitch (though this may be of small comfort to you, mssever . . . )

Bad news: I hit the wall at Step 4, where I am supposed to make changes to XP's IDE controller. I suspect this has to do with my machine's SATA drive (T61), since others in this forum have noted the same roadblock. Perhaps this incompatibility could be noted in the tutorial, so that others with SATA drives (i.e., most recent notebooks) don't wade through the entire process only to find that it's not possible? Unless I missed a solution along the way?

Good news (part 2): I learned a lot! That's worth something.

[mssever]

(though this may be of small comfort to you, mssever . . . )

You might have helped identify my problem. Thanks. I assume that I have a SATA drive since this machine (ThinkPad R61i) is fairly new. But I followed the instructions and used the IDE controller. When I gat a chance, I'll look at it. Googling my error message told me that it was likely something wrong with my hardware configuration.