On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Bill Davidsen davidsen@tmr.com wrote:
Hal Meyer wrote:
When I try to install a new virtual machine the process wants to install XP from the CD. Is there a way to just point to the XP partition on the disk?
No, you want a disk image. And I wouldn't let any install program touch this unless it actually said it could do such a thing. The manual run above should at least give you a feeling for the possibilities.
I wouldn't say that's strictly true. I have successfully booted an existing Windows XP partition in VirtualBox but the setup is a little complicated. I don't remember the exact command but in the VirtualBox online documentation there is a section for it. Basically you have to generate a .vmdk file that tells it which partitions it should have access to. Also you'll need a MBR file since the one on your disk is likely for Linux, not Windows (you can get this from a working Windows XP only machine).
Then, if you want to boot the partition normally (i.e. not in a virtual machine) then you will need to create a second hardware profile to keep Windows from redetecting all your hardware every time you switch from one to another. In my case I have one call Native and one called VirtualBox.
The User Manual at virtualbox.org has all of this information. Look for Section 9.9. The section for accessing a specific partition (not the whole disk) and the MBR issue see section 9.9.2.
Richard