I just installed Windows XP Professional under KVM. I put the installation CD in the CD drive. This is very much like installing Windows XP on any other machine. Pop the CD in and go! Once I set up the virtual machine for Windows XP, the installer on the CD started right up and installed it.
I now have a virtual machine that runs Windows XP, however I am in trouble with the Windows activation process because I can't (yet) provide a valid product key code to the Microsoft activation server. The installation CD is from Dell, I just bought a new laptop with a Dell "Windows XP downgrade" and I need to ask Dell's support people how I'm supposed to provide a valid product key for this. It may be that I have to install Windows Vista first (because I have a Vista CD and product key too) and then downgrade to XP, I don't know quite yet.
So what I'm saying is, you need the installation CD for Windows XP or you need a network installation point for Windows XP which is set up the way Microsoft says it should be. I don't think you can just point to an Windows XP partition and install from that. Of course, I've never tried it; I've always been mesmerized by the need for a product key and that usually means an associated installation CD because some utilities found on the CD are not installed by default.
The final point is -- since you are setting up a second machine with Windows XP -- you need a product key for it meaning a proper license for it. That is how Microsoft works, and they go to great lengths to enforce the you-must-pay-for-Windows-it-is-not-free mindset.
Now hopefully, I can figure out how to activate my Windows XP.
Bob
Hal Meyer wrote:
I have FC10 and Windows dual booted on my PC and would like to virtualize XP with KVM.
I want to be able to both boot to XP and also virtualize it in FC10 (obviously not at the same time).
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?
Vmware workstation claims to be able to do this but there seem to be other issues with vmware and FC10.
Thanks, Hal