virtualize my old XP install

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I am looking to virtualize my old XP install. What are the pros and cons of
VMware Workstation 15 Player vs. VirtualBox 6.0 (or 5.2.32)
The host machine is :
Ryzen 7 3700X
ASUS AM4 TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi)
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti DirectX 12
Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-550FX 550W 80+ Gold
Phanteks Enthoo Pro TG PH-ES614PTG_BK

Likely Run the VM off a HDD
Not a business req just me missing XP

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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It doesn’t matter which VM product you use, all are good. VirtualBox has the advantage of using the same VHD format as MS so conversion is super easy using Disk2VHD.

Do not use a separate disk, put the image on your SSD, then it’s very fast and you can back it up by copying a single file, or two.

cheers, Paul

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wavy, Rick Corbett

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Paul T wrote:

VirtualBox has the advantage of using the same VHD format as MS so conversion is super easy using Disk2VHD.

That’s a good point. (In my case I’ve invested a lot of time  – and quite a few bob – into VMware Workstation so I’m loathe to change at this late date. )

I haven’t tried it but it appears possible to use Disk2VHD then amend the result to let it work as a VMware VM. Have a look at this article for a walkthrough:

How to migrate a VHD to VMware Workstation

I believe VMware Player uses the same format VMs as Workstation so, although not quite as straightforward, this may allow more choice of host hypervisor.

(I’ve also seen an article about attaching a VM to another VM then using ‘ordinary’ disk imaging tools (Macrium Reflect, Acronis, etc.) to squirt an image from a physical machine to the VM attached to the first VM… but have never tried this either.)

Hope this helps…

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wavy

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Rick Corbett wrote:

(I’ve also seen an article about attaching a VM to another VM then using ‘ordinary’ disk imaging tools (Macrium Reflect, Acronis, etc.) to squirt an image from a physical machine to the VM attached to the first VM… but have never tried this either.)

Heh, virtualized computing on a budget is a realm of arbitrary restrictions and silly workarounds…

The most likely source of problems in the long term is Host OS / VM product compatibility. Like with Windows 10 and the older VmWare versions recently, and also back with 1803… VirtualBox isn’t immune to that kind of thing either.

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Rick Corbett wrote:

(I’ve also seen an article about attaching a VM to another VM then using ‘ordinary’ disk imaging tools (Macrium Reflect, Acronis, etc.) to squirt an image from a physical machine to the VM attached to the first VM… but have never tried this either.)

I think this is giving me a head ache
I am thinking my first task with this will be to print my xmas card labels as I have no idea how to do this w/ open office with my files in my trusty Office 97. Should be straight forward once the vm can talk to the router and printer..
I think I will go with Virtual Box.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I converted a Windows 7 Pro install to a VM, then opened the VM in VMWare Workstation Player. It worked ok for a while, then the license failed. I think somehow Microsoft detected that the OEM license that it originally used was no longer valid due to it no longer being installed on the same machine (it was now installed on a virtual machine).

My guess is that it is likely that the same thing would happen with XP – if you took an XP OEM license and tried to use it in a virtual machine, it would fail. However, XP is older than Windows 7, so perhaps the licensing technology wasn’t as advanced with XP as it is with 7. The only way you will know is to try it and see if it works.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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wavy

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Actually, you can get a Windows XP VM for free using completely legal means and you don’t even need a license key.

If you download the Windows XP Mode installer from the MS website, you can find a VM in there. Open the exe in 7-Zip, go into the “sources” folder and double-click “xpm” to extract it. In there, you’ll find a file with the name “VirtualXPVHD” which is your VM. Simply change the filename to VirtualXP.VHD and it immediately turns into a virtual machine which you can load and install into VirtualBox.

This VM has a temporary license of 30 days, so once you get it installed and working with any programs you want on there, take a snapshot and just reload the snapshot when the trial runs out for a new trial which you should be able to do indefinitely. Of course, this should not be used to store data in long term since you’d just lose it all when you refreshed the snapshot when the trial runs out.

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wavy

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Interesting! Sounds a bit more complicated with Remote Desktop Protocol being used and all.
As my XP is Pro Retail and I want a living breathing version I will try VirtualBox first.
Thanks

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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