using the install data in the hidden partition to create a virtual machine

[Liam Proven]

On 28 May 2011 17:27, Bill Stanley <bstanle at wowway.com> wrote:
> I dual boot on a Dell machine which originally had Windows installed.  I now
> am running Unbuntu but still have the original Win XP partition.  The
> machine I have is rather old but with upgrades is still running well.  This
> gets to my question.
>
> I want to run a VBox machine with the original Win-XP OS.  I never received
> any Win-XP installation disks but I know that Dell puts OS install data in a
> small hidden partition.  I can see that partition with Unbuntu Linux so I
> know it is there.  Also, Windows activation is not going to be a problem
> because this was a Win-XP version before M$ had their crazy activation
> scheme.  The fact that this will be a rather old OS is not an issue because
> I am going to use it for legacy stuff.  Is there any way to use this for
> making a virtual machine?  If it can be used, how do I do it?

I am amused by "unbuntu" - is that deliberate?

Anyway, for your information, /all/ versions of Windows XP from when
it was first released require activation - XP Home, XP Professional
and Windows Server 2003. The only exception is if you have a MOLP copy
(Multiple Open Licence Programme - Microsoft's corporate
bulk-licensing scheme).

So no matter how old, it will still need activation.

To answer your question, no, I don't think this can be done. OEM
copies of Windows tend to check that the hardware they are running on
is correct. The emulated hardware inside a VM will be different from
the real, physical hardware of the machine; indeed, the real machine's
BIOS will probably have a hook inserted in it so that you can press a
certain key on startup to redirect boot to the recovery partition. The
totally different BIOS inside a VM will not have this hook.


-- 
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