Windows XP Installation in VirtualBox

This article will show the installation of Windows XP on a VirtualBox 3.0.4 guest system. VirtualBox 3.0.4 will run on a laptop under Linux with Fedora 11 in this example. The Open Source Edition (OSE) of VirtualBox will be used for this.

Creating Virtual Machines

The creation of a new machine will be started in VirtualBox using the menu items Machine -> New.

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  Step 1: creating a virtual machine
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  Step 2: virtual machine name and OS type
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  Step 3: Storage
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  Step 4: virtual hard disk
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  Step 5: creating a virtual hard disk
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  Step 6: type of hard disk
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  Step 7: position and size of the virtual hard disk
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  Step 8: summary (virtual hard disk)
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  Step 9: summary (virtual machine)
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  Step 10: the virtual machine has be created
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  Step 11: adding a CD drive

Installing Windows XP on the virtual Machine

The virtual machine now exists. Thus, Windows XP can be installed on it:

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  Step 12: starting Windows XP Professional Setup
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  Step 13: the Windows XP license
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  Step 14: selecting a partition
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  Step 15: formatting the partition (select NTFS (quick format) so that the dynamic virtual hard disk will not be bloated)
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  Step 16: Formatting progress
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  Step 17: Copy progress
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  Step 18: regional and language options
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  Step 19: user information
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  Step 20: Product key
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  Step 21: computer name and administrator password
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  Step 22: date and time settings
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  Step 23: network settings
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  Step 24: workgroup or computer domain
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  Step 25: setting up Windows XP
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  Step 26: selecting the Internet connection
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  Step 27: activating Windows XP
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  Step 28: registering Windows XP (optional)
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  Step 29: creating users
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  Step 30: setup completed

Installing Guest Additions

After the installation of Windows XP has been completed, the VirtualBox guest additions can be installed. These extensions include special drivers for increasing performance.

License: The guest additions do not fall under the GPL like VirtualBox OSE. A commercial license is required for the commercial use of the guest additions.

Note: When the VirtualBox version has been updated on the host, the guest additions should also be updated on the guest system. To do this, you will simply re-install the guest additions after VirtualBox has been successfully updated. De-installation of the prior version of the guest additions is not required.

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  Step 31: installing the guest additions
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  Step 32: downloading the CD-ROM image
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  Step 33: confirming the download
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  Step 34: integrating the CD-ROM image
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  Step 35: starting the installation of the guest additions
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  Step 36: the guest additions license
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  Step 37: target directory for the guest additions
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  Step 38: guest additions components
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  Step 39: the guest additions are running
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  Step 40: continuing the installation of the guest additions
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  Step 41: continuing the installation of the guest additions
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  Step 42: re-starting Windows XP
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  Step 43: integrating the mouse pointer
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  Step 44: automatically correcting the screen resolution

References

Author: Werner Fischer Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.