Migrating a Windows XP VMware VM to a VirtualBox one

I was used to run Windows XP in a VMware virtual machine (using VMware player), when I decided to run it in a VirtualBox one!

Thanks to Katsumi Inoue, I found out that the Enable IO APIC option should be checked.

While the virtual disk of my VMware machine is split into 2GB chunks, VirtualBox is able to handle it successfully. Windows XP is just booting! VirtualBox is so great!

Nevertheless, I’ve been facing a small networking issue… Windows not being able to start the network device.
This is due to the fact that the driver loaded for the PCnet-FAST III device is VMware Accelerated AMD PCnet Adapter.

To get the device working simply replace the device driver with the AMD one:

The issue is fixed Enjoy accessing the network from the converted VMware to Virtualbox virtual WinXP machine!

By the way… do not forget about installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions
The only thing I miss is the USB support as I’m using the OSE version…

This entry was posted on August 30th, 2008 at 10:15:29 am and is filed under Linux, Microsoft, Xen - Virtualisation.

22 comments

Comment from: someone [Visitor]

Thanks man!!!

11/25/08 @ 17:38

Comment from: Vincent Patrice [Visitor]

Thanks a lot, it works !!!

01/04/09 @ 21:22

Comment from: Conrad Fonseca [Visitor]

Thanx a lot!!!! I was really struggling with this...

01/26/09 @ 18:15

Comment from: dyoma [Visitor]

mega thxs! ebalso dolgo s etoy xernei! a tut na te, its so simple

02/17/09 @ 17:31

Comment from: Rich [Visitor]

Talk about getting exactly what I was looking for.

Great explanation and the screen shots made all the difference.

Cheers

04/22/09 @ 22:24

Comment from: Simon [Visitor]

Thanks a lot...very helpful

04/23/09 @ 13:09

Comment from: Josie [Visitor]

Thank you! I've been banging my head against this for a while (even went through and removed everything VMWare I could from the registry) without solving it. You solved my problem in an instant! /cheer!

05/27/09 @ 23:27

Comment from: Viet Le Quang [Visitor]

Dear Matthias,

Thanks for sharing the information. This resolved my networking problem!

Regards, Viet

08/16/09 @ 01:55

Comment from: Andy [Visitor]

Works like a charm! I've had so much trouble migrating from VMWare to VirtualBox - I think this is the last hurdle! And thanks to you, it was a small one...

09/22/09 @ 13:00

Comment from: Lahtag [Visitor]

Thanks a lot for sharing. You see you have posted this on 2008 and it still alive and useful.

Once again thanks

10/02/09 @ 12:14

Comment from: Bachi [Visitor] · http://www.friendwatch.com

Thanks too, you saved my day :)

11/17/09 @ 11:04

Comment from: Jim [Visitor]

Thank you! I can now use my (converted from vmdk) XP machine in VirtualBox :)

12/14/09 @ 13:07

Comment from: kingston usb flash drive [Visitor] · http://www.zlx.hk/product.asp?classid=20

Thanks a lot, it works !!!

01/07/10 @ 14:39

Comment from: Peter Theill [Visitor] · http://theill.com

Thanks. Right to the point. This guide works!

01/19/10 @ 14:57

Comment from: Paul [Visitor]

Thanks a bunch, that's it!

02/12/10 @ 04:51

Comment from: jonathan [Visitor]

work like a charm thank you now oto the video part

03/17/10 @ 18:39

Comment from: Mike [Visitor]

You Rock bro!!!! I've been looking for this solution for weeks. Thanks!

03/18/10 @ 03:42

Comment from: Buhwheat [Visitor]

Great work, thanks for posting. I had to do this with a Win2K VM but the same ideas applied. VirtualBox having the IO APIC disabled by default was what got me - couldn't get past the black "Windows is starting up" screen at first, but enabling it did the trick.

04/14/10 @ 18:02

Comment from: Paul Burney [Visitor] · http://paulburney.com/

Thanks for this tip! I've been looking for a solution to this issue for a few days after opening a vmware disk in virtual box.

06/21/10 @ 19:49

Comment from: Daryl [Visitor] · http://itsallsemantics.com

More thanks... you saved me too!

07/23/10 @ 18:01

Comment from: mooman [Visitor]

you saved my life man thanks!

08/10/10 @ 18:42

Comment from: vexorg [Visitor] · http://bike.stu.ph

thank you!

08/17/10 @ 11:48

Comment feed for this post

[[Mathias Chauvin]] - IT stuff

Migrating a Windows XP VMware VM to a VirtualBox one

22 comments

Leave a comment