Re: who uses dual boot? [was: How to start using a free OS]
On 13/11/13 09:10, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> On Tue, 2013-11-12 at 21:36 +0100, Alois Mahdal wrote:
>> 1.8GHz dual core and 4G RAM
>> attempting Win XP in VBox for even the most simple
>> tasks was a royal PITA.
>
> Then something is fishy.
>
>> (Also one reason to keep the Win in the dual-boot manner is that
>> I have a valid OEM license there, which I believe cannot be
>> migrated to VM.)
That's incorrect - I've done (automated) many, many times successfully
with all versions of Windoof except the latest. Your biggest problems
will be support for external devices (USB/LP/Com/Firewire) and that's
determined by, correct settings, CPU support.
P(hysical)2V(irtual) basic steps
In Windoof:-
1. Use dmidecode to dump the BIOS from the OEM machine
2. Change the hard drive drivers to generic and do not reboot (this is
to avoid HAL blue screens in the VM). Do the same with the video if you
use an AGP card (this avoids the need to stuff around in safe mode).
3. Boot up Windoof under a live CD and dd the drive across the network
or onto a free drive
4. wipe the Windoof drive (unless your license allows multiple installes
i.e. Developers Edition).
5. Fire up Debian and convert the dd image to a VirtualBox hard drive
format:-
$ VBoxManage convertfromraw $ddImage.RAW $$VDIName.vdi --format VDI
Or do 3 and 5 in one step:-
dd if=/dev/$DiskToImage | VBoxManage convertfromraw stdin
$VirtualBoxImageDrive.vdi $SizeInBytes --format VDI
6. Create a new VirtualBox machine and choose the same NIC and sound
card emulation if possible (you want to minimise changes of hardware to
avoid the MS "you've upgraded your hardware and we've decided you don't
actually own this software" trap)
7. Modify the new VM to include the OEM strings from the physical
Windoof install
8. Import the VM hd into the new VM - make sure you choose the same type
of hard drive controller emulation as on the original i.e. SATA/IDE
9. Export a copy of your new legal OEM as a Virtual Appliance for a backup
10. Boot up your new VM and install the correct drivers for the hard
drives and the video
NOTE: if you've previously changed hardware in the physical machine you
may find the license invalidated by the changes Windoof detects in the
VM. That is avoidable by backing up the ID that Windoof creates and
restoring it on the VM but I'm uncertain of the legality in your
jurisdiction so I won't detail the process here.
Kind regards
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