Ubuntu
virtualbox-ose package

installing xp in ubuntu

Asked by jesse harris

first off, my last install of XP got completely wrecked. i had been wanting to switch to Linux for a while, so this seemed like the best time to do it! i know it's best to install XP first, but i got hasty and now i don't want to go back! unfortunately, i need windows for 3 (count 'em! 3!!!) programs and that is it. Wine doesn't seem to work for Adobe CS4 or Zune, and i can't seem to get VirtualBox or VMWare to work either.
  my question is: how can i install XP into Ubuntu 10.0.4? i resized my partitions (gParted), but when i restart and hit f12 to boot from disk, the windows installer says that there are no hard disk drives detected. i know i must be missing something obvious, but i can't tell what it is.... any help??

p.s: i uninstalled Ubuntu and tried reformatting the whole drive to install XP first and that didn't work either.

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delance
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

If you drives are SATA then XP may not have the drivers for your controllers and you will need to provide a floppy with the driver on (comes with motherboard) or slipstream the driver using a tool. Either way, Windows installs are not supported here. You are not installing Windows inside ubuntu, you are setting up a dual boot

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jesse harris (deaddeerguts) said : 		#2

into? under? over? i know it's a dual boot setup, but the standard is to install windows first and then the less picky OS. definitely have SATA drives. well, actionparsnip, thanks for the advice and the little chuckle i got from imagining your screen name. think i might just chuck the whole idea unless someone else can help.

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Best delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#3

Sorry, but I have difficulties to understand your problem.
As it seems you have XP DVD, you simplest seems to:
1) format all your hard disk for Ubuntu ( "/" + swap, or better "/" + "/home" + swap)
2) install VirtualBox on Ubuntu
3) create a virtual machine of 512 MB (depends on your 3 software) and a virtual disk big enough (use a dynamic image, which uses only what is needed)
4) install XP on this virtual machine, by attaching physical CD-ROM to virtual machine (you can also rip Iso image on hard disk, and use it, which is what I do)
5) install your 3 softwares on virtual machine

I use daily XP on a virtual machine for a software, and it works perfectly (but I didn't use 3D graphic).

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jesse harris (deaddeerguts) said : 		#4

Thanks delance, that solved my question.