Windows XP from existing hardware based machine under Hyper-V possible?

Take a look at LegacyUpdate - Legacy Update: Get back online, activate, and install updates on your legacy Windows PC

I've installed it on all the VMs prior to Win10 that I have and it works beautifully for patches and updates for all those OSs (XP, Vista, 7 & 8.1).

Thanks @johnlgalt. Today, as my old GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 256MB AGP video card probably fried partially as the Molex connector fell off the video card for probably 6 months inside the case and causing the monitor to resync ever second as well as the video was having noise that was messing up the video. I replaced the video card with a GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP someone on this forum sent me for free with a heartfelt thanks. The only thing is after I login, Windows XP would hang with wallpaper but not loading further to show the desktop or the start menu/taskbar. I had this issue even with the old card but before, if I waited like 30 minutes before logging in, it would work correctly so I used the ISO mentioned earlier on a ASUS P4C-800E Deluxe motherboard based system and flashed the ISO to a USB Flash Drive and then ran the setup.exe from the flash drive where the key provided worked and also did not require activation and did a upgrade after ctrl-alt-del in that part after login as the task manager does work and .exe's are running including explorer but windows apps do not work but cmd.exe and also setup.exe works fine. The only problem is after it was installed, my Multi-tech 56k modem + 33.6kbps USB is detected but none of the USB flash drives are showing up even though they are on the same hub. Everytime I plug in a USB Flash Drive, it is trying to run SolutionCenter and asks for the CD, whatever that is. So I'll play with the real machine for a few days. Ofcourse, one problem I have had since 12 years ago where it will take forever to open something including browsing like 3-5 minutes to open a webpage seems to be fixed and the machine seems fast but wonder what is causing it not to see USB Flash Drives with the same hub it was connected to. I'm going to mount the ISO and copy the files to the local HDD as it seem the USB Flash Drive didn't work after setup.exe copied all the files before the installation stage as well as setup was keep asking for the Windows XP w/SP3 CD and I skipped it as it only showed my real DVD-ROM Pioneer SCSI and Plextor DVD+-RW connected by Firewire 1394 but not the USB Flash Drive. I'll give the legacyupdate a try as what I used to do was download all the windows updates manually to a folder for anything that was after SP2 but never did that with SP3 installed.

Almighty1 said:

Yep, found one right here which even includes a working Volume License key which does not need activation. If I remembered correctly, it's really one file that is different that defines what type of licensing it will accept. Now the question is are updates that were released after Service Pack 3 still available using Windows Updates?

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (Product Key) : Microsoft : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Product Key: B2RBK-7KPT9-4JP6X-QQFWM-PJD6GImportant: For those who want to run on windows 10, and still want to access windows 10, I recommend you use a...

archive.org

Click to expand...

Hi there
SP3 was the final service pack for XP. There are some "Unofficial" SP4 service packs around built by hobbyists to provide SATA drivers (XP natively only supports IDE) and USB 3 isn't supported. For Sound on a VM depending on your sound card and virtualisation software use Soundblaster 16 (SB16), AC97 or ICH6.

another resource :


many more

I'd also recommend running XP as a VM under KVM/QEMU on a Linux system -- seems to be far less hassle than using HYPER-V and runs better too if you want to use native hardware -- pass thru of hardware works easier IMO than on HYPER=V on Windows.

Cheers
jimbo

Thanks @jimbo45 . Does Windows XP actually support USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 external CD/DVD/Blu-Ray writers or readers? I noticed they work inside Windows XP when booted up but when setup.exe reboots and installs. Also, can one actually install Windows XP if the ISO is extracted to a folder on the HDD? I don't really need sound on the VM as I am just using the existing hardware XP as a VM so I can actually migrate everything over to a Windows 10/11 while keeping Symantec WinFaxPro on WinXP as it will not work with anything newer.

Almighty1 said:

Thanks @jimbo45 . Does Windows XP actually support USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 external CD/DVD/Blu-Ray writers or readers? I noticed they work inside Windows XP when booted up but when setup.exe reboots and installs. Also, can one actually install Windows XP if the ISO is extracted to a folder on the HDD? I don't really need sound on the VM as I am just using the existing hardware XP as a VM so I can actually migrate everything over to a Windows 10/11 while keeping Symantec WinFaxPro on WinXP as it will not work with anything newer.

Click to expand...

Not sure why you'd need to extract the ISO -- just enable the ISO as a boot device in the VM.

No prob with USB 2 external devices -- not sure about blu ray as I've never had blu ray discs -- The best way is if those things need drivers is to install them as a physical device which is why I recommend KVM/QEMU as it's easier to add physical USB and PCI devices and install the driver from within the VM.



choose USB host device in add hardware

here's an XP VM using the "Lunar Black theme". (Install the Windows drivers from the virtual windows tools from the fedora site. This enable proper video resolution, mouse , etc etc -- as per vmware tools etc on vmware etc. Otherwise you might get "wonky" video resolutions/ 4K UHD monitors weren't around when XP was current).




cheers
jimbo

@jimbo45 - In my case, I am trying to fix the actual Windows XP running on actual hardware first as it seems like after I replaced the defective video card, Windows XP SP3 will no longer show the desktop or taskbar after logging in. I don't have blank CD-R's but I do have CD-RW's which my Pioneer SCSI DVD-305S DVD-ROM apparently can't read as it keeps ejecting the disk but USB writers have no problem inside of Windows but the drive won't show up when setup.exe restarted the computer. So can't do the VM part until I actually bought the new computer.

I have two old computers still running Windows XP with the following ODDs:
Computer #1: Memorex 16X-DDL-IN DVDRW IDE(PATA)
Computer #2: Lite-On DH-52R2P-08 CDRW IDE(PATA)

I used to have spare ODDs drives but they have all failed now. I will be out of luck when these ODDs fail also. I have seen some used ones on Ebay but I am not sure if I would trust them. Besides the prices they want for them is too high anyways.

Both computers used to use IDE(PATA) HDDs like the ODDs they were slowly failing also. Fortunately, I was able to switch them over to using SATA HDDs. I wish I could use ODDs with their SATA controllers but I think they only support HDDs.

I have a bunch of old CD-RW and DVD-RW discs. I don't know if any of them are still good now. I originally bought them for temporarily store data like we do with flash drives today. Unfortunately, I haven't found them reliable enough to trust them for long term storage.

BTW, the two old computers with Windows XP still depend upon 3.5" floppy drives. At least for now they are still working. Note the motherboards for these computers need floppy drives for installation of Windows XP. That is because I have to load the SATA drivers during the installation of Windows XP by pressing F6.

In any case when these computers eventually fail I will have to depend upon a Windows XP VM for my fix for nostagia.

@MisterEd - In my case, my system was IDE and UltraWide SCSI (Adaptec 39320UW Host Adapter I believe), I got the Pioneer DVD-305S slot load SCSI DVD-ROM which seems like CD-RW is not a format it handles as I never figured out why it eject disc but then last week, other CD-R's and audio CD's work so that's a sign the drive is okay as it only ejected the CD-RW as soon as it was put in). I used to have a CD-RW or may CD-R Plextor Caddy Internal SCSI but their later drives were DVD+-RW firewire/USB and I believe was a LiteOn OEM drive as Plextor no longer made their own drives so I have the firewire but due to moisture at the new house since 2009, something kills all my optical drives on notebooks and also even in a DVD-+RW/VHS Combo so that drive failed and I replaced it with a LG External DVD-+RW via USB which also failed. So I have a bunch of external Blu-Ray-R/-RW External USB Portable writers from Pioneer and LG, 2 Pioneers of the same model and 2 LG's of the same model that works but doesn't seem to work after setup.exe reboots when Windows XP does it's install. This is a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard so it seems extracting the ISO to a folder was a option as I remember having to do that to install Windows XP (the original before they had service packs) originally for a friend.

I see that your ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard has 4 x SATA connectors. Are you using those with SATA HDDs? If so, do you have to load the SATA driver from a floppy during Windows XP setup?

I have an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard which also has 2 x SATA connectors. I just started using it with SATA HDD this year. Note the documentation says for SATA RAID but I don't use it that way. I just use for regular SATA HDDs.

My other Windows XP computers has an ASUS A7V400-MX motherboard. It has no SATA connectors so use a PCI controller card which has 2 SATA connectors. I also just use for regular SATA HDDs.

I have to load the SATA driver from a floppy for both of these computers when installing Windows XP. Someone once argued with me that wasn't necessary because SATA was supported in the BIOS. I said that may have been true in 2005 but back in 2003 that wasn't true.

Recently I bought an external USB ASUS ZenDrive 8X DVDBurner for use with my laptops which have Windows 10 and 11. I wonder if it could be used with an old computer to install Windows XP?

Nope, I used to have a few UltraWide SCSI drives but they all died so right now, only a Western Digital EIDE/PATA 250GB drive is hooked up to it and to the Promise RAID Controller I think. I have a second identical 250GB drive in a bracket that I disconnected since I wasn't using it to minimize wear and tear. I actually booted into either the existing Windows XP even though it won't load the task bar or desktop after logging in by ctrl-alt-del and running setup.exe from the HDD or running setup.exe in Safe mode and then doing upgrade so no floppy is involved even though I have both a Teac 5.25" 1.2MB and a Sony 3.5" 1.44MB, the 5.25" is disconnected as the P4C800-E only supports one floppy drive. From what I read the past few days, AHCI drivers are needed which I think is the same as SATA drivers but I remember one person claimed it only worked when it was slipstreamed into the ISO. It seems when one does it under a VM, they can mount the ISO which is not possible with a real computer as I had tried both Microsoft's Virtual CD tool and WinCDEmu which mounts fine to run Setup but once it is in the installation phase after rebooting, it has the Copy Error and it can't see the mounted ISOs, only the other drives.

Is there any reason you are using the SATA connectors on your motherboard? My manual keeps talking about using them for RAID but single drivers works OK also.

BTW, I use a SYBA SD-VIA-1A2S SATA/ATA 133 PCI Controller with my ASUS A7V400-MX motherboard.

I am not using the SATA at all, I am either using the PATA/EIDE Intel or the Promise RAID PATA/EIDE since I am using Western Digital Caviar 250GB 3.5" EIDE drives, forgot which one as it's been 14+ years since I really paid attention to it. I think I used the Promise instead of the Intel simply because it's UltraDMA133 instead of UltraDMA100. Per the manual:


So basically, I have 3 PATA/EIDE connectors and 4 SATA connectors. I've never used the SATA yet.

Hi there

@Almighty1

Just tested XP on an old SONY VAIO laptop (i5) but no USB3 just USB2 ports with built in DVD. I used an SSD (classic style, not nvME type) connected to the SATA connector on the MOBO -- with the SATA driver from the "Unofficial SP4) system.

Worked perfectly BTW.

If you need Internet browser -- Firefox ESR still installs and runs plus you can use the LYNX text browser too. Office 2010 also OK.

I was going to "retire" that old laptop but it still runs OK --- note though the power supply consumes a HUGE amount of power -- modern hardware has much much better power efficiency etc etc.

However I can't see any advantage of using that as opposed to running XP in a VM on modern hardware -- @Almighty1 for your winfax program I'd use a VM and install the drivers on the GUEST manually -- should work. You need to in the VM config add the USB device (or Pci - depending on the winfax hardware) as a physical device in the VM config. XP as a VM on modern hardware takes up so little resources !!! you can easily run it in just 512MB RAM !!.

I run an agfa photo 35 mm negative scanner on XP to convert old kodachromes and 35 mm B&W / Infra red negatives etc etc to digital prints. This device only runs on XP.

To share files with rest of your LAN / other computers / cloud - you'll need to enable SMB1 on the non XP systems, or another way is just to email the files depending on the size and your ISP contract per mail send limits.

I just did the VAIO laptop for a test -- installing XP only takes around 25 mins on that machine (it's quicker as a VM on modern hardware of course) -- double (physical) XEON's i.e 2X physical CPU's on a server type computer which I'm using as a NAS and a zillion threads blow away an old i5 on a domestic grade laptop.

Cheers
jimbo

As for your video card issue - safe mode, DDU the driver, the n reboot - see if it loads with a generic drive in XP (and crappy 800 x 600 res lol).

@jimbo45 - WinFax Pro will run in a XP 32bit VM but nothing other than things in the VM can print to it which is the limitation which was why I originally posted the thread.

@johnlgalt - DDU was probably the reason I am having the problem as the first thing I did was rebooted into safe mode with the old card and DDU the old driver and then powered off and put in the new video card which appears to work fine in 1280x1024 without installing any drivers as my SGI (Silicon Graphics Inc) 1600SW display is not DVI but uses a OpenLDI interface that goes through another Multi-Link adapter box which takes the OpenLDI and converts it to DVI or VGA and basically it can only use video cards that supports 1600x1024 60Hz timing mode. So anyways, I ended up getting the Windows XP SP3 ISO and ran setup.exe from safe mode to do a upgrade install except the problem is I am getting the following on a bunch of files and I have tried different ISOs and also extracting the ISO to the HDD first which all has the same problem:


Trying to figure out how to fix this as the file is in E:\i386 as seen in the photo above but it wouldn't copy the file and keeps giving me the same prompt. It is probably 20 or so files that does this but if I cancel on all of them, it will still install Windows XP without issues. Only issue is Windows XP will work if I login but it seems like lots of things are missing like the ftp service for example among other other things. I mean WinFax Pro works but the problem is some things in Windows is missing and I wonder is there a way to manually fix it as the setup.exe installation stage wouldn't copy some files as I had already tried the setup.exe method using both ISOs and extracting to the HDD 4-5 times over the past week.
The problem is really on a handful of about 30 files and what's weird is I can find the extracted files in the directories on the HDD it's supposed to be in all extracted with the April 4, 2008 date and even when I try to do the add/remove components thing in Windows. If I deleted the file first and then try adding, it will work fine but the only problem is for some things, it didn't work even if I deleted the files first.
Would I be better off trying the repair install by booting with the CD?

Almighty1 said:

@jimbo45 - WinFax Pro will run in a XP 32bit VM but nothing other than things in the VM can print to it which is the limitation which was why I originally posted the thread.

@johnlgalt - DDU was probably the reason I am having the problem as the first thing I did was rebooted into safe mode with the old card and DDU the old driver and then powered off and put in the new video card which appears to work fine in 1280x1024 without installing any drivers as my SGI (Silicon Graphics Inc) 1600SW display is not DVI but uses a OpenLDI interface that goes through another Multi-Link adapter box which takes the OpenLDI and converts it to DVI or VGA and basically it can only use video cards that supports 1600x1024 60Hz timing mode. So anyways, I ended up getting the Windows XP SP3 ISO and ran setup.exe from safe mode to do a upgrade install except the problem is I am getting the following on a bunch of files and I have tried different ISOs and also extracting the ISO to the HDD first which all has the same problem:

Trying to figure out how to fix this as the file is in E:\i386 as seen in the photo above but it wouldn't copy the file and keeps giving me the same prompt. It is probably 20 or so files that does this but if I cancel on all of them, it will still install Windows XP without issues. Only issue is Windows XP will work if I login but it seems like lots of things are missing like the ftp service for example among other other things. I mean WinFax Pro works but the problem is some things in Windows is missing and I wonder is there a way to manually fix it as the setup.exe installation stage wouldn't copy some files as I had already tried the setup.exe method using both ISOs and extracting to the HDD 4-5 times over the past week.
The problem is really on a handful of about 30 files and what's weird is I can find the extracted files in the directories on the HDD it's supposed to be in all extracted with the April 4, 2008 date and even when I try to do the add/remove components thing in Windows. If I deleted the file first and then try adding, it will work fine but the only problem is for some things, it didn't work even if I deleted the files first.
Would I be better off trying the repair install by booting with the CD?

Click to expand...

You might have got a corrupted ISO. Try another one -- there's loads on the Windows Internet archive. You can also use the XP static activation project if you need to activate. Incidentally you can use software like nLite if you really want a mean lean install of XP but XP really is a minimal

cheers
jimbo

Almighty1 said:

So anyways, I ended up getting the Windows XP SP3 ISO and ran setup.exe from safe mode to do a upgrade install except the problem is I am getting the following on a bunch of files and I have tried different ISOs and also extracting the ISO to the HDD first which all has the same problem:

Click to expand...

Where, exactly, did you get the .ISO?

You know what, nm. I just realized - I had massive issues with Windows XP SP3 ISOs myself, from archive.org and even my own AIO discs that I used plenty of times when I was still running XP. It is a PITA in Hyper-V, for whatever reason.

I opted to find a WIndows XP (no SP) and then manually install the SPs via Legacy Update). But, in hindsight, I didn't try try XP with SP2 nor XP with SP1, only XP with SP3 and XP with no SPs.

jimbo45 said:

You might have got a corrupted ISO. Try another one -- there's loads on the Windows Internet archive. You can also use the XP static activation project if you need to activate. Incidentally you can use software like nLite if you really want a mean lean install of XP but XP really is a minimal

cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

That could be it too. I'm trying to find one that is Volume License as I am trying to keep using the existing key. The problem is knowing which one is good and not corrupted.

johnlgalt said:

Where, exactly, did you get the .ISO?

You know what, nm. I just realized - I had massive issues with Windows XP SP3 ISOs myself, from archive.org and even my own AIO discs that I used plenty of times when I was still running XP. It is a PITA in Hyper-V, for whatever reason.

I opted to find a WIndows XP (no SP) and then manually install the SPs via Legacy Update). But, in hindsight, I didn't try try XP with SP2 nor XP with SP1, only XP with SP3 and XP with no SPs.

Click to expand...

From Windows XP Original (x86-x64) MSDN ISO Files - SP0-SP1-SP2-SP3 - (EN-DE-RU-TR) : Original Files Uploader : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive and then the first one listed as:
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD VL (English)
which seems to be identical to the one I got originally at:

As the existing hardware based XP is what I am trying to fix which already has SP3 on it, I thought it might be better to start with something that already had SP3 in it. I know the original machine was Windows XP without SP and then I did all the SP's manually. Ofcourse there could be problems with the memory as well as even my Corsair memory had problems 10 years ago and I replaced it with generic PNY PC3200 1GB sticks.

Hmmm. Yeah, but I had issues with the XP SP3 - I opted to simply clean install XP without SPs and then manually update them inside the VM with the executables.

It took very, very little time to do so.

I thought you were trying to make a VM on a separate computer so as to access the files on the HDD from the original, but now reading back, I realize that I was mistaken.

As for the ASUS - I see that it is a P4 / Celeron motherboard, correct? Try halving your RAM (remove 1 if 2 sticks installed, 2 if 4 sticks installed) and see if that works.