XP fails to load in Virtualbox

Heedtheadvice

Help please if any of you have experiince of loading an OS into the VM.

Trying to load XP SP2 in to my new PC (running win 10 64bit) under virtualbox VM so as to try and use a couple of progs/hardware not compatible with win 10.
The install fails with windows (XP in the VM) reporting stop to protect computer at file symc810.sys 0x0000008E once it tries to start windows.
It did have an earlier message at a previous aborted install that the file was corrupt.
How can I effectively install or reboot in safe mode under the VM or have you any other ideas or is my XP 32 bit pro disc now duff - it does show quite a bit of surface marking! ( good job - maybe- I am moving to win 10!).

Doh! :eek:

esuhl

Strange. I had a quick search and my best guess to the cause would be (as you suggest) that the file has been corrupted due to a damaged CD.

I think you can bring up the boot options (to get into safe mode) by holding F8 during boot. You'll have to be quick to press the button, though.

I'd try manually extracting symc810.sys from the CD -- maybe have a google for a tool that can extract files from a damaged CD. Or maybe try a tool that can rip an ISO image of the CD. I think the file may be encapsulated in drivers.cab. So you could rip drivers.cab and "expand" (i.e. extract) the sys file manually:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/888017
https://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_expand.mspx?mfr=true

I don't know if these searches might help:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=iso+rip+damaged
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=iso+rip+damaged+data+cd+OR+dvd+free+OR+"open+source"+OR+freeware

---

It might also be worth having a look in the Device Manager to see if there are any devices for which a driver hasn't been loaded. You could try uninstalling the driver (by deleting the device in Device Manager) and rebooting to see if it loads correctly.

austonic

Was the virtual machine image original or a p2v?

Have you changed the configuration of the virtual machine the image was originally created for / run on?

IIRC, <host><del> sends a ctrl-alt-del code sequence (also on VB menu). Sending F8 should also work if VB set to pass through and that's not coded to any other function on your host.

tronator

IIRC WindowsXP didn't have SATA drivers included. Try adding an IDE Controller inside Virtualbox and attach the VDI to that.

Heedtheadvice

Thanks all. Tried one of those ISO recovery progs to no avail. Then I noticed that what I thought was all surface damage, some turned out to be glue from the CD sleeve! A spot of meths to clean up and now installs fine!
So success!

poppellerant

I would use this opportunity to create an ISO image of the disc on your harddrive.

Unless it's a special version of Windows, I'd download an ISO of Windows XP. This is not illegal, it's the use of dodgy serial numbers that is illegal.

spud17

poppellerant wrote: »

I would use this opportunity to create an ISO image of the disc on your harddrive.

Unless it's a special version of Windows, I'd download an ISO of Windows XP. This is not illegal, it's the use of dodgy serial numbers that is illegal.

This ^.

I make an .iso of each disk just for convenience, makes it easy later on if you want to make a bootble usb using Rufus or whatever, also Virtualbox will boot from an .iso
Random Google search gives,
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-boot-and-install-from-iso-in-virtualbox/

Heedtheadvice

Thanks good advice.
I hope that I will not need XP for too long (one reason was to use my old scanner HP scanner 3570c but now found a basic driver that works with some win 10 progs) but in the meantime will download an ISO. Any recommendations for a reliable source?