How do I move XP from a Boot Camp partition to a virtual machine on a new iMac?

[Freyr201110141]

I bought a new iMac yesterday to replace an older Core Duo iMac. I have been running XP on a Boot Camp partition and using Fusion to access it. As the new iMac wont support XP on a Boot Camp partition, I want to use VMWae Fusion to run XP in a virtual machine on the new computer. Is there a way to get the current state of XP (i.e. with all the security and SP3 updates) now on my Boot Camp partition, over to a virtual machine on the new computer?

[WoodyZ]

I would use Paragon Go Virtual to create a Virtual Machine of the Boot Camp partition and you can then run it under VMware Fusion on the new Mac.

[Freyr201110141]

Not sure I understand - wouldn't that mean I would have to keep the old iMac (with it's Boot Camp partition) ? What I want is to get XP running on the new computer so that I can get rid of the old one (letting the grandchildren use it).

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

No offence intended... Did you even read the the linked web page and or the documentation for Paragon Go Virtual?

In short, you'd boot the Boot Camp partition natively, install and run Paragon Go Virtual to create a VMware Virtual Machine of the Boot Camp partition and the run the resultant Virtual Machine with VMware Fusion on the new Mac.

Then you can do whatever you want with the old computer after deleting the Boot Camp partition with the Boot Camp Assistant as you cannot keep the physical install on the old system if your running a virtual copy of it on another system without purchasing another license from Microsoft.  Also you will have to reactivate Windows XP, and any other software that tracks what hardware it was originally installed on, from the Virtual Machine.

Note:  You can even create a Virtual Machine of the Boot Camp partition with VMware Fusion in two different ways or even use VMware vCenter Converter like using Paragon Go Virtual however I strongly recommend using Paragon Go Virtual over the VMware methods due to what I consider a major flaw in how they create the virtual hard disk when using the Import command on the Boot Camp partition and a higher failure rate using the other VMware methods/software compared to Paragon Go Virtual.  For the non technical user Paragon Go Virtual is IMO the better way to go and the whole process typically takes less time then the VMware methods do.

[Freyr201110141]

Sorry, my reply was a good case for an RTFM response. Thanks for the advice - I'll try it out.

[WoodyZ]

Sorry, my reply was a good case for an RTFM response.

Next time!

If you have any questions/problems just post back and we'll go from there.

[Freyr201110141]

Hello Woody Z, OK, I'm ready to go with Paragon Go Virtual. On the "browse for source disks" screen, do I choose EFI (FAT32 OEM Service Volume) or Boot Camp as the source ? The EFI source is denoted with a green partition icon. I assume that the target will be the FAT32 partition on my external drive (highlighted with a green partition icon . Also, after I do this and assuming success, is there a technique for backing up the external drive ? I don't want to trust all my Windows data and the XP OS to a single hard drive.

[WoodyZ]

On the "browse for source disks" screen, do I choose EFI (FAT32 OEM Service Volume) or Boot Camp as the source ?

Boot Camp as the source.  You do not want to image anything other then the Boot Camp partition.

I assume that the target will be the FAT32 partition on my external drive (highlighted with a green partition icon .

The image can be created to an external drive, across the network and it can even be created on the source if adequate free disk space is available however I'd recommend the target or destination be an external hard drive and if it's formatted FAT32 then make sure that you, from the Paragon Go Virtual User Manual... "Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of 2 GBs or not (available for VMware only)"

Also, after I do this and assuming success, is there a technique for backing up the external drive ? I don't want to trust all my Windows data and the XP OS to a single hard drive.

I'm not sure of the exact context of this question however backing up files and folders on a hard drive, internal or external, is basically a Computing 101 subject...  in other words backing up is backing up...  making a copy of files/folders of the source to a target other then the physical/virtual drive the source resides on and what method one choose to use depends on what's being backed up and the software being use to do the backups.

Just a few comments on using Time Machine with Virtual Machines...  It is a known fact that Time Machine is not 100% reliable backing up/restoring Virtual Machines under all circumstances.  Also backing up Virtual Machines via Time Machine is disk/time intensive and wastes a tremendous amount of space for something that may be corrupt and worthless come time to restore it.  At a minimum I would exclude Virtual Machines from Time Machine and with the Virtual Machines shutdown, not suspended, and VMware Fusion closed then manually copy the Virtual Machines Packages to an alternate location, preferably on to a different physical hard disk.  Then keep the User Data that is stored within the Virtual Machine backed up off of the Virtual Machine on a regular basis so as to always have a current User Data backup.  If you have to restore a properly backed up Virtual Machine that is not as current at least you'll have a working Virtual Machine and current User Data to go forward with when you find out your Time Machine backup of the Virtual Machine fails.

[Freyr201110141]

Thanks for the reply.

The image can be created to an external drive, across the network and it can even be created on the source if adequate free disk space is available however I'd recommend the target or destination be an external hard drive and if it's formatted FAT32 then make sure that you, from the Paragon Go Virtual User Manual... "Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of 2 GBs or not (available for VMware only)"

Here is a screenshot of the browse screen:

[WoodyZ]

Here is a screenshot of the browse screen:

Attachments:

• ATT00001..htm (529 bytes)
• ATT00002..htm (275 bytes)
• ATT00003..htm (8.2 K)

If you have images either attach the image files directly or insert in into the body of the reply.

[Freyr201110141]

Hello again, I get why there are two virtual disks now.

[Freyr201110141]

Sorry, they looked like they were in the e-mail. I think I understand about the splitting - does FAT not support larger files? If so, is there another way I should partition the external drive before proceeding? (or does splitting not have any adverse effect?)

[Freyr201110141]

So I tried by selecting BootCmp as the source and the FAT partition as the target with file splitting checked and here is what I got:

Any ideas? Thanks

[WoodyZ]

Okay, first of all I need to say that I do most of my P2V with my own customized WinPE Live Windows OS CD/DVD/ISO Image and or Clonezilla Live, depending on the OS and condition/situation and until today had never used Paragon Go Virtual or VMware vCenter Converter on the native Boot Camp partition, however I have used them both on normal PC's and Virtual Machines.  The primary reason why I've been suggesting Paragon Go Virtual is because, generally speaking, I have found it easier to use then VMware vCenter Converter or the Migration Assistant when the latter fails on normal PC's when users have had issues with either under normal usage.

That said, let me first start by saying I'm sorry for steering you in the wrong direction and as a result of the first pictures you showed I have now just tested Paragon Go Virtual and both the latest 3.x and 4.x versions of VMware vCenter Converter on the Boot Camp partition.

Both Paragon Go Virtual and the latest 3.x version of VMware vCenter Converter failed and from the tests I preformed would have to say that in the case of the native Boot Camp partition neither of these can be used successfully, at least when directly installed.  I did not have time to test doing a Cold Clone with VMware vCenter Converter 3.x which might work.

The good news is using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3 (VMware-converter-all-4.3.0-292238.exe) I was able to create a working Virtual Machine of the native Boot Camp partition with it having a virtual hard disk having a single partition containing just the contents of the native Boot Camp partition Windows OS install.

That was the good news however the bad news is, if you take the defaults and do not customize the process the results may be either an initial failure to boot the Virtual Machine, although it can be corrected however not easily for the non-technical user and or you end up with a disk layout that represents the entire physical disk not just the partition Windows is installed on.  Which is what the Migration Assistant does, albeit it's virtual and doesn't actualy copy the contents of the Macintosh HD and is not configurable.  However it is configurable with VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3 if you do it by not accepting all the defaults.

All of this brings me full circle to what I've been saying for years in these and other forums that clean building vs. P2V is the way to go!  However if you what to attempt to create a Virtual Machine from the native Boot Camp partition and you do not have the tools and or knowledge to use customized WinPE Live Windows OS CD/DVD/ISO Image and or Clonezilla Live then I'm going to have to say VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3 is going to be my recommendation now and going forward in the context of creating a normal file based Virtual Machine of the native Boot Camp partition.

Again I apologize for the time, energy and effort you've wasted in this situation.

In closing let me say that for the non-technical user VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3 is not what I'd call user friendly and you need to read the documentation and understand the choices you're making before committing to the process of creating the Virtual Machine or it will report successes in creating the Virtual Machine however when you go to run it you may end up with a BSOD that will need to be resolved.  I do not have the time at the moment to outline how to best configure the process however I have put it on my long list of thing to try and get to soon.

[Freyr201110141]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try VM V Centre Converter Standalone v4.3 and see how it goes. Life isn't simple at the interface between Mac and Windows.

[FrankIII]

WoodyZ,

Like the other poster, I am trying to help a friend move a vmware fusion+BootCamp to a new machine.

I am not a fusion user.  What I have read elsewhere indicates that to move a vm in fusion to a new machine, you would only need to copy the vm library in the documents folder of the computer.  Do you know if fusion works differently when it connects to a BootCamp installation? Meaning does fusion not use the vm library in the documents folder and instead gets the files from the BootCamp partition.

Also, you mentioned picking specific settings when using vCenter Converter Standalone.  Do yo have any recommendations for these settings?

VMware has the following video for creating the vm.  Do you recommend the steps in the video?

     http://www.vmware.com/download/fusion/windows_to_mac.html

Thanks in advance for any assistance you may be able to offer.

[admin]

Most Fusion virtual machines are file bundles (a special Mac folder that behaves like a single file) containing a virtual disk, so all you need to do is just copy the file, but a BootCamp virtual machine accesses your BootCamp partition directly; copying the file bundle for it just copies the pointer to that partition, which won't do you any good on another Mac.

However you can use the Import option to create a normal virtual machine with a virtual disk from your BootCamp disk, which can be copied; in Fusion 3 just select it in the library and hit "Import".

[FrankIII]

Thank you for your reponse and explanation.  It was very informative.