Installing XP in Parallels via .exe

L

larriveejp

Bit poster
I have a weird situation. My copy of XP Pro is in .exe form. Is there any way to install my copy using Parallels?

If so, how would I do it? When I had a PC I had to install it using DOS, but I barely got through that install. I definitely need help trying to do the same thing in a virtual machine.

Thanks for any help!
 
My college has a deal with Microsoft where we get certain Microsoft products as part of our tuition. It's basically XP and Office. They have a Microsoft portal where you access the library of available software. The problem is that the files all come down as an .exe. Which is great if you already have a machine running windows. Not so good if you only have Macs and Parallels.
 
Hrm... those are probably self-extracting archives.

You will probably have to find a friend who can extract it for you. I'm willing to bet that there is a .ISO file in there....

Alternatively, put the file on an external hard drive (or a Windows formatted iPod) take it to a computer in the library, plug in, and extract.
 
larriveejp,

This all sounds very suspicious. I agree with unused_user_name "I know of no legitimate source for XP in that format..." .... let me clarify why .... as far as I know :

(1) MSDN subscribers CANNOT donwload Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(2) Partners with "Action Pack" subscriptions CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(3) Partners with "SPLA" agreements CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(4) Companies using one of Microsoft's volume licensing agreements CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.


I'm not too sure about (1) ... but I'm pretty sure I'm right about (2),(3) and (4).

I would suggest you ask your friend what licensing deal he has. And if it is a legitimate deal, then you should have no worries about calling Microsoft and talking to them about the problems. Or have you already spoken to Microsoft ?
 
Also, just from a purely technical point of view, I don't think "when I had a PC I had to install it using DOS" is a supported way to install Windows ! And I don't think a DOS to XP upgrade is supported either !
 
Thanks unused_user! That's exactly what I needed to do. I haven't tried it yet, but I extracted the file on a Windows machine and I think it will work now. Thanks for your help.

Thanks again! Hopefully I can get it running now.
 
No dice.

So the extracting part was correct, but I have not been able to get any image or .cdr to work in Parallels. I even pulled out an old Windows 98 CD to see if I had just botched my Parallels install somehow, but that one worked just fine.

Here are the files I came up with after extraction:
- Autorun.INF
- DOCS (Folder)
- DOTNETFIX (Folder)
- I386 (Folder)
- README.HTM
- SETUP.EXE
- SETUPXP.HTM
- SUPPORT (Folder)
- VALUEADD (Folder)
- WIN51
- WIN51IP
- WIN51IP.SP2

I created an image in disk utility and burned a cd/dvd master. When I put the resulting disc in a Windows machine it works fine, but Parallels will not recognize it. What am I missing? I can't figure out why Parallels can't recognize a disc or image that works fine on an actual PC.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks!

James
 
Also, just from a purely technical point of view, I don't think "when I had a PC I had to install it using DOS" is a supported way to install Windows ! And I don't think a DOS to XP upgrade is supported either !
Click to expand...

Both Win2K and Win98 could be installed this way.

University's sometimes set up things in rather dumb ways... I've seen worse.

larriveejp:
What they did was give you the contents of the bootable CD, without giving you the part that makes it bootable. Basically this image is useless. You might be able to use those files burned to a CD, in conjunction with a set of XP install bootable floppies to install XP, but that would depend on the floppies being the right version. I seem to remember that MS but the ability to make the floppies in the BOOTDISK directory, which seems to be missing from your image. I would go to your schools IT people and get an image from them. Bring them a blank CD or two, and they should be able to make you one.
 
larriveejp said:
So the extracting part was correct, but I have not been able to get any image or .cdr to work in Parallels. I even pulled out an old Windows 98 CD to see if I had just botched my Parallels install somehow, but that one worked just fine.

Here are the files I came up with after extraction:
- Autorun.INF
- DOCS (Folder)
- DOTNETFIX (Folder)
- I386 (Folder)
- README.HTM
- SETUP.EXE
- SETUPXP.HTM
- SUPPORT (Folder)
- VALUEADD (Folder)
- WIN51
- WIN51IP
- WIN51IP.SP2

I created an image in disk utility and burned a cd/dvd master. When I put the resulting disc in a Windows machine it works fine, but Parallels will not recognize it. What am I missing? I can't figure out why Parallels can't recognize a disc or image that works fine on an actual PC.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks!

James
Click to expand...
It appears that this is an installable image that requires an installed operating system to start. You probably need to be able to run setup.exe on that disk, which will require that an OS already be installed on your guest VM. If you can go to a PC and find out whether setup.exe is a 16 or 32 bit program, you will know what you need to start with.

If it's a 16 bit program, you can boot freedos from a floppy image (find it via google). If setup.exe is 32 bit, you need a 32 bit OS such as any Windows version after 3.1 already installed. So if you can install Win95, you can run setup.exe.

If the disk boots in a hardware Windows machine without an OS already running, it should boot in Parallels as well. Just make sure the CD drive is on controller channel 0:0 and the boot order is set to CD first.

Disclaimer: I've installed many Windows versions including Win2k servers, but haven't actually installed XP (which I avoid if possible since I lke Win2k better)
 
Thanks joem!

So if I have a copy of Windows 98 I could iinstall it then install XP over the top of that inside the same VM?

Also, If I do it that way is it possible to change the Guest OS in my VM config after I install XP over 98 (or does that even matter)?

Thanks for all the help! This forum has been so helpful.

I found one option for creating an XP boot CD using a network install like mine and an original XP bootable install disc. It doesn't break any copy protection schemes or give you a cracked key. You still need your own WGA key, but you do need a borrowed original install disc to pull the bootloader. The first problem with that solution is that I obviously don't have the bootable disc.

I'll try it via the Win98 route for now, but if anybody knows anything about slipstreaming or creating bootable CDs I am all ears. Long term it seems like the easier of the two if I have to go through this process on another Mac or create a new VM.

Thanks!

James
 
What I would do, is get XP installed using whatever convoluted route you need to take, and before doing anything else, activate it and update with the latest patches, and then shut it down and BACK UP the .hdd file. Put the backup in a safe place such as on a DVD or external drive.

This way, if you need to move to another machine, or break your installation, you can start with that backup and don't have to go through all this again. If you have to restore the backup, copy it to where ever you need it, don't try to boot it directly. This way is can't break.

I've learned the hard way not to be overconfident. I'ts been a series of expensive lessons over the years, and I hope my experience helps you or someone else. Backups are a good thing.
 
Joe Bloggs said:
larriveejp,

This all sounds very suspicious. I agree with unused_user_name "I know of no legitimate source for XP in that format..." .... let me clarify why .... as far as I know :

(1) MSDN subscribers CANNOT donwload Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(2) Partners with "Action Pack" subscriptions CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(3) Partners with "SPLA" agreements CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.

(4) Companies using one of Microsoft's volume licensing agreements CANNOT download Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office, or most other Microsoft products.


I'm not too sure about (1) ... but I'm pretty sure I'm right about (2),(3) and (4).

I would suggest you ask your friend what licensing deal he has. And if it is a legitimate deal, then you should have no worries about calling Microsoft and talking to them about the problems. Or have you already spoken to Microsoft ?
Click to expand...

I can speak for 1 and 4 directly, and yes, you CAN download all of those programs from their web site. They have switched over almost completely to ISO images now. You can not only get them in English but most other languages also.

For MSDN you request product keys online and it saves them for you on a seperate web page.

Steve
 
larriveejp said:
So the extracting part was correct, but I have not been able to get any image or .cdr to work in Parallels. I even pulled out an old Windows 98 CD to see if I had just botched my Parallels install somehow, but that one worked just fine.

Here are the files I came up with after extraction:
- Autorun.INF
- DOCS (Folder)
- DOTNETFIX (Folder)
- I386 (Folder)
- README.HTM
- SETUP.EXE
- SETUPXP.HTM
- SUPPORT (Folder)
- VALUEADD (Folder)
- WIN51
- WIN51IP
- WIN51IP.SP2

I created an image in disk utility and burned a cd/dvd master. When I put the resulting disc in a Windows machine it works fine, but Parallels will not recognize it. What am I missing? I can't figure out why Parallels can't recognize a disc or image that works fine on an actual PC.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks!

James
Click to expand...

Those are all the files from the origina CD. However you are missing the bootable part of the CD. That is what is needed to create a bootable CD. I think you can find it by searching the web, Then you would need a CD burning app that allows you to ceate a bootable CD and specify the boot file (typically a ".BIN" file)

Steve
 
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