Blog/source/_posts/2013-11-08-virtualize-a-broken-windows-xp-machine-with-kvm-or-xen.markdown

---
layout: post
title: "Virtualize a broken Windows XP machine with KVM or Xen, Part2"
date: 2013-11-08 12:39
comments: true
categories: KVM Windows Virtualization Recovery IT
---

It's time to convert the physical disk to a virtual image. I'm using KVM almost everywhere, so, this tutorial will be about KVM. You can use the images in Xen/VMWare almost the same way.

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First, install the VirtIO drivers for a better performance. The Fedora team builds isos with binary executables. Check the <a href="http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/WindowsGuestDrivers/Download_Drivers" target="_BLANK">KVM documentation for the newest info.</a>

First, attache a new VirtIO disk image to the machine. You can use the previously generated image in the installation from Part 1 or create a new one. The size is not important. It's needed just to recognize the new storage format in Windows.

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<img id="7" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/7.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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<img id="8" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/8.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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<img id="9" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/9.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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<img id="10" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/10.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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When it's installed, you can deattach and delete the temporary VirtIO disk.

And now, the converting. I use mostly three tools for this thing:

* <a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/" target="_BLANK">VMWare vCenter Converter</a> which is a free tool by VmWare
* CloneZilla - Open Source Linuxdistribution for creating disk images
* Byte copy with dd. I don' recommend it because will copy all of the sectors of the disk, even the "empty" ones. The dd way is OK when you will use LVM for a storage format.

I will show you how to convert it with the VmWare tool because It's the easiest way, I think.

You need a free space somewhere to put the converted image from the tool. It's possible to mount a directory from the server, to mount a Samba share or if the physical disk is healthy and there's enough free space, you can put the image right in C:\.

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<img id="11" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/11.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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Click on "Convert machine"
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<img id="12" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/12.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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This local machine
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<img id="13" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/13.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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VmWare Workstation or other VmWare virtual machine; choose a directory
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<img id="14" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/14.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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Summary..
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<img id="14" src="{{ root_url }}/images/WinXPVirtRecovery/14.png" style="border-width:0px;" />
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And the job is running
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When it finnish, you will have a directory with the VMDK image in it. KVM supports VMDK, but it's better to convert it to QCOWp2 with:

{% codeblock lang:bash %}
$ kvm-img convert -O qcow2 WinXP.vmdk WinXP.qcow2
{% endcodeblock %}

Just put the QCOW2 image in KVM and your XP is virtual :)