I finally updated my old reliable but slow HP notebook for a Sony E series with 4G memory and 2.4GHz processor and Linux Mint dual boot with Windows 8. Not bad for $175 and it will handle Virtualbox. Well I can't install my Win XP software on Win 7 even in XP compatibility mode it won't even install Monoply! So the plan is install real Win XP in Virtualbox.. which everyone on the web says is REALLY EASY.. NO ITS NOT..

I used k3b to create an ISO file from the Win XP CD only to find it didn't actually do that.. on the net various sites say you can download a Win XP ISO but.. NO YOU CAN'T..(not without MALWARE installed)

First question is can I actually get a Win XP ISO file from my Microsoft Win XP disc?

Yes, from Linux with dd
This will code the complete CDrom into that file, inclusive of the boot.
The bs= is to make it a bit faster.

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You can also boot directly of the WinXP disc that you have (in VirtualBox) and install that way.

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A year or so ago I tried to move an old XP install to a guest - it had software I wanted to keep.
I used some M$oft tool to create an image, and although I could get it to fire up in both Hyper-V (Win10) and KVM, I couldn't get my headphone-mike to work. Played with it for a while, then decided to just keep the entire old box just for it.
So maybe you can get to do what you want, or maybe not ...

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It looks like the ISO can still be downloaded from Microsoft, of all places. See https://pcriver.com/operating-system...-download.html.

I can confirm that XP runs fine on Virtualbox (however my VM host is Windows 10, not Linux). I use it to tinker with my old video editing projects, which require an old version of Pinnacle Studio. Works flawlessly, with sound and without stuttering, on a middle-of-the-road PC

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I have been running winXp in VirtualBox on Slackware64 Linux (various versions and kernels) for many years and installed it using the original windows XP CD. Runs better in VirtualBox than it did on bare metal.

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Thanks everyone..
I presume.. if I install XP directly by booting into virtualbox, you're telling me it won't ask for an activation code.. I presume that is what you are saying.. ok here goes..

Later after creating a virtual machine but with no operating system loaded I try to START it and
I get this error message..

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine Windows XP.

VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR_ALL_VMX_DISABLED).

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}

Did you set the VM up as 32-bit? VirtualBox needs hardware virtualisation for 64-bit clients.

See https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch10.html#hwvirt

Note also that you won't be able to start a VM if it has no operating system in it.

Side remark: That’s true for physical machines as well. You can’t expect a computer to run without software.

Enable VT in the BIOS

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Thanks all.. ENABLE VT in the BIOS worked.. All I have to do now is repeat the trick on my wifes Mac Book Sierra..