i used to own xp on a slow machine and it was fast. but ever since w7 i have found windows sluggish. i spent at least two weeks trying to tweak w10, disabling tons of services after reading tons of websites how to speed it up, but utterly frustratingly slow. or i just dont like any delays whatsoever. avast or other software constantly getting in my way, cant even shut off windows updates when it cannot even update anyway. i'll download xp sp3 and give that a go. the comp is now lightning fast with linux, responsive as a computer should be. now just to get some win set up in vm so i can do my real work. will use the linux for online stuff, only a few programs.

redfox2807,

Well, according to the Microsoft Community it is okay to do as I suggested:


https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-1e63d50a4212

Activate W10 license via MS Chat Support:
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/act...osoft-support/

2 members found this post helpful.

Thanks! I've spent much time trying to google an official MS answer. What I could find so far is just personal opinions on MS forums that it shouldn't be legal.

redfox2807,

I know we may be going off-topic slightly, but a lot depends on the applicable law in your particular country.
The US laws tend to be stricter than most.

For example, in Europe it is possible to buy genuine “used” software licenses, including those for Microsoft Windows and Office cheaply and legally.

Here is Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus with a valid product key at a very reasonable £7.77 via digital download via Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-O.../dp/B072R63CH7

Remember that this is for a lifetime license on a single PC via a single outright purchase.

The relevant EU ruling is here:
http://www.brodies.com/binformed/leg...tware-licences

This ruling applies to all EU member countries.

NB It is NOT possible to download such software from outside the EU. The Microsoft servers automatically detect the country of origin and either block the download or refuse to accept the product key.

1 members found this post helpful.

just a little update, tried xp sp3 and still crashing. will try updating the vm now. on a side note, system still not going into hibernation, crashes. i guess because my swap drive is .1gig less than my ram. strange because i never use up my 4gig ram so don't know why this would be the problem. possible that this may be the culprit for both problems? have to figure out how to shift the drive sizes by gpt, as i read somewhere.

No.

It is your system for some reason or possibly virtualbox. Did you ever look at logs?

Did you ever test memory?

1 members found this post helpful.

yup, will look at those too, as previously suggested. one step at a time. this is all totally new to me

An application or program in linux should not cause it to crash.

Virtualbox is a program. It requires resources. That being software, hardware and firmware.
All have to work together to run this properly. It is possible that any of those three are at fault.

I doubt it has anything to do with xp unless it is the cpu running issue but pretty sure that is qemu that needs the /halt switch.

You can test with any other OS to see if it crashes. Any live cd or iso can be booted in a new VM configured like xp was.

You can make a real usb install and run virtualbox from it.

It should not be any setting in virtualbox. It should not be any guest addition issue. Virtualbox should run.

wow, it actually worked to upgrade the vm! thanks a lot everyone. will play around with it for a while and then update my original post with the solution so newbies arent forced to read through the entire thread

^ glad you sorted it out.
nevertheless...
something to keep in mind.