How can I get hold of a legitimate copy of XP to run in a VM?

[al92]

I'd like to create a Windows XP virtual machine on my Win 10 laptop, to allow me to play certain older games. I've got Virtual Box installed, but I don't know how to get XP itself. I'd prefer not to get it from a pirate source if possible...

I do have two old PCs still which run XP, so I could probably use the validation/activation code from one of them, but I don't have a Win XP boot disk or anything like that any more. Is there anywhere I can download it or get a disk from?

 

[Math Geek]

i've not seen a legit source for wn xp for a long time. MS certainly does not host it anymore. there are still copies out there in internet land but there is no guarantee they are legit copies and are not full of spyware/virus type stuff.

if you can see if any friends still have a copy lying around you can use/make a copy of for yourself. beyond that, you're taking a big risk obtaining/using a copy from some random place on the web.

 

[Alabalcho]

If you have Legal Windows 7 Pro, it contains valid "XP Mode", which is XP Pro inside Microsoft Virtual PC. With some efforts, you can move it over to Hyper-V (and probably Virtual-PC).

 

[smorizio]

if your older pc are hp or dells for a small fee you may be able to pick up a restore disk from the vendors. look on ebay for oem xp disk.

 

[Alabalcho]

if your older pc are hp or dells for a small fee you may be able to pick up a restore disk from the vendors. look on ebay for oem xp disk.

There "Restore Disk" will work without activation only on genuine HP/Dell computers. If you install them on VM, you'll still have to activate them with legal XP product key.

 

[al92]

if your older pc are hp or dells for a small fee you may be able to pick up a restore disk from the vendors. look on ebay for oem xp disk.

There "Restore Disk" will work without activation only on genuine HP/Dell computers. If you install them on VM, you'll still have to activate them with legal XP product key.

I should have two legal product keys as I have two old machines which are running legitimate copies of XP; hopefully I'd be able to use one of those?

 

[Math Geek]

yah the key should be usable easy enough. back in the xp days, there was few issues moving keys around. should be no trouble at all.