- 1). Download and install Virtual PC if you do not have it installed already. You will be asked to accept the Virtual PC user agreement and select a location for Virtual PC to be installed. Reboot your computer if prompted to do so once the software has been installed.
- 2). Launch Virtual PC. Select "New Virtual Machine Wizard" from the "Action" menu to launch the Virtual Machine creation wizard; this will open up a new window that will allow you to specify the settings for the Virtual Machine that Windows XP will be installed on.
- 3). Work through the Virtual Machine creation wizard, choosing the "Create a New Virtual Machine" option and choosing "Windows XP" as the Virtual Machine's operating system. Make sure to give your Virtual Machine at least 128 MB of RAM (though more will ensure that Windows XP has more RAM to work with) and at least 65000 MB of virtual disk space. Continue through the wizard until the Virtual Machine has been created.
- 4). Insert your Windows XP installation disc into your CD or DVD drive, then select the Virtual Machine that you created from the Virtual PC list of available machines. Click the "Start" button to initialize the Virtual Machine.
- 5). Begin installing Windows XP on the Virtual Machine as you would any other computer. Choose to format the hard drive partition created by Virtual PC during the Virtual Machine creation wizard; it will appear as unpartitioned space to the setup program. This will format the virtual disk file created by Virtual PC to the appropriate file system for Windows XP.
- 6). Wait while the Windows XP setup program copies files to the virtual partition. A yellow progress bar will show you how things are progressing. Once the files have been copied successfully, the Virtual Machine will reboot and the setup program will launch the Windows XP operating environment in order to continue installation.
- 7). Click inside the Virtual PC window and allow it to capture the mouse (binding the mouse movements within the Virtual PC window); follow the on-screen prompts to continue installing Windows XP. Set the regional time and date settings when prompted and input your genuine Microsoft Windows XP product license key. When installation is complete, the Virtual Machine will reboot again and launch Windows XP.
- 8). Create user IDs and set an administrator password as you would normally when installing Windows XP; the first launching of Windows XP in the Virtual Machine will prompt you for this information. Once user accounts have been created, you can log in to your Windows XP account just as you would if you were running the operating system directly on your computer.
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