Microsoft Windows XP is an old operating system that has reached the end of its support from Microsoft. But if you’re still required to run it, then the best way to do so is to execute it on a virtual machine.
I completely switched to ‘Linux‘ about a year ago and personally, and starting very recently, I wanted to run Windows XP because I have to use a couple of applications that’re only designed to run in Windows, and for a couple of months I’ve been using my licensed Windows 8.1 in a virtual machine on Ubuntu 15.10 just for the sake of running those applications. But my laptop only has 4 GB of RAM and when using Windows 8.1 virtual machine (I use VirtualBox and have allocated 1.4 GB of RAM for Windows 8.1) alongside my web browser with 8-12 tabs opened in Ubuntu 15.10, it really slows things down due to the heavy memory usage.
So recently I switched to a Windows XP virtual machine to see if I can counteract this somehow. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now, and with just a 700 MB RAM, XP runs great!. Sure it’s an outdated and a bit ugly looking operating system, but I just use it for the sake of running my applications. I can’t really complain. However, being old, Windows XP also has an outdated hardware driver support. Therefore, unlike with Windows 8.1, you won’t be able to connect to the Internet without first making a couple of changes in VirtualBox. So in this article I’ll share with you what I did to enable internet access to Window XP virtual machine under VirtualBox, hoping that someone may find it useful. And even though I used Ubuntu 15.10 as the host, these instructions should work despite what operating system you’ll be utilizing to act as the host.
What we’ll be doing is simple. First we have to change the network setting of VirtualBox for the Window XP VM. And then we have to download the network adapter driver through the Host operating system, share it with the VM, and install it on the Windows XP VM. Afterwards, Windows XP will be able connect to the internet. It’s pretty simple. So let’s do it.
Step 1: First of all, if you’re already running the Window XP virtual machine, then turn it OFF. Then from the VirtualBox VM manager window, select the Windows XP VM and click on the Settings icon.
Step 2: Then click on the Network tab, and make sure you’ve selected ‘NAT‘ under Attached to: option. Then click on Advanced, and under ‘Adapter Type‘, make sure you’ve selected Intel Pro/1000 MT Desktop(...). Below that, the ‘Cable Connected‘ option should also be checked.
Step 3: If you’ve already setup a shared folder for the Windows XP VM you can simply click on the ‘OK’ button and move on to Step 4. Otherwise, don’t click on the ‘OK’ button just yet, and click on the Shared Folders icon instead.
From the window to your right, click on the small folder icon with the green cross to add a shared folder.
You can share any folder with the virtual machine. I’ve shared my ‘Home’ folder (which is the equivalent of ‘My Documents’ in Windows) with the VM and since I should be able to write to the shared folder from the VM, I make sure to uncheck ‘Read-only‘ option and check the ‘Auto-mount‘ option so that the folder gets mounted every time the virtual machine boots up. You can also changed the name of the mounted folder as well (by default VirtualBox uses the shared folder’s name).
Step 4: Now download the Intel Pro/1000 MT Ethernet adapter driver from this page (there are two drivers. One for the 32-bit version of Windows XP, & the other is for the 64-bit version) using the Host operating system. Once the download finishes, copy it over to the shared folder.
Step 5: Now turn ON the Windows XP virtual machine. Once it finishes booting, open My Computer and you should see the shared folder mounted there. Now locate the downloaded Intel Ethernet adapter installer and install it (when unsure, 
just go with the default selection of the installer).
Now open up the web browser and you should be able to access internet. If not, reboot the virtual machine. That’s it. Good luck.
Update (2019-04-11): It’s been a while since I wrote this tutorial but these steps should still work. However, even after following all these steps you still can’t connect to the internet, then try downloading Firefox for Windows XP from the host computer and then place it in the shared folder and install it from there. After that you should be able to connect to the internet as long as you are using that web browser. A especial thank you should go to Tim in the comment section for pointing this out!
P.S: (if you’ll be browsing internet often through the Windows XP VM, then replace the old IE with Firefox or Google Chrome).
I downloaded the file and shared it with my virtual system. I opened the application while running Windows XP in Virtual Box. It says “This package is not supported on this system or operating system” Can you please help me
Hi Mike,
Maybe you downloaded a driver that is not compatible with Windows XP. Try downloading it again, this time make sure it’s designed to run on XP.
I initially got a message saying “This package is not supported on this system or operating system”. However, it turned out that I needed the 32-bit driver, even though the host machine is 64-bit.
Thanks for the very clear step-by-step instructions.
You’re welcome Kate 🙂 .
thanks. i faced the same problem.
Me too! Thanks a lot!
I went through every step, but when I start the virtual machine and go to my computer the folder (from the host) that I selected to share with the virtual machine didn’t show up. No matter what folder I choose to share, it wouldn’t show up. What am I doing wrong? Is it because my host system is Windows 10?
Hi Bill,
Did you enable the “auto-mount” option? If you didn’t, then you’ll have to manually mount the folder.
I had the same problem, you need to install the virtualbox guest additions package.
just go to devices – install virtualbox guest additions cd image.
Your welcome 🙂
Mine say that for both please HELP!
Hi Matthew,
I didn’t understand the question…
Struggling with this myself, with a Windows 10 host. Do I need to make any firewall changes?
Disregard, I think it’s sorted. I simply reinstalled the driver and it worked. What through me off was the fact that I couldn’t complete online Windows XP registration. I assumed it was lack of connectivity, until I saw Windows updates kick off.
Thanks for the tutorial!
You’re welcome Paul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8MIw23YOWE related video to this guide. helped me also
LOVE YOU
I GOT SUCCESS AFTER TRYING SO LONG
I TRIED MANY METHODS BUT ONLY THIS WORKED!!!!!
You’re welcome 🙂 .
Works in 2017-04! Thank you very much for sharing this information! 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂 .
Hi, I auto mounted the folder, made sure read only was unchecked and checked the firewall in XP. No folder is showing. what do i do now?
The same for me, no shared folder is showing up.
Go to Devices>Insert Guest Editions CD Image… in Virtual Box with your XP VM running, run the wizard, restart, shared folder should show!
You’ve made this work for me. kudoz to you guys. I am Mz Adeola
You’re welcome.
So I followed these steps but its still not working. Every step worked fine. Installed the Intel twice and still a no go. Even rebooted the VM and still didn’t work. Any ideas? It says I’m connected but still not internet connection.
Same for me–any suggestions?
Maybe you figured it out by now? well for those with this issue:
For me itshowed that XP was connected to the internet/network, but Internet Explorer with XP SP2 couldn’t connect, switched it to online mode, still nothing. So I downloaded Firefox for XP SP2 in the host system, placed it in the shared Virtual Box folder, and installed it. Internet Explorer still couldn’t connect, but Firefox could.
While this may not work for everyone it is something to try at least, an alternate browser.
Thank you Tim! I too actually did figure this out a while ago if my memory is correct, but it never hit me that it could be the reason for users still complaining of not being able to connect to the internet because they’re using Internet Explorer that came with Windows XP.
Thank you very much. I tried a couple of other options and this is the only thing that worked for me.
You’re welcome Jon.
Hi,
Thank you for good guide.
I use Virtual Box with Windows XP as the guest
and Windows10 as the host.
I did all you advised regarding Internet connection.
I open “Network Connection” in Control Panel and see:
” LAN – Local Area Connection
Connected ”
Then I open Firefox browser I get error message:
” Windows – Delayed Write Failed.
Windows was unable to save all the data
for the file ”
So, actually I cannot reach Internet.
Could you HELP to fix that ?
Thank you in advance.
Regards
Mark
Hi,
I’ve done all of these steps and then go to install the driver on the quest and get the following error message “The procedure entry point EncodePointer could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL.32.dll.”
No idea what that means or how I can fix it.
Hi Amy,
Try Googling it:
https://www.google.lk/search?q=The+procedure+entry+point+EncodePointer+could+not+be+located+in+the+dynamic+link+library+KERNEL.32.dll&oq=The+procedure+entry+point+EncodePointer+could+not+be+located+in+the+dynamic+link+library+KERNEL.32.dll&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Maybe this would help you out also:
https://superuser.com/questions/433305/procedure-entry-point-encodepointer-could-not-be-located-in-kernel32-dll
THANK YOU!!! You ROCK~
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It’s pretty clear and straightforward.
It works perfectly all right , thank you for this complete step to step guide (with pictures)….
You’re welcome.
I have managed to get the connection going, but when I try to open a tab or go to google, it shows the same screen as when it had no connection. I can search for google with the default search engine that comes with Internet Explorer, but can’t open any links.
Have you checked the Date & Time? (if it’s outdated, especially the Year, then internet issues can occur). Make sure it’s set to the correct values.
I have the same issue, Did you manage to get it working?
thank you very much… it worked instantly for me…
You’re welcome Toby.
These instructions were perfect!! Thank you so much. I only ran into two small errors along the way, but they were easy to figure out – make sure Guest Additions are on, and use the 32 bit version of the driver.