OT: Virtual Machines? Windows XP (Solved)
N-RArts
Posts: 1,520
Hi.
I have an old Sony Ericsson phone that I can't link to Windows 10, but it did link to Windows XP. There are A LOT of photos on there of our last two kittys, and I'm am DESEPERATE to try and copy them off (and/or back them up).
So, I've seen quite a few Youtubers use Virtual Machine these days. So I thought downloading a virtual machine might help me out...
... Except, I don't know if this sort of thing this is legal, and I have no idea where to get one from.
I'm just hoping that someone on the forum could give me some more info on this.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
What are the potential legal issues you're foreseeing?
That it might only be avaliable through pirated ISO files.
If you have a legit install CD for XP, it runs just fine in Oracle Virtualbox (with network and USB support).. activating it is tricky, but it can be done..
Ah okay. I'll get an install CD from "a certain auction site" then.
Thank you for the help ^^
Not sure if by linking it you mean the Win10 internal phone link ability, but you might be able to use a usb cable and access it like a usb drive.
I guess it's out of the question to SMS them to another number or email address?
If you ask me, if it's a working phone then what you need is working Sony-Ericson SW that is doing the USB filesystem connection on Windows. You should be able to run that SW in compatibility mode on Windows 8 , Windows 10, or Windows 11. Certainly on Windows Vista or Windows 7 too.
Probably, not certainly, if any form of encrytion was used as with my 2001/2002 era MP3 player did. That's a big maybe though, as I still have a Panasonic eWear SV-SD85 for 2001 or 2002 I actually have to have Windows XP to use although it can be rigged to work with Windows Vista or Windows 7 if you know the right steps to jimmy the configuration of the SW.
Just a thought, unless the last version of the software you want to use was XP specific you may legitimately for 90 days have access to a virtual Win 7 - https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/ ; ...read the notes around it though. There may be enough of the OS there to support your software, mainly used for testing the browser though.
Does the phone have expandable storage to allow you to transfer the photos onto a removable card?
Can you access the internet from the phone to upload the images into google drive?
If you can't get the virtual machine to work, another option is to create a bootable flash drive using Linux. (Zorin OS is very similar to windows, puppy linux is quite lightweight.) That way, you do not need to install anything. The Operating system runs off of the flash drive. When you unplug, you are back in Windows.
I tried linking it to my computer like a USB drive, but it wanted the Sony Ericcson Suite software, and the software only worked with Windows XP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: I've finally backed up the photos on my old phone. I found a card adaptor that was compatible with the memory card (M2) in my phone.
I still love the idea of having a virtual machine. But I think I'll leave that stuff to the pros (I've got enough going on without having to indulge in that ^^' ).
Thank you for all of your replies ^^