Sorted (made new image) Virtualbox, no internet.

[beta1]

Finally got my XP Vmware image to run on VirtualBox nicely, shared folders and all, so I can likely skirt around my vmware problem, but am having no luck getting internet access.

I have tried:
all combinations under network settings for the vm, eg nat, bridged and the various adapters.
I have turned off all firewalls.

XP seems to think there is a network available as far as I can tell

I don't have the first idea what to do and having read a zillion pages via Google I don't seem any the wiser       ........... HELP! need fairly idiot proof instructions.

Many thanks for any help offered

[Was_Just19]

You haven't been very clear or maybe it is just too early in the morning for me .......

What host OS (PCLOS 2009, 2010 other?) are you using and what are you running VMware or Virtual Box on that host and is XP the virtual machine running?

The VBox main page has a place to enable ethernet connections .......  is that done?

Have you deleted the old network connections in XP and created a new one?

[kjpetrie]

First question is what kind of Internet access does the VM need? NAT is good for web browsing but not for other services (FTP, VOIP etc).

If NAT is good enough then it just works, but as VBox provides different virtual network cards from VMware, you probably need (in XP) to delete the old connection and then the hardware drivers and then set up the new Internet via LAN connection.

[beta1]

A bit more clarity, good point

Host is PClinuxOS 2010.1 fully updated as of  a few hours ago.

a NAT connection, if it worked, would be just fine, Iv'e tried all the virtual network cards on offer in VIrtualbox.
I never had a particular connection set up in XP on VMware, just set it to NAT.

I connect via a standard external ADSL Ethernet Router

The tool tip at the bottom says the cable is connected

[Was_Just19]

Please post back what happened when you deleted any existing network connections in XP, and created a new one and attempted to connect that.   

[beta1]

I have to say my networking skills are few, Linux just does it, and XP........ well I'm only using it because I have to and it just worked.

I did not specifically delete any network connections because there are none that I can see in the Network section, I do not recall ever having had any other than one to my work and that one one I start manually after I am connecting to the internet.

It is an always on Router not requiring any password etc, (ask my relatives  )

I have had this virtual machine running for years and the memory is a bit hazy as to how I originally set it up other than in Vmware I set it to NAT and could toggle the connection on or off (in Vmware at will, I didn't like XP open to the net except for the few minutes I needed access).

Okay I might be onto something, I have just tried the network setup wizard in XP and it tells me it can't find my network hardware. My understanding was the Guest Additions took care of this dept 

[menotu]

I was going to suggest that in the VBox network settings you tick the "Enable Network Adaptor" but set it as Not Attached.

Then when you have your XP VM running change it from "Not Attached" to NAT, and that MAY kickstart the network. (I just tried it in a W7 VM and it worked okay but.........)

[beta1]

menotu

kickstart didn't work..........

[Was_Just19]

I have to say my networking skills are few, Linux just does it, and XP........ well I'm only using it because I have to and it just worked.

I did not specifically delete any network connections because there are none that I can see in the Network section, I do not recall ever having had any other than one to my work and that one one I start manually after I am connecting to the internet.

It is an always on Router not requiring any password etc, (ask my relatives  )

I have had this virtual machine running for years and the memory is a bit hazy as to how I originally set it up other than in Vmware I set it to NAT and could toggle the connection on or off (in Vmware at will, I didn't like XP open to the net except for the few minutes I needed access).

Okay I might be onto something, I have just tried the network setup wizard in XP and it tells me it can't find my network hardware. My understanding was the Guest Additions took care of this dept 

Your network connection in XP ......  which if I understand correctly is running in a VBox virtual machine ........  has little to do with anything other than setting it up within XP -------  that is setting XP to use the available Virtual Network  Hardware offered by VBox. As that hardware is most likely to be different than what was set up in VMware's virtual machine, you need to rectify the situation.
That is as I understand the situation.

I may indeed be misinterpreting of course ......   

[beta1]

There is a lot of sense in that Johnboy.

I would have thought that the "hardware" was in the intermediate software layer (a function of Vmware or Virtualbox rather than in the xp image) and that the Vmware stuff would not come into play........... (he said stabbing blindly in the dark)

Virtualbox do run vmware images and I could not find anything about network problems going from one to the other. 

I have to go out for a few hours now (it's 9.00am here).
I guess as a last ditch solution I can create a new from scratch image assuming I can locate all the software discs I need and hope that it works.........
I have around 24hours from now to sort it so any more suggestions most welcome

Thanks all for your help

[kjpetrie]

Yes, you need to tell XP the 'hardware' has changed. When you installed XP you would have been asked how to connect to the Internet and replied to use the LAN. It would then have set up a default Internet connection using the virtual adaptor provided.

You have now changed that adaptor, but XP's connection still points to the old one, so you need to go into Control Panel and remove the old hardware. You then need to set up a new connection using the new hardware. Just a default connection will do, as virtualbox is doing all the work and XP can just treat it as a connection via LAN. There should be a wizard to set it up from Network Connections. Look for a link for "Set up a new connection" or some such wording. As you will appreciate, this isn't a Windows forum so we're a bit hazy on the details here.

It's exactly the same as if you physically unplugged the network card and installed a different one. It would need setting up.

[beta1]

yup well that was the problem I suspect, the vmware network driver interfering. It could be uninstalled but every time xp rebooted it just tried to put itself in there again and I have no idea how to stop it not to mention vmware tools can't be uninstalled except from within vmware...........

Manually removing everything associated with vmware that I could find, including start up entries, made no difference.

Running out of time so I will now build a new new image from scratch as I have just found the xp disc, and try to get going a bare bones array of the software I need for work.
Just hope it connects okay...........

Thanks for your input all, I won't mark it as Solved until I get the new image connecting.