How do I install a bootable partition for Virtualbox on OSX

Question

I'm trying to install Virtualbox to run Windows XP on my OSX box. I used the supplied configuration wizard which asked some questions about a disk partition. I allocated a 10GB partition to Virtualbox (the recommended setting). I "thought" that the setup would create the partition and write a boot sector to it. When I try to boot up the Virtual Windows XP machine I get the following message:

FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted

I'm a bit flummoxed why the installer doesn't go to the trouble of writing a boot sector to the assigned partition.

What am I missing here?

Answer 1

The fact that VirtualBox doesn't create a bootable sector. It initializes a new, empty disk partition (like buying a new hard disk and putting it in a machine).

Booting from the WinXP disk from within the virtual machine should format the disk, create the boot sector, and install XP.