Running MVP 2005 doesn't work in Virtualized Windows XP environment

[DougFromLI]

Hi guys,

 

New to the forum, and scoured it, not finding any information.

 

I have original MVP 2005 disks, and installed them on a Virtualized Windows XP SP3 system using Virtualbox.

 

When I have my Disk 1 in my DVD-Rom drive, and attempt to run the game, I get a "Please insert correct DVD-Rom" error", which I see has been a problem in the Windows 10 thread.

 

Has anyone successfully found a solution to this problem using Virtualbox OR has anyone come to the determination that the game won't run in the above environment?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Yankee4Life]

Virtualbox is new to me.

[Kccitystar]

21 hours ago, DougFromLI said:

Hi guys,

 

New to the forum, and scoured it, not finding any information.

 

I have original MVP 2005 disks, and installed them on a Virtualized Windows XP SP3 system using Virtualbox.

 

When I have my Disk 1 in my DVD-Rom drive, and attempt to run the game, I get a "Please insert correct DVD-Rom" error", which I see has been a problem in the Windows 10 thread.

 

Has anyone successfully found a solution to this problem using Virtualbox OR has anyone come to the determination that the game won't run in the above environment?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

You would have better luck running MVP 2005 on Ubuntu using WINE than a virtualized instance of Windows XP, I feel.

[DougFromLI]

Thanks, but trying to avoid a dual boot scenario, since I require my Win10Pro host to be active all the time.  Its virtualization, getting it to work on W10Pro, or have another dedicated machine for games.

[Kccitystar]

13 minutes ago, DougFromLI said:

Thanks, but trying to avoid a dual boot scenario, since I require my Win10Pro host to be active all the time.  Its virtualization, getting it to work on W10Pro, or have another dedicated machine for games.

 

No that's what I meant, virtualize Ubuntu instead and give that a shot, or Windows 7 instead of XP SP3

 

[DougFromLI]

22 minutes ago, Kccitystar said:

 

No that's what I meant, virtualize Ubuntu instead and give that a shot, or Windows 7 instead of XP SP3

 

Yes, good ideas, KC.  Windows 7 virtualization is prob worth a shot.  I'm not a Unix guy, but what the heck, maybe I'll try that too, although I don't think I have installation CD's for either.

[Yankee4Life]

1 hour ago, Kccitystar said:

 

You would have better luck running MVP 2005 on Ubuntu using WINE than a virtualized instance of Windows XP, I feel.

 

KC, I ran this through Google translate and I came up with nothing. 😄

[Kccitystar]

1 hour ago, DougFromLI said:

Yes, good ideas, KC.  Windows 7 virtualization is prob worth a shot.  I'm not a Unix guy, but what the heck, maybe I'll try that too, although I don't think I have installation CD's for either.

Ubuntu images are easy to grab (yay for open source) but a Windows 7 iso may be tricky these days.

[Jim825]

I was wondering if you could run Ubuntu under WSL and then run the game using WINE.  From what I've read, some have had luck running games that way but others have not.

[DougFromLI]

Just as a follow-up for those interested, MVP 2005 didn't run/install under a vanilla Windows 7 VM installation.  It wouldn't allow me to install Disk 2 when I reached this point.  Similar for NBA Live 2005; when I reached the 2nd disk for install, it wouldn't let me click the OK button to start installing 2nd DVD's info.

 

Additionally, I XCOPY'd a full installation of MVP 2005 that I had completed on Windows 10 Pro (which didn't run), over to the Windows 7 VM, and when attempting to run that on Windows 7 VM, I kept getting prompted to insert the correct CD into the drive.

Edited April 14 by DougFromLI

[MannyRamirez]

You can just run the game on Windows 10.  The magic combination is SafeDiskShim + DGVoodoo.  

 

I'm running the game on Windows XP, Windows 10, and Windows 11.   

 

I did the whole dedicated XP machine approach, since that was recommended by users in this forum.   It does work, and it's the original hardware/software from the release of the game 20 years ago.  The main drawbacks are compatibility with XBox one controllers and I would assume less performance when trying to run mods or reshade.  (I haven't started modding yet, just running the base game so far)  On XP I can only use XBox 360 controllers which are pretty good, but the vibration is not that good.  I assume the Logitech RumblePad would be good on XP, since that was what the game was originally designed for.  I have only tried the XBox 360 controllers so far on XP.

 

Even with the dedicated XP box I still thought it would be worth trying to get the game running on Win10 and Win11.  It does indeed work on both Win10 and Win11 using SafeDiskShim and DGVoodoo which are explained in other posts on these forums.  This setup is silky smooth and allows me to play with Xbox One controllers with vibration.  This also gives me the full power of my modern PC and graphics which might help when running mods or reshades.  

 

 

[DougFromLI]

10 hours ago, MannyRamirez said:

You can just run the game on Windows 10.  The magic combination is SafeDiskShim + DGVoodoo.  

 

I'm running the game on Windows XP, Windows 10, and Windows 11.   

 

I did the whole dedicated XP machine approach, since that was recommended by users in this forum.   It does work, and it's the original hardware/software from the release of the game 20 years ago.  The main drawbacks are compatibility with XBox one controllers and I would assume less performance when trying to run mods or reshade.  (I haven't started modding yet, just running the base game so far)  On XP I can only use XBox 360 controllers which are pretty good, but the vibration is not that good.  I assume the Logitech RumblePad would be good on XP, since that was what the game was originally designed for.  I have only tried the XBox 360 controllers so far on XP.

 

Even with the dedicated XP box I still thought it would be worth trying to get the game running on Win10 and Win11.  It does indeed work on both Win10 and Win11 using SafeDiskShim and DGVoodoo which are explained in other posts on these forums.  This setup is silky smooth and allows me to play with Xbox One controllers with vibration.  This also gives me the full power of my modern PC and graphics which might help when running mods or reshades.  

 

 

 

Manny, thanks for pointing out the "SafeDiskShim"; I hadn't seen that referenced anywhere else on this board.  It works on my Windows 10 Pro machine (hooray!) with my original MVP disks.  I also tried running this utility on my Windows 2000, Windows XP SP3, and Windows 7 VM's, and it does not run on any of these 32-bit environments, so I'm guessing it is a 64-bit utility only.  I'm gonna create a Windows 7 64-bit VM and try that now.

[DougFromLI]

Further to last message, "SafeDiskShim" doesn't work in my virtualized Windows 7 64-bit SP1 instance.  It installs OK (it's listed as an installed program), but the actual process itself is never created.  That is unlike my native Windows 10 Pro 64-bit environment, where the "SafeDiskShim" process is actually created.  I tried rebooting the Windows 7 VM after installing, all to no avail.

[Yankee4Life]

Oh thank goodness I have a XP laptop that does not connect to the Internet. This way I don't have to mess with what goes on here. 👍

[MannyRamirez]

8 hours ago, Yankee4Life said:

Oh thank goodness I have a XP laptop that does not connect to the Internet. This way I don't have to mess with what goes on here. 👍

It's not much to "mess" with.  I successfully did both options with minimal effort

 

1.  Run the game on a dedicated offline Windows XP computer

2. Run the game on Windows 10 and Windows 11

 

I see pros and cons, but overall would recommend option 2.  Here's my breakdown

 

Option 1 - Run the game on a dedicated offline Windows XP box

 

Pros:

It's fun to set up and it's nostalgic to run Windows XP

It's the original OS from 20 years ago when the game was released

Offline computer it should always work

Game runs smoothly

Shouldn't be any compatibility issues with mods

 

 

Cons:

Requires you to switch machines when you want to play the game  

Requires you to find old DirectX and controller drivers

Doesn't support XBox One Controllers

Supports XBox 360 Controllers but I didn't like the way the rumble felt  (rumble feels great on Win10 or Win11 using XBox One Controller)

*Note I didn't try the Logitech controllers on WinXP but I think that's probably your best option with this setup 

Potentially inferior performance when using Reshade 

 

 

Option 2 - Install the game on Windows 10 or Windows 11

 

Pros:

Easy to set up.  Also can easily copy the install folder to additional Windows 10 or Windows 11 PCs.  (play the game on all of your PCs!)

Don't have to switch machines if you want to play the game

Better controller support than Windows XP  (In Win10 and Win11 I can use XBox One controllers and the vibration is perfect and precise)

Game runs smoothly

Potentially better performance when using Reshade

 

Cons:

Don't have the nostalgia of playing the game on the original OS

Potentially could break on the next windows update

Maybe compatibility issues with some mods? 

 

SUMMARY

 

Although it's cool to have the dedicated offline Windows XP to play retro games on, I highly recommend following the steps to use SafeDiskShim and DGVoodoo.  So far I am preferring the game on Windows 10 and 11, but that's largely due to controller support and the way the XBox One controller vibrates.  Since I already spendtthe money on the Windows XP dedicated computer, I think at some point I will try the Logitech controllers and perhaps at that point there won't be as much benefit to the gaming experience on Windows 10/11.  I also am not sure how much it will make a difference running mods and reshade on Win10/11 vs XP.  Maybe there will be some compatibility issues where some mods won't run.   But potentially having the higher powered computer will provide benefit when running reshade.  I haven't started modding yet, but I plan to mod on XP as well as Win 10/11.  Obviously the huge benefit to running this on Win10/11 is that you don't have to switch machines to play the game and you can install MVP baseball on every PC that you own.  

[Jim825]

Some of the modding tools on the website, such as MVPEdit for roster editing and LocLook for in-game text editing will not work on newer versions of Windows.  There are probably others as well.

[Yankee4Life]

35 minutes ago, Jim825 said:

Some of the modding tools on the website, such as MVPEdit for roster editing and LocLook for in-game text editing will not work on newer versions of Windows.  There are probably others as well.

 

Fuzzone's MVP Studio is one.

[MannyRamirez]

Oh well that is a major factor if it limits which mods you can use.   I kind of assumed if the base game was playing then it was all set for modding.  Base game is fun, but if I can't run the mods then I'll be leaning towards XP as well.  My only issue with XP so far is the rumble vibration on the XBox 360 controllers leaves a lot to be desired.  I might have to try the Logitech controllers.  My favorite part of MVP 2005 on Win11 has been using the XBox One Controllers with precise vibration to feel the edge of the strike zone.  

 

I'm running a dedicated offline PC for Win XP.  But, it seems like a virtual machine should work.  Are there disc mounting utilities you can install on Windows XP?  Maybe that would work if the issue is with VirtualBox handling the disc insert / eject.   Also maybe if you connect a USB disc drive it would make a difference.   

 

Do any mods run on Windows 11?   Or are we saying that Windows 11 is limited to just running the base game?

 

Does Reshade or any other mods work better on newer computers with faster processors, more RAM and more powerful graphics cards?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim825]

It's not the mods that won't run.  You said that you were going to start modding.  I took that to mean that you were going to create your own mods or make changes to the game using some of the modding tools on this site  If you just meant that you were going to install released mods then you shouldn't have a problem.

[MannyRamirez]

On 4/19/2025 at 8:01 AM, Jim825 said:

It's not the mods that won't run.  You said that you were going to start modding.  I took that to mean that you were going to create your own mods or make changes to the game using some of the modding tools on this site  If you just meant that you were going to install released mods then you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Oh I should've said I'm planning to install released mods.  I don't think I'm going to carve out time to actually mod the game myself.  Although, if I choose to do so, I now have a gorgeous Windows XP computer.  Mine is similar to this one -->  https://www.ebay.com/itm/353685934101

 

That's good I can use all the mods on either system.  I like the Windows 11 system, because it runs well with XBox One controllers and it's nice to be able to play the game without switching to another computer.  But, I also like the Windows XP machine, because it's sole purpose is to run retro games and it will never touch the internet.  I'm doing MVP 2005, NBA Live 2005, NHL 2004, and Nascar Thunder 2004 as well as Retroarch games.  My only issue is that I'm using XBox 360 controllers and I don't like the way they rumble with the game.  I'm assuming the Logitech RumblePad would be better but I haven't made that purchase yet.  Sidenote, I like the Gamecube version of this game also, but it doesn't have "quick pickoff move" and of course no mods.  But, the controller feels nice.