Can’t you just go to Microsoft for your SP3, that is where I got it just weeks ago.
I’m not clear on what you are doing, if you have legal XP then you just load it and update it.
Does the “virtual box” change that?
Until next month when MS stops responding and that effectively voids all software that I've been purchasing in good faith. I'm thinking that the only way I'll be able to use what I paid for is to get a fileshare copy that has the authentication disabled. What we got here is that MS steals my purchase money from me by refusing to deliver and then when I make it work in spite of their theft they call it 'illegal'.
Does the “virtual box” change that?
Not really, when you run virtualbox you create an old desktop w/ whatever you want, and then when you 'run' the virtual machine you see a new window on your desktop that looks just like the one you used 15 years ago. It's just as easy (and just as tedious) as the real thing only there's no heavy lifting. I use it to run old games --I got a virtual windows 3.11 that runs Myst perfectly.