Virtual box - really dumb question

[silverbirch]

Hi everyone

Sorry if this sounds like a really dumb question, but I'm confused about virtual box. Does it allow somehow for you to load another OS within the virtual box software, using memory?

If you do load another OS, e.g. WinXP - can you access files.  In my case I'd like to be able to look at and modify Family Tree Maker files in WinXP.  Doesn't matter if I can't, as maintain a WinXP box for that, but be nice to exit that.

Is there a tutorial for it in Pclos?

I have downloaded it via synaptic. 

Many thanks 

[muungwana]

yes, virtualbox allows you to run one operating system ontop of another, essentially, have two operating systems running side by side. The operating system running inside virtualbox is called a "guest operating system" and the one running on the hardware is called "host operating system".

From host operating system perspective, virtualbox is a program just like any other program and it will take system resources like memory and hence make sure you have enough memory before using it. What are your computer spec? most important specs are system memory and processor speed.

You can share files btw the two, virtualbox has file sharing capability build in and you can select a folder on your host system to be accessed on the guest as if it is a network share.

[menotu]

I have downloaded it via synaptic.  

Not to confuse you further silverbirch  , which Virtualbox did you install?

There are 2 versions - the OSE (Open Source Edition) version  that installs using Synaptic in the regular way.

The second method is using the "getvirtualbox" script - which is again downloaded in the usual way from Synaptic, BUT, with the "getvirtualbox" version you then have to run the getvirtualbox script to actually install it.  

The getvirtualbox script works in a very similar way to GetOpenOffice - it pulls all the necessary files down and installs it for you.

The getvirtualbox one is whats known as the PUEL (Personal Use and Evaluation License) version and I believe is the one most user's install.

To run the getvirtualbox version (once it's been installed from Synaptic) go to your main KMenu >> More Applications >> Emulators > and run it from there.  Give it some time - you'll see a Message Window running - and when it's all finished you'll then have a second entry in the More Applications >> Emulators > menu from where you can run Virtualbox.

If any of that is unclear    please post back.

[fraxinus]

There is a virtualisation section on this forum. Take a look around there and you will soon get your bearings.

Good advice from menotu re. the different versions of Virtualbox.

Virtualbox is well worth the effort to install and understand (not that it is difficult nowadays, anyway, with getvirtualbox from Synaptic ...). If you have a Windows CD, and can install Windows as a guest operating system on a virtual machine, it can put an end to dual booting entirely.

[menotu]

Virtualbox is well worth the effort to install and understand

+1 to that fraxinus 

It's an essential app for me - and once you get the hang of it it's very easy. 

Being able to copy a VBox VDI hard drives and use each one for different purposes is ideal.

[silverbirch]

Thanks people for the advice.  I had installed virtual box in the usual synaptic way, but have removed it and am now downloading the getvirtualbox script etc.

It's AMD Athlon XP 2000 runs as 1.7Ghz with 1 Gb memory.  Not great specs but hopefully enough. 

Will finish the download have a look around and report back tomorrow probably.

[menotu]

It's AMD Athlon XP 2000 runs as 1.7Ghz with 1 Gb memory.  Not great specs but hopefully enough.

I would suggest that when you are running Virtualbox that you don't have many other apps running that may eat into your memory reserves. (Firefox can sometime be a culprit in that respect)

[fraxinus]

It's AMD Athlon XP 2000 runs as 1.7Ghz with 1 Gb memory.  Not great specs but hopefully enough. 

Hope it works for you - however, you might find Virtualbox a little sluggish with your specs if you are using it to run Windows. This is what I found with my own system, specs below, until I doubled the RAM from 1Gb to 2Gb. Now it is a lot better.

Let us know how you get on.

[kjpetrie]

For normal use (not games) it'll be fine. My old machine had similar specs and Win XP guests ran well in it. Don't give it too much memory though. 256MB should be enough, or 384MB if you really want to push the boat out - otherwise you'll starve your host system.

[silverbirch]

Right I have it installed using the getvirtualbox method and have been reading parnote's instructions about installing WinXP.  I was a bit reluctant to do a WinxP install after thinking about it, as I remember it was a major job compared to any Linux install I've done.

But anyway after reading this would like to try it as would be nice to scan without having to boot to WinXP.

I'm a bit confused as it says to create the iso in WinXP then boot Pclos to burn it.  Does one mount WinXP within k3b and Pclos to do this?

Secondly - I have only have 1Gb memory and like to scan at high resolution - old photos post cards etc.  Is this going to enough for this purpose?

I might be better to stick with dual booting and try installing another Linux first.

Many thanks.

[menotu]

I'm a bit confused as it says to create the iso in WinXP then boot Pclos to burn it.  Does one mount WinXP within k3b and Pclos to do this?

You can create an iso of your WinXP CD and use that but another method is to just load your WinXP CD into your CD/DVD drive, load it into Virtualbox and install as normal from the CD.

You could create a new Virtualbox Hard Drive (a VDI) of, say, 12Gb (but it can be any size capable of holding XP and any apps you need)  This is done by

File > Virtual Media Manager > New (or press Ctrl + D) and the wizard will walk you through creating it - accept the Dynamically Expanding Storage tag - give the HD a name and what size you want it to be and that's it.

When you load your XP CD to install it, it will format the drive you just created and install as normal.

Note - using the Dynamically Expanding Storage option the VDI hard drive "fills up" as you go along to a max of (in our example, 12Gb) so it will only initially be approx 1Gb - or whatever an XP install uses.

As the VDI hard drive is actually just one file Dolphin can show you its current "size" and as more apps are installed you can see the file size grow.

I might be better to stick with dual booting and try installing another Linux first.

Yup - not a bad idea - keep your dual boot setup until you are comfortable with VBox and it's foibles.

[fraxinus]

I'm a bit confused as it says to create the iso in WinXP then boot Pclos to burn it.  Does one mount WinXP within k3b and Pclos to do this?

You can create an iso of your WinXP CD and use that but another method is to just load your WinXP CD into your CD/DVD drive, load it into Virtualbox and install as normal from the CD.

Indeed! This is all I have ever done myself in the creation of a number of VMs with Windows XP.

I have only recently found Parnote's tutorial (http://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/200810/page03.html). I am very interested in the detailed instructions he gives on 'slipstreaming' your Windows XP setup before attempting to install in VirtualBox and I shall take a good look at them before I do this again. However, to date I have only ever started at his Step 15, with a new VM and my Windows XP install CD! I have never encountered any problems at all from there on in - in fact, it is much easier than installing Windows on 'bare metal'.

Keep at it. Your dual booting days could soon be over.

[menotu]

I am very interested in the detailed instructions he gives on 'slipstreaming' your Windows XP

Yup - very worthwhile indeed.

[silverbirch]

I suppose the slipstreaming interests me because I recall installing Windows took a considerable time, and a lot of mucking about with installing drivers.  I thought parnote's method might eliminate that.  I do have notes from that install, and I suppose if I've done it once that I must be able to do it again :-)

Thanks again.  won't have any time until next week unfortunately.

[j-retired]

Just my twopenn'th:  Remember you can read the XP files with PCLOS, but not the other way round.
Also, (if you get some more memory!) you can, if you don't fully maximize the XP screen, toggle between the XP screen and the PCLOS screens without shutting down XP.
Another feature is that if you use "Save machine state" instead of Shutdown or PowerOff then when you reopen XP you find your work exactly as you left it! (And it's much more reliable than "Hibernate" or "Suspend" - I've never had a failure.)
Last thing, "Dynamically expanding" disk is more economical in space - it just uses the space when you need it, so you could have specified 100G and in fact only be using 5G. HOWEVER.... in my experience it is A LOT slower than a fixed disc size.  With a "Fixed size" and 4G of host memory, with 2G allocated to VBox, I find XP faster than it ever was on the machine as native. If you do use "Save machine state" then shutdown and startup take, on my machine, less than 10 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!

j