VirtualBox allows us to create a Windows system within the Windows system itself, although it can also be installed on any other operating system. This serves, among other things, the need to do disk partitions or make two systems coexist on the same computer. In today's article we explain how to install VirtualBox and Guest Additions on Windows.
But before going into more detailed explanations, let's see what exactly VirtualBox is (and also what Guest Additions are) and why this can be an interesting solution for many of us. Keep reading this post and you will discover a new world of possibilities.
What is VirtualBox?
VirtualBox is an application used to create virtual machines within operating systems. For a Windows user, it means being able create a "second virtual computer" within the Microsoft operating system to use within the one we normally use. This allows you to use applications from another operating system.
But it is also possible to create a virtual machine of the same system (a Windows within Windows). This is very interesting when testing major changes in the system, using the virtual machine as a kind of testing ground.
Install VirtualBox
The first step is to download the program from the VirtualBox official website. In the options that appear on the screen, the one we must select is Windows Hosts.
Once the download is complete, we will run the installation program. First, a following window will appear with the list of the components that are going to be installed. In general, it is recommended to accept the default installation path. Then we have to click on the button "Next".
It is also recommended leave the four options selected that are shown after and press «Next» again:
- Create entries in the start menu.
- Create a shortcut on the desktop.
- Create a shortcut in the quick access bar.
- Register file associations.
After this screen, an advertisement appears warning that the network connection will be disconnected for a moment, in reality just a few seconds. Once this is done, we simply have to click on "Install" and wait for the program to be installed on our computer.
How to configure VirtualBox
Now that we have the VirtualBox software installed, to start configuring it we will first go to the section Preferences, which is represented by a tool icon. Configuration options are displayed in the left column:
- General admission, to establish a default path where to save our virtual machine.
- Tickets, to configure the shortcuts.
- Update, to set update intervals.
- Language, to choose the one we want.
- Red, to add and configure network adapters.*
- Extensions, to add or remove the extensions we want.
- proxy, for the configuration of a proxy.
(*) Only available in previous versions of VirtualBox.
Install a virtual machine using VirtualBox
The process is quite simple and consists of download an image of the operating system that we want to add. For example, if our computer runs Windows and we want to install a machine based on Ubuntu, we will go to its official website and download one of its versions. The download is slow and may take several minutes. After completing the download, to add the new virtual machine we will follow these steps:
- We go to the VirtualBox home page and click on the button "New".
- After we name the new machine cwith the name we want. Optionally, you can choose to change the path of the new folder.
- In the option "Guy" We select the operating system and the corresponding version. We click "Next."
- Then we select the amount of RAM memory that we want to assign to the new virtual machine and press «Next»*
- The next step is creating a new hard drive for the machine. You must leave the second option checked. Then we select the option «VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)» and click on the "Next" button.
- Now you have to choose the physical hard drive storage: with fixed size or dynamically reserved.
- To conclude the process of creating the virtual machine, we press the button "Create".
(*) We must not forget that each operating system needs a minimum amount of memory. At this point you must be very careful not to cause any imbalance that could cause the system to malfunction.
Important: When we start the virtual machine it will be necessary to install the operating system, just as we would do on our main computer.
Install Guest Additions in VirtualBox
The title of our post refers to installing VirtualBox and Guest Additions. And it is not by chance, because for one thing to work the other is absolutely necessary. Guest Additions It is the set of drivers that will be responsible for achieving good integration and obtaining the maximum performance from this software. These are some of its functions:
- Create shared folders between both operating systems.
- Set up a shared clipboard.
- Design custom video drivers.
- Synchronize time zones.
- Integrated mouse.
- Drag and drop function.
- Access the device's USB ports from the new machine.
- 3D acceleration.
- Full screen function.
- Application launch.
To install Guest Additions, we go to the VirtualBox home screen, where we will select the "Devices" tab in the options menu. Then we select “Insert CD Image” from Guest Additions, process through which a virtual drive is created with the ISO where the drivers are located.
The next step was to select the option "Execute "VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe". If doing so does not open any new window, we will go to "My Computer" to double-click on the virtual drive created by VirtualBox to install the set of applications and drivers.
Finally, we must select the folder in which we want to install Guest Additions. The easiest thing is to simply use the default folder that it shows us already selected. All that remains is to click the button install to start the process.
After restarting the computer, we can start using the functions offered by VirtualBox Guest Additions within a virtual machine hosted on Windows with all its advantages.