Just made my first Virtual Box but have a Question/s

[greenday]

Having just made my First Virtual box with help from Cosmo and others, this is how I set it up (for experimental purposes to run Win XP Pro) Virtual Box 4.3 AMD 64 (AMD 64 Processor)

4 GB or Ram, so I gave it 1GB Ram

500MB HD, so I allocated 20GB

Then I loaded it up with a Copy of Windows XP Pro (A walk in the Park for you Guys but this was my first attempt at anything 'Techie') So I was a bit surprised that it actually worked!

Then I went to Oracle Old Pack Extension Pack@Cosmo and found an Extension Pack which it says suites all platforms 4.3.34-104062 which I 'think' is the one that Cosmo suggested.

Having got to this stage, I don't know what to do next.

Open with Oracle Virtual Box or Save File? (should I save the file and burn it to a disk?)

Whatever I am supposed to do with it, how do I get it into the Virtual Box I've created? and what is in the Pack?

The Explorer Browser in the Quick Launch Toolbar isn't working. It comes up as being Problem loading page, even though I've Configured it for a LAN. Is that meant to happen, until I've loaded a Browser like Firefox.

If so how do I load Firefox in the Virtual Machine and also Avast Anti Virus (which I've used before)

Please explain in Simple Terms as I am not very 'Techie' but willing to learn.

The only reason I want Virtual Box, is for Building Websites with a Serif Windows Programme, although I might experiment with Open Source stuff later and I might also download iTunes, while I'm about it.

Your help would be appreciated Thanks.

[WharfRat]

As far as the extension pack goes just download it then open the vbox manager and choose file/preferences/extensions then click on the little icon in the top right-hand corner to navigate to it to add it.

[greenday]

As far as the extension pack goes just download it then open the vbox manager and choose file/preferences/extensions then click on the little icon in the top right-hand corner to navigate to it to add it.

Ok Thanks, I will do that, as I think the pack has USB connections@Cosmo, which I will need to connect my Camera to download Photos to use on the Websites and Save to an External HD back up.

But I'm still wondering why my Virtual Box doesn't connect to the Net?

[Cosmo.]

Once more to the extension pack: With or without the pack you need to do an additional step for getting able to use usb devices inside the VM: You must add your account on the host to the group vboxusers. After having that done, log out and back into the account on the host.

The extension pack does not get into the guest. What you have to install inside the guest is the guest additions. For that you select it from the VB devices menu of the running guest. You must be in an administrator account in Windows for doing that.

The Explorer Browser in the Quick Launch Toolbar isn't working. It comes up as being Problem loading page, even though I've Configured it for a LAN. Is that meant to happen, until I've loaded a Browser like Firefox.

What do you mean? Which "Explorer Browser" (Internet Explorer?)? Which Quick Launch Toolbar (Inside XP?)?
And most important: What did you do when you "configured it for a LAN"?

This sounds, as if you have mis-configured something. In fact a guest OS has Internet connection out of the box, if you do not configure anything (except you know what you're doing).

Further more: There are so many threads about VB, where I give advises, that I cannot remember, to whom I gave which advice and which questioner has which prerequisites. It would help, if you would link to the thread where I gave you advises, so I can re-read, what you have written already and at which point this thread ended.

[greenday]

Once more to the extension pack: With or without the pack you need to do an additional step for getting able to use usb devices inside the VM: You must add your account on the host to the group vboxusers. After having that done, log out and back into the account on the host.

The extension pack does not get into the guest. What you have to install inside the guest is the guest additions. For that you select it from the VB devices menu of the running guest. You must be in an administrator account in Windows for doing that.

The Explorer Browser in the Quick Launch Toolbar isn't working. It comes up as being Problem loading page, even though I've Configured it for a LAN. Is that meant to happen, until I've loaded a Browser like Firefox.

What do you mean? Which "Explorer Browser" (Internet Explorer?)? Which Quick Launch Toolbar (Inside XP?)?
And most important: What did you do when you "configured it for a LAN"?

This sounds, as if you have mis-configured something. In fact a guest OS has Internet connection out of the box, if you do not configure anything (except you know what you're doing).

Further more: There are so many threads about VB, where I give advises, that I cannot remember, to whom I gave which advice and which questioner has which prerequisites. It would help, if you would link to the thread where I gave you advises, so I can re-read, what you have written already and at which point this thread ended.

Hi Cosmo

The LAN connection is Ticked to Auto Detect and though I tried all other Settings, I returned it to how it was.

In the Virtual Machine Settings it reads as follows

Adaptor 1 Bridged Adaptor eth0

Promiscuous Allow All

Cable Connected

But Internet Explorer will not open the Home Page or any pages

I'm taking a bit of a guess here but from what I've been reading, I need to Click: Guest Operating Systems>Settings>Networking>Enable Networking (check the box) >Shared Networking> Configure to DCHP

The only part of that which is making any sense to me, is the Shared Networking, so the Linux Mint Host and the Virtual Box, Share the same Internet Connection.

But where do I find the Guest Operating System so I can alter those settings and see what happens?

[Radish]

Eventually you will have to deal with USB access for your WinXP virtual machine. This was a good thread in explaining how to achieve that: (solved) How to make usb's readable by Virtual Machines

For not having connectivity to the internet try the following:

(1) Launch Virtualbox.
(2) Once it is launched right-click on the icon for your WinXP virtual machine and select "Settings..."
(3) When the settings dialogue opens click on the icon (left-hand side) that is titled "Network".
(4) Then, on the right-hand side, you will see a check-box titled "Enable Network Adapter". Make sure you have that enabled - that should allow your browser inside the virtual machine (WinXP - Internet Explorer) to connect to the internet.
(5) Click the "OK" button, bottom right-hand side, to dismiss the Settings dialogue and save your changes.

I would also say that as you've installed WinXP then the version of Internet Explorer (IE) that got installed with it will be very old and will not work properly with many current websites. There is also the problem that to upgrade IE to the latest version is not an option - the latest versions of IE do not support WinXP. Your best bet is to download and install Firefox into WinXP (it's a better browser than IE anyway). You can download Firefox from here: Firefox Releases. When checking the site don't download anything with a "b" in the title - they are betas so should be avoided. By my reading of the list of versions available for download the latest stable version (at the time of writing this) is v43.0.4

[Cosmo.]

And here is your mistake:

In the Virtual Machine Settings it reads as follows

Adaptor 1 Bridged Adaptor eth0

I wrote, that the guest has Internet connection out of the box, that means with the default settings.
That are: Adapter 1: NAT (not: NAT network!)
in the advanced settings: Adapter type: PC-net FAST III (for XP, not the right choice for other guest OS).

Set this back and you can go into the Internet without doing anything inside the machine (as long as there is not also a misconfiguration).

Note: You wrote that you choose XP for testing. I strongly disadvice to use XP with any Internet connection; as long as you do this for a quick test, it is OK, if you delete the XP machine afterwards.

Please provide the link to your older thread; it might probably makes some things easier.

[greenday]

Eventually you will have to deal with USB access for your WinXP virtual machine. This was a good thread in explaining how to achieve that: (solved) How to make usb's readable by Virtual Machines

For not having connectivity to the internet try the following:

(1) Launch Virtualbox.
(2) Once it is launched right-click on the icon for your WinXP virtual machine and select "Settings..."
(3) When the settings dialogue opens click on the icon (left-hand side) that is titled "Network".
(4) Then, on the right-hand side, you will see a check-box titled "Enable Network Adapter". Make sure you have that enabled - that should allow your browser inside the virtual machine (WinXP - Internet Explorer) to connect to the internet.
(5) Click the "OK" button, bottom right-hand side, to dismiss the Settings dialogue and save your changes.

I would also say that as you've installed WinXP then the version of Internet Explorer (IE) that got installed with it will be very old and will not work properly with many current websites. There is also the problem that to upgrade IE to the latest version is not an option - the latest versions of IE do not support WinXP. Your best bet is to download and install Firefox into WinXP (it's a better browser than IE anyway). You can download Firefox from here: Firefox Releases. When checking the site don't download anything with a "b" in the title - they are betas so should be avoided. By my reading of the list of versions available for download the latest stable version (at the time of writing this) is v43.0.4

Hi Radish

I don't like using Internet Explorer either, so I always use Firefox

I did all the Settings just like you said but Internet Explorer still doesn't open anything and if I cannot open the Browser, then I cannot download Firefox, unless these is another way of doing that?

[greenday]

And here is your mistake:

In the Virtual Machine Settings it reads as follows

Adaptor 1 Bridged Adaptor eth0

I wrote, that the guest has Internet connection out of the box, that means with the default settings.
That are: Adapter 1: NAT (not: NAT network!)
in the advanced settings: Adapter type: PC-net FAST III (for XP, not the right choice for other guest OS).

Set this back and you can go into the Internet without doing anything inside the machine (as long as there is not also a misconfiguration).

Note: You wrote that you choose XP for testing. I strongly disadvice to use XP with any Internet connection; as long as you do this for a quick test, it is OK, if you delete the XP machine afterwards.

Please provide the link to your older thread; it might probably makes some things easier.

Hi Cosmo

Adapter 1 now reads NAT and PC-net FAST 111 does not make it work either

[Radish]

I did all the Settings just like you said but Internet Explorer still doesn't open anything and if I cannot open the Browser, then I cannot download Firefox, unless these is another way of doing that?

I don't understand why IE won't launch at all - maybe you have a corrupt install of WinXP, IE should at least launch even if it can't connect to the internet.

For Firefox just download its installer to your Mint system then transfer it, or use 'Shared Folders', to copy into your WinXP virtual machine. Once you have done that launch the installer in the virtual machine and it should install without problems. Remember to select the correct installer to download - "win32"

To setup a 'shared folder' for your virtual machine (and assuming you want to access to your Linux /home/[username] folder):

(1) Launch Virtualbox
(2) Right-click on your WinXP virtual machine icon and select settings
(3) Click on the "Shared Folders" icon (left-hand side of dialogue)
(4) Now look to the right-hand side of the dialogue and you will see a folder icon with a green plus (+) sign on it click on that.
(5) In the dialogue that opens for the "Folder Path" use the drop-down arrow and select "Other...". A new dialogue will open (most probably pointing at your /home/[username] directory) so just click on the "Open" button and your /home/[username] folder, and all its sub-folders, will become a shared folder for your WinXP virtual machine. Remember to select the "Auto-mount" option, then click the "OK" button. (In this way you have easy access to the Firefox download provided you downloaded it into a folder (or sub-folder) of your /home/[username] directory.

[Radish]

On the off-chance that your install of WinXP might be corrupted: Launch the WinXP virtual machine. Inside the WinXP machine click on the Start Menu and select "Run..." In the Run dialogue that opens enter the following command (you can copy and paste it from here):

Code: Select all

sfc -scannow

Then click "OK". WinXP will then check its own system files to see if any are corrupted (and should auto-fix them if they are).

[Acewiza]

Your issue is most likely related to the very old IE that ships with XP. Find an install-able copy of IE8, install that and try again.

[Radish]

Your issue is most likely related to the very old IE that ships with XP

No, that's not the problem. Now that I'm home I tested this in my own WinXP virtual machine and found that IE v6 (that is installed by default to WinXP) does connect to the internet without problems (at least to the Microsoft MSM home page it is pointing at). Bearing that in mind I now suspect that when greenday says that he is getting a problem loading the page he isn't saying that IE won't launch but that it does launch but won't connect to the internet - all of which suggests that there is some problem with the network settings for the virtual machine. For what it is worth, and Cosmo has already mentioned this area, here are my "Network" settings for my WinXP virtual machine which is managing to connect to the internet fine:

Enable Network Adapter - Enabled
Attached to: NAT
(Advanced) Adapter Type: PCnet-FAST III (Am79C973)
(Advanced) Promiscuous Mode: Deny (and it is also greyed-out)
(Advanced) MAC Address: [There is a MAC Address in the box so I assume Virtualbox sets this automatically]
(Advanced) Cable Connected - Enabled

[prestonR]

I think it's the missing service packs on XP.

Put the XP service packs up to SP3 on the host, transfer them via usb drive or 'shared folders' to the guest and install them in XP. Then reboot the guest.

[Cosmo.]

Adapter 1 now reads NAT and PC-net FAST 111 does not make it work either

As I wrote already, there is the chance that you mis-configured thngs inside the XP guest.

As you have nothing to loose in a VM, create a new one, leave all settings unchanged, install XP and see what happens.

BTW: If you should be able to change promiscuous mode, you do not have a NAT adapter. This setting is not available for that adapter.
MAC-address changing is very seldom needed, only if a VM gets cloned and several of them shall get connected with each other. All this does not apply here.

[greenday]

Adapter 1 now reads NAT and PC-net FAST 111 does not make it work either

As I wrote already, there is the chance that you mis-configured thngs inside the XP guest.

As you have nothing to loose in a VM, create a new one, leave all settings unchanged, install XP and see what happens.

BTW: If you should be able to change promiscuous mode, you do not have a NAT adapter. This setting is not available for that adapter.
MAC-address changing is very seldom needed, only if a VM gets cloned and several of them shall get connected with each other. All this does not apply here.

Hi Cosmo

Thank you for your Help and I have tried every combination you can think of, so I am going to take your advice and do another one and not change any settings, if nothing else it will be good practice and you never know your luck, it might just work.

I will let you know how I get on.

I'm also posting another Question which in someways is related to what I am doing.

[greenday]

Screen Shot No Connection.png

Hi Cosmo

I've just Created another Virtual Box, which was a lot easier the second time around and I didn't alter the settings or touch anything, apart from enabling the Quick launch Toolbar, where predictably the Internet Explorer Icon came up.

When I Clicked on the Internet Explorer Icon, a box came up which said that I had no Internet Connection, so I took a Capture of that which is attached.

This is probably why the previous one didn't work, so at this point I stopped and didn't do anything else.

So hopefully you could talk me through the next step.

In the Virtual Box I am using XP Pro inc Service Pack 2

[prestonR]

In the window of your screen shot click 'Devices' >> Insert guest additions CD and follow the instruction.

Now set up 'shared folders' so you can copy files (XP Service Pack3) between host and guest:

(1) Launch Virtualbox
(2) Right-click on your WinXP virtual machine icon and select settings
(3) Click on the "Shared Folders" icon (left-hand side of dialogue)
(4) On the right-hand side of the dialogue and you will see a folder icon with a green plus (+) sign on it click on that.
(5) In the dialogue that opens for the "Folder Path" use the drop-down arrow and select "Other...". A new dialogue will open pointing at your /home/[username] directory.

I'd only use your host's browser's default download folder as a shared folder (probably 'Downloads'), so pick that, select the "Auto-mount" option, then click the "OK" button.

Download WinXPServicePack3 with the host, go to the guest, open 'shared folder', install SP3 and reboot XP . Without SP3 WinXP is useless since you can't install/use the latest versions of software/browsers.

Does it work now? If not:

1. Set the Network setting to NAT in Virtualbox settings for WinXP.
2. After booting into the virtual XP machine, go to Properties of the Network Adapter
(right click on My Network Places, Properties, right click on Local Area Connection, Properties).
In the General tab, go to Properties of Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and insert the following DNS server addresses:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Or use google dns 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.6.6
(OpenDNS configuration)

[Cosmo.]

This looks like that VB on the host cannot connect to the Internet. This may be a wrongly configured firewall or a wrong proxy setting inside the host(!). (Assuming that the host has Internet connection.)

XP shows by default an icon in the tray, if there would be a problem with the network setting in the guest. This icon does obviously not show.
You can check this yourself: Open in XP the network connections and double click the connection showing there; I am rather sure, that in the status dialog you will see "Connection established" (that is the connection to the virtual router inside VB) and on the second tab the address 10.0.2.15.

For checking the connection of VB to the Internet you can call from the menu in VB manager help -> check for updates, if you have the Oracle version installed.

I asked you already twice to link to your old thread; with this link I would probably be able to re-read, from which source you did install VB. So I must leave it open, whether you have the Oracle version.

[greenday]

This looks like that VB on the host cannot connect to the Internet. This may be a wrongly configured firewall or a wrong proxy setting inside the host(!). (Assuming that the host has Internet connection.)

XP shows by default an icon in the tray, if there would be a problem with the network setting in the guest. This icon does obviously not show.
You can check this yourself: Open in XP the network connections and double click the connection showing there; I am rather sure, that in the status dialog you will see "Connection established" (that is the connection to the virtual router inside VB) and on the second tab the address 10.0.2.15.

For checking the connection of VB to the Internet you can call from the menu in VB manager help -> check for updates, if you have the Oracle version installed.

I asked you already twice to link to your old thread; with this link I would probably be able to re-read, from which source you did install VB. So I must leave it open, whether you have the Oracle version.

Hi Cosmo

Sorry, I should have included the link! I am using the Oracle version but it seems I'm not the only one who cannot get it to work, as I have been looking on YouTube, just to get a visual over what I might have done wrong and all the videos I have seen, suddenly seems to cut off just before they show the VM in action with Windows XP and one guy very clearly couldn't get it to open up with Internet Explorer, making the comment along the lines of sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I also had a look in Network Connections and there is no Connection!

See attached Screen Shot.