VBOX with WIN 7 (access to Mint files?) [SOLVED]

[wallyUSA]

Hello, I installed VBOX with the WIN & option mentioned in the post "Installing Windows on VM". It is working and that is pleasing.
Now I would like to access the host Mint files or the USB drive.
I see an option for 'shared folder' but not sure how to set it up?
Also I can not how to assign the USB drive to the VBOX/WIN7 program.
Suggestions on which way to go and any tips?

shared folders.png

[jerson]

In shared folders, you need to specify the drive/folder you wish to access.

For example, you might want to share the /dev/sda1 drive with VBOX guest, so, you need to place that entry in the shared folders.

Now, in W7, you need to access the shared drive as a network drive. You will find it under Network Places->VirtualBox shared folders->VboxSvr. Map network drive to this shared folder and you're done. You could mark the share as permanent in VBOX and let it connect at power on in the W7 guest.

A word of caution : Your shared folder/drive should be mounted and accessible or it will give you errors.

Good luck

[Cosmo.]

Using an USB drive in a virtual guest is a bad idea. Because of the mechanism, that gets used to switch the usb device from the host to the guest it will likely create data loss on the stick. This is no problem for other usb devices, but true for writable media (usually sticks).

[arvY99]

In case, for the Shared Folders feature to work you also likely need to install the Guest Additions into your guest system.

[wallyUSA]

Using an USB drive in a virtual guest is a bad idea. Because of the mechanism, that gets used to switch the usb device from the host to the guest it will likely create data loss on the stick. This is no problem for other usb devices, but true for writable media (usually sticks).

OK, let's skip the USB. I am trying to share the 'Download' folder in Mint (more details to be posted). TY

[wallyUSA]

In case, for the Shared Folders feature to work you also likely need to install the Guest Additions into your guest system.

Guest Additions already installed. TY

[wallyUSA]

In shared folders, you need to specify the drive/folder you wish to access.

For example, you might want to share the /dev/sda1 drive with VBOX guest, so, you need to place that entry in the shared folders.

Now, in W7, you need to access the shared drive as a network drive. You will find it under Network Places->VirtualBox shared folders->VboxSvr. Map network drive to this shared folder and you're done. You could mark the share as permanent in VBOX and let it connect at power on in the W7 guest.

A word of caution : Your shared folder/drive should be mounted and accessible or it will give you errors.

Good luck

Do not know how to find /dev/sda1 drive. On W7 I click VboxSvr but it is empty. I am trying to share 'Downloads' on Mint. 'Downloads' already marked as 'share'.
Suggestions?

[jerson]

You need to find out which hard disk your Downloads resides on. The usual convention is that harddisk1 is called sda, partition 1 of hard disk 1 is called sda1, partition 2 of hdd1 is sda2 and so on. Harddisk2 would be sdb and the partitions on it sdb1, sdb2 etc

So, you need to identify the hard disk on which your folder resides and share that in VBox

In Mint, it is possible to know the hard disk number / partition names by running the 'inxi -Fxzi' command from a terminal

[wallyUSA]

In Mint, it is possible to know the hard disk number / partition names by running the 'inxi -Fxzi' command from a terminal

OK, it is /dev/sda.
What or where do I use this info?

[wallyUSA]

In Mint, it is possible to know the hard disk number / partition names by running the 'inxi -Fxzi' command from a terminal

OK, it is /dev/sda.
What or where do I use this info?

Actually there is more:
Drives: HDD Total Size: 120.0GB (47.2% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: Corsair_Force_LS size: 120.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 105G used: 48G (48%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 6.32GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5

[Cosmo.]

In the dialog from your starting post do the following:

Click at the right top the icon with the + sign, now you get a sub-dialog where you get asked for the path. Click the arrow to the right and select to change. What you see now is the quite usual "open folder" dialog, where you should see the Downloads folder at the left. Open it, click the OK button and you are back in the sub-dialog. Whether you want to make the shared folder writable from inside of the guest is your choice, but activate in any case to mount automatically. Click OK until you have closed all dialogs and boot the VM to check, whether you see the shared folder. In a Windows guest this folder will appear as an additional drive letter.

[wallyUSA]

In the dialog from your starting post do the following:

Click at the right top the icon with the + sign, now you get a sub-dialog where you get asked for the path. Click the arrow to the right and select to change. What you see now is the quite usual "open folder" dialog, where you should see the Downloads folder at the left. Open it, click the OK button and you are back in the sub-dialog. Whether you want to make the shared folder writable from inside of the guest is your choice, but activate in any case to mount automatically. Click OK until you have closed all dialogs and boot the VM to check, whether you see the shared folder. In a Windows guest this folder will appear as an additional drive letter.

Dear Cosmo - It worked - Thank you