Linux Mint Forums

I am having problem trying to install Windows 7 in Virtual Box. I start off by going into the Virtual Box application and following the one screen instructions. I try to keep everything at its default setting when setting the Virtual Box up. After a while i am finally able to get into the Virtual machine.A message comes up saying I am using 24bit color and how to change it and then i see the screen that says"Windows is loading files" after a while it fails and tells me something about i do not have a 64bit processor even though i am running Linux mint 64bit and i believe this computer has run nothing but 64bit operating systems.I try again a few times getting the same message over and over again. Whats even stranger is that i can run the disk outside the Virtual Box and even install from it without any errors.Also I did not install this Virtual Box from the Software Manger,I installed it from the Virtual Box website from a .deb file. I have also read that when it asks you what operating system to install in my case instead of picking just "Windows 7" i am suppose to pick "Windows 7 64Bit" but there is no option about that and the list of operating system I can install is very small. Perhaps I should try to install the version offered on the Software Manger.I would also like to add that when I was reading the description of the application it mentioned it does Virtualization for x86 bit operating systems and did not mention 64bit operating systems. Can i even install a 64bit operating system in it?If you need more exact information please tell me as I will need to go back through the Virtual Box setup.Thanks in advance as i still might need windows for "The little jobs"

64bit operating systems do not work in VirtualBox although your host may be a 64bit OS.
Try running Win 7 32bit.

64 Bit Guest OSs DO work in Virtualbox... Please update your facts.

You need to enable IO APIC, and assign at least 2 virtual processors to the machine. You must apply these settings BEFORE you install a 64 Bit Guest OS.

(Side note, performance is better running a 32 Bit Guest OS WITHOUT IO/APIC, but you can run the above in an acceptable fashion (I do, Win764) if you have enough RAM assigned.)


You should stick with the repository version of VirtualBox as it will have less issues with your distro typically.

1. You need to download the virtualbox guest additions and add them to your virtualbox software.
2. You should also install the "extensions pack" in virtualbox for further functionality.
3. Apply the above settings to your new virtual machine, and THEN install your 64bit Guest OS.

Also, once you get your 64 bit Guest installed correctly, install the guest additions within your Guest OS, there is a menu option in your virtualbox window for "install guest additions".

(Emulation and Virtualization are my thing, I run everything from win98 to dos to XP to Fedora to win764 virtually and/or emulated)

Thank you xclusive585 i had a felling Ishwon was wrong but I was'nt sure. I sure am glad i did not mark this as solved as something told me not to.
Anyway"and assign at least 2 virtual processors to the machine" could you go into detail on how in the world you are suppose to do that(kind of a "Newbie" on Emulation and Virtualization stuff.
"(Side note, performance is better running a 32 Bit Guest OS WITHOUT IO/APIC, but you can run the above in an acceptable fashion (I do, Win764) if you have enough RAM assigned.)"
Yeah you are right about that but a 64bit windows 7 is all i got right now and intill I can get 32bit, it will have to do.(Running it on a computer with 1GB of ram and its doing just fine. )On start up around 480-500Mb not bad huh.


"You should stick with the repository version of VirtualBox as it will have less issues with your distro typically."
guess that what i get from reading those software manger peoples post,eh?


1. You need to download the virtualbox guest additions and add them to your virtualbox software.
2. You should also install the "extensions pack" in virtualbox for further functionality.
3. Apply the above settings to your new virtual machine, and THEN install your 64bit Guest OS."Anyway to put this on a flash drive i Might have too...

Do i have to do that now as i will probably not have access to high speed internet for the next week(Could be longer than that) and i need to get online as quickly as possible (Main reason I need it is to get on dial up with it since i currently can not do it on Linux Mint...)

Incentive I.C wrote:...
Anyway"and assign at least 2 virtual processors to the machine" could you go into detail on how in the world you are suppose to do that(kind of a "Newbie" on Emulation and Virtualization stuff.

Click on the "Settings" icon with your Win7 Virtual Machine selected. Click on the "System" tab on the left, Click the "processor" tab in the middle, and move the slider to "2".
(You will have the opportunity to play with your virtual machine settings prior to your initial boot/install of your guest OS)

Incentive I.C wrote: 1. You need to download the virtualbox guest additions and add them to your virtualbox software.
2. You should also install the "extensions pack" in virtualbox for further functionality.
3. Apply the above settings to your new virtual machine, and THEN install your 64bit Guest OS."Anyway to put this on a flash drive i Might have too...

Do i have to do that now as i will probably not have access to high speed internet for the next week(Could be longer than that) and i need to get online as quickly as possible (Main reason I need it is to get on dial up with it since i currently can not do it on Linux Mint...)

No, you do not need to do that now, but when you do you will have much greater color capabilites, better performance, and better compatability with your system. But it is not necessary for your OS to function.

xclusive585 wrote:

Incentive I.C wrote:...
Anyway"and assign at least 2 virtual processors to the machine" could you go into detail on how in the world you are suppose to do that(kind of a "Newbie" on Emulation and Virtualization stuff.

Click on the "Settings" icon with your Win7 Virtual Machine selected. Click on the "System" tab on the left, Click the "processor" tab in the middle, and move the slider to "2".
(You will have the opportunity to play with your virtual machine settings prior to your initial boot/install of your guest OS)

Incentive I.C wrote: 1. You need to download the virtualbox guest additions and add them to your virtualbox software.
2. You should also install the "extensions pack" in virtualbox for further functionality.
3. Apply the above settings to your new virtual machine, and THEN install your 64bit Guest OS."Anyway to put this on a flash drive i Might have too...

Do i have to do that now as i will probably not have access to high speed internet for the next week(Could be longer than that) and i need to get online as quickly as possible (Main reason I need it is to get on dial up with it since i currently can not do it on Linux Mint...)

No, you do not need to do that now, but when you do you will have much greater color capabilites, better performance, and better compatability with your system. But it is not necessary for your OS to function.

Once again thank you xclusive585. I will try your steps as soon as I get the time!

Everything was going just fine instill i got to the "2 virtual processors to the machine" part.
I tried to move the slider to 2 but it is kind of grayed out and i could not move it.I think it has to do with Intel visualization being disabled in my Bios. But it is disabled and grayed out so i can not change it.
I was able to enable IO APIC in settings, so should I just try to go along to trying to install the OS.Also do you think updating the Bios will allow me enable Intel( I think it has to do with my CPU but i am not sure.) visualization I will try it. I am very hesitant when i comes to updating Bios but if i have to I will think about it.

Enabling Intel Visualization seems to be a popular topic. Try to Google it and you will see what I mean.

Funny thing, after reading this thread I decided to try it myself (Linux Mint host/Windows7 guest).

All I did was set up the default new Windows 7 container. I then booted up the virtual box with a Windows 7 iso disk in the CD/DVD. I got a couple of sialogue boxes that said it was more efficient to go 32-bit but I ignored them.

And when the DVD booted up I installed Windows 7.

However I do not seem to know how to connect the Windows 7 to the internet. It has been a long time but I wanted to learn how to setup this configuration.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

At this point I do not believe that there is any real problem with the 64-bit issue.

But until I can connect to the internet there isn't much I can do to test this out any further.

animaguy wrote:Funny thing, after reading this thread I decided to try it myself (Linux Mint host/Windows7 guest).

All I did was set up the default new Windows 7 container. I then booted up the virtual box with a Windows 7 iso disk in the CD/DVD. I got a couple of sialogue boxes that said it was more efficient to go 32-bit but I ignored them.

And when the DVD booted up I installed Windows 7.

However I do not seem to know how to connect the Windows 7 to the internet. It has been a long time but I wanted to learn how to setup this configuration.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

At this point I do not believe that there is any real problem with the 64-bit issue.

But until I can connect to the internet there isn't much I can do to test this out any further.

Thanks for posting your results animaguy do you mind going into your computer Bios and telling me if you have something like Intel Visualization or something similar enabled. That would be a huge help

animaguy wrote:However I do not seem to know how to connect the Windows 7 to the internet. It has been a long time but I wanted to learn how to setup this configuration.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I might be able to help you as i am quite fimilar with Windows 7(outside of virtual box of course but i will help.)but i will need more information.what are you trying to get on Ethernet, Wireless ,DSL, dial up?

For internet connection, you want your virtualbox settings for the network adapter to use "Birdged adapter, eth0"...

Virtualbox defaults to using NAT for it's virtual guests, but NAT never works for the network interfaces. Dont ask me why, just change the Guest OS settings to bridged.

Why the heck was this moved to open chat? This is a sofware / application / boot/ install problem and should be moved to one of those location. Please put it back as this is not just a good old chit chat thread.if you won't move it back please tell me why.

I am still not able to get Windows 7 64bit into Virtual Box by the way.

Incentive I.C wrote:...
I am still not able to get Windows 7 64bit into Virtual Box by the way.

Can you PLEASE explain exactly what your issue is. What is not working properly, what error messages do you get etc? Are you using Mint 13 Mate or another version/desktop etc.?

"I am not able" is not enough information to provide a solution.

Maybe you should give Vmware Player a try, it can run 64 Bit Guest OS (if the CPU supports it) and is much easier to set up.

@Incentive I.C,
One thing you have NOT confirmed is that your host system is a 64-bit system. You say that you have only 1G RAM, yet you are trying to install a 64-bit OS as a guest. You can NOT install a 64-bit guest on a 32-bit host, and you can't install a 64-bit host or guest on an Intel Atom, Pentium 4 or similar processor. 64-bit OSs imply at least 2 64-bit processors and more than 4G RAM, otherwise you are much better off staying with a 32-bit OS.

axel668 wrote:Maybe you should give Vmware Player a try, it can run 64 Bit Guest OS (if the CPU supports it) and is much easier to set up.

If you find a simple way to install VMware in Ubuntu send me a PM, I've tried several times through the years and it's impossible to build for me....

xclusive585 wrote:

Incentive I.C wrote:...
I am still not able to get Windows 7 64bit into Virtual Box by the way.

Can you PLEASE explain exactly what your issue is. What is not working properly, what error messages do you get etc? Are you using Mint 13 Mate or another version/desktop etc.?

"I am not able" is not enough information to provide a solution.

I am still having the exact same problem as i originally posted. I am not able to install a 64bit guest into my virtual Box.( everything i posted before is still the problem nothing has changed.) I get an error message saying something about my CPU is not 64bit compatible. I would like to also state that i have successfully able to get a 32bit Version of Windows to work but for future references i would still like to know how i can get a 64bit guest on my computer. I have an Intel Core 2 duo processor and in order to get 64bit guest onto my computer i need to enable the option Intel Visualization in the Bios.( Which is why i would really appreciate you going into your Bios and telling me if it is enabled or not ) Problem is it is grayed out so that means one of two things. A my CPU does not support it or B i need to update my Bios.( i am explaining this the best way i can so once again bare with me )

cwsnyder wrote:One thing you have NOT confirmed is that your host system is a 64-bit system.

Please read the very first post i wrote( as an update i am right now using a 32bit host to test which is more stable on my machine but that doesn't make a difference! I have a CPU that supports a 64bit architecture and because of that it should be able to install a 64bit guest. it has been done before and i am sure it should be in the Virtual machine user manual somewhere. Also i was referring to a different computer with the 1GB ram. The computer with mint has 4GB of ram with a max of 3.7GB usable for me.)

cwsnyder wrote: 64-bit OSs imply at least 2 64-bit processors and more than 4G RAM,

I say that if you have a least 3.4 G.B of ram you will be just fine running 64bit and i am sure some people do it with 2 G.B of ram because of what they use the computer for and in a lot of cases i have found 64bit( at least for Linux) to be a lot more stable

cwsnyder wrote: otherwise you are much better off staying with a 32-bit OS.

What if all i have is a 64bit installation disk or my licenses code only works for 64bit and buying a $149.99 instillation disk is the last thing on my mind. Hmmmm?

Incentive I.C wrote:What if all i have is a 64bit installation disk or my licenses code only works for 64bit and buying a $149.99 instillation disk is the last thing on my mind. Hmmmm?

I won't ask how you ended up with just a 64-bit install disk, when the official Microsoft supplied update disks (and OEM install disks) include both a 32-bit and a 64-bit DVD.

I have successfully run a Win7 Home Premium 64-bit client on a Debian Wheezy 32-bit host with VirtualBox4.1.20 (installed from he .deb file from virtualbox.org, not the OSE version from the repository), so that shouldn't be a problem, but I do have my BIOS set for hardware virtualization and I am using a Biostar N6853B motherboard with an AMD Athlon II x3 445 CPU, so it is possible.

It may be a BIOS/motherboard problem, I can't tell from your descriptions so far. The main reason for pushing 32-bit is the lower overhead in the code for 32-bit OS vs. 64-bit OS in 1G RAM. I don't run VirtualBox on my netbook (Acer Aspire One ZG5) because of the Intel Atom 32-bit processor and only 1G RAM.

cwsnyder wrote:but I do have my BIOS set for hardware virtualization

I believe that is the reason i can not get 64bit to install on a virtual box. It is grayed out for me in the BIOS. Do you have any idea on how i can get it ungrayed. Its not just windows(like i said i got a 32bit to work) But i might want to put a different OS on the Vbox and it could possibly be 64bit .

So i am able to get into windows 7 32bit and use it and i am quite happy with it although i have one problem. How do i get into full screen mode(I mean full full screen mode in which to operating system covers the whole entire screen.) I have tried scale mode but the guest lags very hard and becomes very unresponsive but i can move the whole window and full size it.
Any suggestions on that?

While you have you guest OS running select "install guest additions" from the devices menu.
Reboot when prompted and when it comes back up host + F should take it to full screen.
You may need to readjust you resolution and color depth.