Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

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MaciekF
Posts: 4
Joined: 20. Sep 2017, 08:50

Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by MaciekF »

Hi,

Is there a way to use Full HD resolution on Windows Guest and Host without Guest Additions? I'm trying to achieve full isolation of Guest and Host and unfortunately, Guest Additions allow users to share clipboard and local folders which I want to block.

Thanks,
Maciek
mpack
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by mpack »

No. There is no way to get the features of the GAs without installing the GAs.

If you don't want a VM to have access to clipboard, shared folders etc then... don't enable them. None of those are even enabled by default, even after the GAs are installed.

Anyway, I'm curious how you think malware (or what else?) could hijack these features.
MaciekF
Posts: 4
Joined: 20. Sep 2017, 08:50

Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by MaciekF »

I don't want to have features of GA. What I need is the HD resolution.

The issue here is that I'm trying to deploy VM image of the work OS to hosts which are not controlled by me (BYOD). If I install GA then a user can enable sharing even if he is not an admin of the guest.
mpack
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Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by mpack »

HD (practical) graphics is a feature of the GAs. Without the GAs you have only emulated VESA graphics which probably won't be practical at full HD display sizes. But, if you want to check it out then just drag the window to the size you want. Without GAs the guest will likely not adapt automatically, so you'd have to configure the guest display adapter manually from inside the guest.

Let's say that the users do enable GA folder sharing. Why is that a problem? What is the danger scenario being envisaged?

Anyway, even without the GAs they can still configure a true network share in a couple of minutes, if networking is enabled: and your users can enable that if you don't. There is no practical way to prevent a knowledgable user from changing the settings of a VM.
MaciekF
Posts: 4
Joined: 20. Sep 2017, 08:50

Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by MaciekF »

We are requested by security to block clipboard and other sharing to avoid data leakage. Networking in our OS image is limited to VPN so the user will not create network shares without GA.

So the specific question is if there is a way to have 1920x1080 resolution in Windows 7 guest WITHOUT GA.
mpack
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Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by mpack »

MaciekF wrote:So the specific question is if there is a way to have 1920x1080 resolution in Windows 7 guest WITHOUT GA.
? Already answered. See the first paragraph of my previous post.
michaln
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Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by michaln »

At some point, you may have to decide whether you want to be secure or whether you want get work done. But that's up to you. In the meantime, check out the manual: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#idm7733

You will probably want to add a 1920x1080x32 resolution (32bpp), but you can add other bit depths as well or instead.

The answer is that yes, it is possible to use a full HD resolution with Windows 7 guests (Windows XP and later, really) without GAs.
MaciekF
Posts: 4
Joined: 20. Sep 2017, 08:50

Re: Full HD Resolution without Guest Additions

Post by MaciekF »

Thank you. Setting cuastom video mode helped.
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