[Resolved] CD Drive Letter

[ACETech]

VirtualBox v5.2.218 r 124319

I have successfully installed Win 7 Pro in VBox. It automatically read the CD as drv H:.

Now I want to load additionally CD's (such as MS Office). The CD drv is listed as D:.

I've clicked the bottom CD icon (bottom right had corner) and it states H:. But network neighborhoold lists the CD as C:

The help file doesn't give a listing for naming/renaming the CD drive letter or accessing it as H:. Click on the D: states to insert a CD (which it is).

Direction please?

Darryl

[BillG]

The virtual machine has its own emulated CD drive which will have its own drive letter in the guest OS (just as the system drive in the vm has its own drive letter in the guest OS).

If you want the vm to read the CD which is mounted in the host machine's CD/DVD drive, go to the Devices tab, select Optical Drives and then select Host Drive. The vm will then read the CD which is mounted in the host machine's drive.

[socratis]

The help file doesn't give a listing for naming/renaming the CD drive letter or accessing it as H:.

That's because 1) it depends solely on your guest, and 2) not everyone wants to call their CD drive "H:\".

This is purely a Windows guest "problem". You need to go to your Win VM, right click on "My Computer"/"This PC" (or whatever it's called), "Manage", "Disk Management", right-click on the CD-ROM, "Change Drive Letter and Paths...".

[ACETech]

BillG:
Devices - Optical Drives - Host Drive 'H:' is checked. The host drive letter is H:.

In the VM, Under Computer - the local disk is C: but the CD Drive is D:. (i guess the next drive letter)

So the installation didn't keep the H: designation for the CD Drive?

Under computer management I did change the CD Drive letter from D: to H:. Now it states can't read the disc in drive H: (the disc is good).

Thanks for the help.

Darryl

[socratis]

(i guess the next drive letter)

Good guess!

So the installation didn't keep the H: designation for the CD Drive?

There's nothing to "keep". The two computers host (=physical) and guest (=virtual) have absolutely nothing to do with each other. They can share some hardware, but the hardware has absolutely nothing to do with how every OS decides to allocate it, or to name it. As you saw, it's pretty easy to assign any letter to the CD, except those that are already taken...

Now it states can't read the disc in drive H: (the disc is good).

Good? How do you know? What kind of disk is that? Can you try and make an ISO out of this disk on your host? And instead of pointing the VM to the host's CD, just point it to the ISO?

[ACETech]

the CD is a MS Office 2010 Business Professional that I need to re-install the Access database program mostly. I also need it to run under Win 7 to recreate a problem with the database a client company is using.

The CD is not the problem.

So, re-listing the situation:
* host CD drive is H:
* guest CD drive is listed as D: (under My Computer)
* guest CD drive under Devices-Hosted Drives- H:
* when I insert the CD, the host sees it and wants to AutoRun
* when I right-click on the CD icon at the bottom right of the screen and select "Choose Disk Image", this loads the file directory of the H: with the MS Ofc CD; but doesn't list the setup.exe application

again, suggestions to help my blindness?

Thanks.

[socratis]

again, suggestions to help my blindness?

I already gave you the best option there is:

Can you try and make an ISO out of this disk on your host? And instead of pointing the VM to the host's CD, just point it to the ISO?

I would suggest ImgBurn and its "Create Image from Disk". That will get you a nice ISO without the need to actually load the physical CD on your host and using the passthrough option. You then point the virtual-CDdrive of your VM to the ISO file:

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[ACETech]

Thanks for the help.

I actually did the pass through method. That worked fine to load the office components i needed. Also learned i had to activate each of the usb devices (1 external hdd and 1 usb thumb drive). Funny it removes them from the host; or maybe that s the way it works. I learned a few things and Vbox will be a good addition to my desktop as we wonder through the mine field of win 10 updates.

Thanks again for the great help.

D

[socratis]

Funny it removes them from the host; or maybe that s the way it works.

That's the way it works. Have you ever attache a USB stick/hard drive/printer/mouse/joystick to two computers at once? No. USB devices cannot be used simultaneously by two computers. Most hardware can't actually...For more information see: USB basics and troubleshooting.

Marking as [Resolved].