Virtualbox and "Get Windows 10"

[dlfuller]

Success finally! Here are my steps in some detail just in case they might help others.

1. Download and install VirtualBox 5.0.2. (I tried 5.0.3 but it hung up during install attempts.)

2. Clone the Windows 7 VM and name the new version Windows 10. This can be done using Machine > Clone…. My virtual disk was Type: Normal, 40 GB, and dynamically allocated. (I wanted to keep my previous Windows 7 VM functioning after the upgrade and also convert the previous vmdk virtual disk to vdi for the new Windows 10. So I entered clonehd --format VDI and dragged files from Finder into Terminal for the full command. Then I executed the command which does take a long time, percentages will eventually appear to signal its progress.)

3. Change these Settings in the new to-be Windows 10 VM.
System > Version: Windows 10
System > Processor > Execution Cap: 100% and Extended Features: check Enable PAE/NX
System > Acceleration > Hardware Virtualization: check Enable VT-x/AMD-V and Enable Nested Paging
Display > Video Memory: 128 MB
Display > Acceleration: check Enable 3D Acceleration and Enable 2D Video Acceleration

4. Launch the new to-be Windows 10 VM (still running as Windows 7). Let it run for a while and hopefully you will see the Upgrade to Windows 10 icon in the task bar. Click on it to initiate the upgrade process with Microsoft. (Getting the icon to appear is a whole other subject covered in other postings on this forum.)

5. The reported result from Microsoft will be "This PC can't run Windows 10" due to the VirtualBox Graphics Adapter. This is one of several known problems. Instead upgrade using an ISO file.

6. Download and run the Media Creation Tool and follow the steps there for Installing. (I saved the EXE file in my Downloads directory.)

7. Select "Create installation media for another PC". Not "Upgrade this PC now" which will still will not work. Select the correct Windows 10 edition and architecture, then ISO file for the media to use. (I also saved this ISO file Windows 10 Upgrade in my Downloads directory.)

8. Uninstall the VirtualBox Guest Additions. (I never successfully tried the upgrade process with them installed. This step may be unnecessary, but it is what worked for me.)

9. Restart the new to-be Windows 10 VM (still running as Windows 7).

10. Mount the ISO file in Settings > Storage > Controller: SATA. Click on Empty, then click on the small disk icon to the right after SATA Port 1 in Attributes > Optical Drive. In the dialog choose Virtual Optical Disk File… and then the Windows 10 Upgrade.iso.

11. Run setup.exe on the Windows 10 Upgrade.iso and follow directions. You should now have the free Windows 10 upgrade using the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. Install the VirtualBox Guest Additions.

[Ishi]

First, Thank you for posting detailed instructions. I was able to get Windows 10 working in VB 5.0.10 r104061 using them. The only steps I had trouble with is step 9/10.

I had to complete the steps in this order:

9. goto machine, settings, storage and add an optical drive and choose disk selecting the windows 10 iso. In my case, I had to use the IDE controller rather than the SATA controller.

10. Restart the new to-be Windows 10 VM (still running as Windows 7).

11. Run the setup.exe from the Windows 10 DVD (iso).

I'm running a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) fwiw.

[sfatula]

dlfuller, the instructions worked verbatim for me. Thanks!

[Fisy]

GWX refused to upgrade my Win 7 32 bit guest because it didn't like the graphics driver - see examples above. It turns out this doesn't matter - you can upgrade Windows manually. But don't make the same electron-wasting mistakes I did.

I did not have a chipset compatibility problem (PIIX3 & I/O APIC). System compatibility I set to Win 10 32 before I started.

You need the oddly named MS media creation tool (links above). The only thing that worked for me was to run this and choose upgrade this PC now, in the guest. The rest is details - you can stop reading now.

Telling the media creation tool to 'upgrade this PC' allows a cleanish ('keep nothing') install and activates without asking for a licence key. I didn't try any other kind of install. The display compatibility issue just gets ignored because of course it's not an issue. Once Win 10 is running, the guest additions install and work without problems using the VB Win 8 driver.
.

the first thing that even got further than not compatible... (I have previously downloaded ISO, created install media, tried everything until this post)
it seems that both the ISO (running setup under guest windows and this solution works the same way)
THANKS!
the process: use the media creation, it will complain about the virtual adapter, confirm, then next - next -next