guest system window extremely small

[benni]

hi folks,

i'm using virutalbox for a while, now and it worked ever since.

since today, only a very small part of my guest system (winxp) is visible in the window.

i can enlarge the window (when i disable the automatic adaption of the window size (host +A)), but the part of the guest that i can see doesn't get bigger.

i attached a screenshot to show you what i mean...

host: win 7 x64
guest: winxp
vbox version: 4.3.24 r98716
guest additions: installed

changes since the last time, the vm ran correctly:
- windows updates on host
- a few bluescreens on host :/
- installed windbg on host

it would be great if you could help me...

cheers,
benni

//edit: when the machine starts, i see a normal size windows logo when i change the window size via mouse. but it falls back to that tiny window after a second (even if the machine is still starting and showing the same picture). so maybe, there is a problem at the host and not in the guest system?

[scottgus1]

OK, this will sound weird, but apparently it works.
Seems that on windows 7 hosts, a glitch in a system file causes this, and user "mhanor" found that running the Windows system file refresher "sfc /scannow" in a "Run As Administrator"ed Command window fixes it. (what system file is bad, no one seems to know...)

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=69981
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=66074 - see page 2

Take backups or at least a host System Restore point first, just in case.
To research, google "mhanor sfc scannow site:forums.virtualbox.org"

[benni]

ok, thank you very much for your fast response @ scottgus1

i figured out a solution myself. at least for the moment it works.

i restarted the vm and i saw a small part of a balloon tooltip, that said something about a bad resolution. clicked on it and got a window that i had to confirm something (i couldn't read it but it was for the resolution change). as i couldn't reach the "yes" button, i just pressed enter. i got a small resolution but i could see everything. when i confirmed the change the second time, the screen snapped back to the small part again.
restarted the vm, did the same thing and this time, it worked. after that, i upgraded to version 5 (including the guest additions) and now, it seems to work perfectly fine.

so maybe, the solution for everyone with the same problem could be, to upgrade (or re-install) vbox.

thanks again for your help.

cheers
benni