Identical Computers

[Jim Green]

I have two computers that differ only in memory (2GB and 4GB) size and hard drive size.
One computer runs three Virtual box systems , Ubuntu, Win 98SE, Win 3.1 all work OK and supply the needs of my amateur radio hobby software.
The second computer wil not run any Virtual box further than the initial general settings. Whe I try to create a VDI for either Ubuntu or Win 98SE the system hangs on the create process and has to be shut down via task manager.
The Ubuntu and WIN 98SE disks are the same ones that were instaklled on computer one.
I have uninstalled VB fom computer two and reinstalled it about 4 times. I have even installed the same version of VB on computer two the same as computer one.
Computer two run all other software OK with no problems.
All sensible ideas are welcome.

[mpack]

What "create process" does it hang on? Are you referring to the process of creating the VM files (a minor function which it's hard to see going wrong), or are you talking about importing VMs, running a guest OS installer or what?

Howto: Move a VM.

[Jim Green]

I have set-up a virtual machine on my Win7 computer.
This is what I do try to install/make a virtual machine for Win 98SE
I start VirtualBox, put a DVD in drive D,wait while the PC runs through its thing.
Click on a Virtual machine choice (Win 98SE) in the left window of the VirtualBox Manager. A window shows with 'Win 98SE starting VM' in the top left hand corner and in the centre is a large green arrow plus the words 'creating process for Virtual machine “Win 98SE” (GUI/QT)...(1/2)
0% X.
After this it just does nothing. I have left it like this for 4 hours 'just to see if anything will happen' nothing did happen.
This what I call hanging.
I have tried this process with Ububtu as well as Win98SE. I have used the same disks the same version of VirtualBox 4.3.36 r105129
I have to use windows Task Master to close VirtualBox down.
A message in the Task Master window reads 'VirtualBox – Error In supR 3HardNtChildPurify Running' this also has to be stopped before thing return to normal on the computer.

[mpack]

That still isn't very clear to me, but it sounds like the VM got created just fine, it's only when you launch the VM that trouble begins.

It sounds like the Win98 install media is defective. Or your host CD drive is. You may find it more reliable to start the VM with an ISO image of the CD, instead of using the CD directly.

[Jim Green]

Can't see the problem has being a faulty CD. The CD was used on two other computes without a problem.
I also get the same "hanging" problem if I use an Ubuntu disk for a ubuntu Virtual Machine

[FrodoHobbits]

Why don't you copy the working vdi's from machine 1 to machine 2?
This would save you creating new images.

[Jim Green]

Hi FrodoHobbits,
Thanks for the idea.
How would insert them into another VirtualBox? I have just copied and put the copy in theWin 98Ee folder on the other machine and it was totally ignored. I'm probaly doing it wrong.
Can you please advise?

[socratis]

Advice was given at his first reply. You didn't read the link, did you?

[Jim Green]

The link had no relevance to my question.
Also it was not shown on FodoHobbits reply. I thank FodoHobbits for his help. I have now found out how to move and run a VM (Without the link) from one PC onto another PC but it still won't run on my second PC.
The link still does not answer the question about why one computer runs VirtualBox OK and the same type and make of computer running the same software and Virtual Box version does not.

[pt58]

Which PC do the virtualbox VMs run successfully on - is it the one with 2GB or 4GB RAM?
Do both PCs run Windows 7 (is it 32 or 64 bit version)?
Particularly if it's the 64bit version, then 2GB is barely enough to run the Operating system - let alone VIrtualbox.

[erdeslawe]

You're a bit light on information to get a well informed opinion. See: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=48476

However, your two computers aren't really identical, as one has only has 2Gb Ram and if that's the one that's having problems then...

Most OSs from Windows 7 onwards will require an absolute minimum of 1Gb RAM and preferably 2Gb as low spec laptops rarely have dedicated graphics memory. That of course is without the stress of also having to provide sufficient additional RAM to enable a second OS and Graphics system to run in parallel with the Host system, so perhaps you should start by looking at how much memory the Host system is using that can't launch VirtualBox VMs.

[Jim Green]

The PC that runs VirtualBox OK has 2GB of memory.
THe PC that will not run VirtualBox has 4GB of memory.

[erdeslawe]

As before, for the 'non-working' installation see: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=48476

You need to provide the information indicated in that guide, or all you will get is guesses.

[dlharper]

Win98SE doesn't require much memory at all by modern standards, and will run perfectly well in a VM on a 2Gb host.

I have come across some erratic issues with installation, though - I suspect they are timing issues in the installation routine which show up unpredictable on some machines and not others.

One solution that I have found works is to do the initial boot from a Win95 floppy (image) rather than a Win98 floppy or CD - manually partition and format the virtual hard disk, copy all the Win98 files to it, and run setup. In any case, floppy and CD images (IMG and ISO) work more reliably than physical ones.

However, although this works it is fiddly and does require some basic DOS skills. If you have one machine working, surely FrodoHobbits suggestion is the obvious one. Just copy the working VDI file from one machine to the other, then attach it to the new VM from the Storage panel of the machine's Settings.