virtualbox.org

I was able to print a file from a program in my virtual box to my printer using a pdf file in windows, because a friend set it up for me. I also installed windows 7 recently, and had Vista before. Now I can't do this. Does anyone know how to print a file in virtual box to a pdf file that I can use in windows 7? I also use an Epson printer that is connected to my windows 7 HP computer.

Printing something to a PDF in a guest so it can be printed on the host is not a normal part of a Virtualbox setup. This is something specially set up by your friend, so we would not know exactly how your friend did it to duplicate it in your new guests.

However, there are easy ways to print from the guest to the host.

If you can set up a network between your host and guest, you can share the printer on your host, then find and use the shared printer on your guest through the network. Setting up a Virtualbox network is easy, but you would need drivers for the printer in your guest OS, too. If your guest OS is too old and the printer is too new, then you may not have drivers for the guest OS.

If you cannot or do not want to set up a network between host and guest, you can install Guest Additions on the guest, then you can use the Guest Additions' Shared Folders to pass files back and forth between host and guest. It acts like a real shared folder without a network. You can print PDFs in the guest, then put the PDF in the Guest Additions Shared Folder, then print the PDF from the host.

I'm not really sure what the terms host and guest mean. Is the virtual box program the host, and the windows 7 program the guest, or vice versa? What is "Guest Additions?" If the virtual box is the "guest," how can I install "Guest Additions" on it, if it's a program?

The physical machine is the host, the virtual machine is a guest running on that host.

The guest additions run in the OS of the guest to help the OS run better in a virtual environment. To install the GAs in the guest, click the Devices tab at the top of the vm display and select Insert Guest Additions CD image. In a Windows guest you should then get a message asking what you want to do. Select Run VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe

Eric, you might want to read chapter 1 in the manual. It explains all about terminology and things that can be and should be done to get a guest going well. Section 4 discusses the Guest Additions, and section 6 discusses networks