Windows 7 on VirtualBox Version 5.2.0 for Linux

[deviouswalsh]

Hello,

I'm taking a class where we want to use a VirtualBox VM loaded with Windows 7. The Linux version of VirtualBox appears to come pre-configured with a Windows 7 VM complete with a vdi file. Perfect! But when I try to turn on the Win 7 machine, I get a FATAL error saying there is no bootable medium found. Is there a way to configure the Win 7 machine so it boots from the vdi?

Thanks for any help.

[deviouswalsh]

I probably should have mentioned I'm running VirtualBox 5.2 on Fedora 26. There is an existing Windows 7 vdi file, but I simply cannot figure how how to start a Windows 7 VM by using the vdi. The vdi file is only 2 megs though, so that seems small ...

[mpack]

A VDI is just a disk image, not a VM. In effect you have a disk drive and no motherboard - so it ain't gonna do much. You have to create a VM and then include the VDI as the disk component.

But, Win7 activation will fail, because it has now been moved to a PC with a new motherboard. It will have to be reactivated, and there better not be any other copies using the same product key.