I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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LuisVP
Posts: 6
Joined: 22. Jun 2022, 20:28

I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Post by LuisVP »

I installed virtualbox in High Sierra to install windows 8, I also installed Extension Pack, but there is no access to the external drive when I start Windows 8 to install it. Why will it be?
mpack
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
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Re: I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Post by mpack »

I assume you are saying that you have a physical DVD, which you have inserted in a host DVD drive, probably connected via USB?

If VirtualBox recognizes the drive then you can map the virtual drive to a host drive using the Storage panel in the VM settings. The rest of this post will assume you already tried that.

USB drives can identify themselves using any device class they wish. Some may appear as generic mass storage rather than as a CD/DVD drive, so VirtualBox may not recognize them as optical drives.

In all cases the best way to use such a drive is not to use it directly. Instead use the drive to create an image (i.e. an ISO) of the installer CD/DVD, and mount the ISO in the VM instead of the physical drive. Much quieter, faster, and not subject to sector errors.

p.s. FYI, if you mean Windows 8.1 then say so (to VirtualBox), as despite the ".1" there are big differences between the two. I.e. Windows 8.1 may not run using the Win8 template.
LuisVP
Posts: 6
Joined: 22. Jun 2022, 20:28

Re: I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Post by LuisVP »

thanks for your help, I installed Windows by an ISO image. Sorry for taking a while to answer. Additional I want to see how to add a physical disks of the Mac host? Can A RAID be made inside the Windows 8 virtual machine?
scottgus1
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Re: I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Post by scottgus1 »

LuisVP wrote:Additional I want to see how to add a physical disks of the Mac host? Can A RAID be made inside the Windows 8 virtual machine?
Per One issue per thread these questions should go in new topics. But we can let it slide for now.
LuisVP wrote:I want to see how to add a physical disks of the Mac host?
Virtualbox does have "Raw Disk Access", which can get access to a host's physical disk or possibly a partition. See https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#rawdisk, especially the warning that "Raw Disk Access" is experts-only (which to the forum means we don't explain how to do it :D ), and data loss can happen if it isn't done correctly.

It is far better to either put a vdi for the VM on the disk or partition instead, or use a shared folder from the host OS over a Bridged or Host-Only network.
LuisVP wrote:Can A RAID be made inside the Windows 8 virtual machine?
If Windows 8 can do RAIDs, then if you add extra vdi's to the VM, then they will show up as extra disks inside the VM with which 8 can do whatever it can do.

A VM does not need a RAID for redundancy, though. The host OS should control the RAIDs on the physical disks, display the RAIDs as regular disks, and the VM's disk file(s) go on the host disk as usual.
LuisVP
Posts: 6
Joined: 22. Jun 2022, 20:28

Re: I don't have access to the DVD to install Windows 8

Post by LuisVP »

Thank you very much, I will review what you suggest.
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