virtualbox.org

Greetings all

I intend to upgrade a PC from win10 32 to win10 64 bit...
what will the step by step process be to ensure the existing winxp 32bit VM continues to run as well as it is now?

Thanks,
Don

(1) Back up VM folder
(2) Restore it later.

See Howto: Move a VM.

Also make sure not to enable Hyper-v on the host. HMR3Init: Attempting fall back to NEM (Hyper-V is active).

Easy as that
- so the host bit change makes no difference?

Don

I have never seen 32 to 64 bit upgrades supported by MS. The upgrade path it to install Windows x64 and migrate the data if you need to.

There is also the question of what the old version of VirtualBox was, because 32bit hosts have not been allowed for some time.

Either way - no, it makes no difference to the VM.

Yes you are correct AndyCot... I misspoke... clean 64bit install
Don.

mpack wrote:There is also the question of what the old version of VirtualBox was, because 32bit hosts have not been allowed for some time.

Either way - no, it makes no difference to the VM.

I will upgrade the virtualbox post new install.. .that should do it?

Don.

As long as you have backups of the VMs, what can go wrong?

mpack wrote:As long as you have backups of the VMs, what can go wrong?

The only thing that concerns me is the fact that there are two directories with data....
would love to have it in one folder actually. How do I do this?

Don.

How did you end up with the VDI in a separate folder? There was no mention of this before.

And why are you listing folder contents using the command console? Drag and drop using the Windows GUI would have been the most obvious way to move a folder and its contents.

Anyway if you have a backup then the solution is simple enough: move the VDI into the VM folder then edit the .vbox file to remove the absolute path to the VDI. If this was something you somehow did during copying then you don't need to edit anything: but inspect the .vbox file to make sure.

The VM's disk file "Windows XP.vdi" was put on a different drive than the host's boot drive. Folks do that a lot to save space on the C drive.

You can back up both folders, then when restoring, put the "Windows XP.vdi" file back in the "D:\Virtualbox VMs" folder.


It is better for backup purposes to have the drive file in the same folder as the .vbox file. Then the path to the drive file is relative and no special folder paths have to be restored.

To consolidate the VM:

1. Back up both folders existing first, and confirm the backups with a file compare.
2. Right-click the Windows XP VM in the main Virtualbox window's list, choose Move. Select "D:\Virtualbox VMs". After the move is complete, there will be a "D:\Virtualbox VMs\Windows XP" folder containing the VM's .vbox file and Logs folders, and Snapshots if you had any.
3. In the main Virtualbox window open File menu, Virtual Media Manager. Select "Windows XP.vdi", then click the Move toolbar button. Select the folder "D:\Virtualbox VMs\Windows XP".
4. Now the VM folder "D:\Virtualbox VMs\Windows XP" should have the .vbox and .vdi files side-by-side, with Logs and possibly Snapshots. Start the VM to check that it still works. If so, back up and confirm this whole folder too.
5. Keep the old backup also. You now have two backups, in the original and consolidated configurations.
6. When you are ready to restore, copy the consolidated backup to whatever drive and folder you want it on (it is not required to have the .vbox file on the C drive, it can be anywhere). Use the main Virtualbox window Machine menu Add command to register the .vbox file, and everything should be good. (Don't try to register the old split VM also, Virtualbox will complain. The old split VM can be used to restore if anything goes wrong on the host during the consolidating process.)

scottgus1 wrote: To consolidate the VM:
1. Back up both folders existing first, and confirm the backups with a file compare.
2. Right-click the Windows XP VM in the main Virtualbox window's list, choose Move

Thanks scottgus1

Using 5.2.44 - there is no option 'MOVE' on right click ??

Don.

No, "Move" was implemented in v6.x - and in any case only works with VM folders of registered VMs, not isolated VDI files of unregistered VMs.

I gave you a link to the "move" FAQ in my first reply. Please read it.

mpack wrote:No, "Move" was implemented in v6.x - and in any case only works with VM folders of registered VMs, not isolated VDI files of unregistered VMs.
I gave you a link to the "move" FAQ in my first reply. Please read it.

Thanks, mpack

Still not sure what to do with the two folders and how to merge them... can I simply copy the contents of the folder with .vbox et al to the folder on the D:\ drive where the .vdi file exists?

Don.

No, that process (copying the .vbox's folder to the D drive folder) won't work by itself, because the .vbox file contains an absolute path to the disk file.

If you intend to leave the D drive in the computer as it is now, then you can back up the "C:\Users\Donle\Virtualbox VMs\Windows XP" folder & contents & confirm integrity with a file compare. Leave the "D:\Virtualbox VMs\Windows XP" folder untouched (though a confirmed backup would be a good idea).

Windows should leave the D drive alone when you over-install 64-bit. (A couple sets of confirmed backups will ensure the safety of data if anything does go wrong in the over-install.) Then, when you get Virtualbox installed, copy the backed-up "Windows XP" folder with the .vbox file in it to the new "C:\Users\Donle\Virtualbox VMs" folder. Register the .vbox file, and Virtualbox should find the D drive disk file again. The VM won't be consolidated, but it should work.

To consolidate the VM's folders, the easiest way would be to upgrade to 6.0.something to make use of the Move commands, then do the backups as in my previous post.

@Mpack, I looked through the Move a VM tutorial, but I'm not sure it covers DonVetOne's exact situation, where the drive file resides outside the VM folder, but where the interest is in consolidating the VM while moving it. With the .vbox file containing an absolute path to the drive file, I'm thinking that unregistering/moving/re-registering the VM folder & .vbox file would not result in a working VM, if the drive file were also moved into the VM folder. I think a manual edit to the .vbox file would be required too before registering it, if 6.0 Move can't be used. What do you think?