virtualbox.org

I am running Ubuntu on top of Win XP so I can program in a Linux environment and use a few Linux-only programs, however my file system is FAT32, and repartitioning isn't much of an option here. I tried making 2 hard drives for this virtual machine, but I can only access one of them. I have about 1 GB of space on it now, but before I accidentally caused the drive to fill up and I was unable to use it anymore. I have shared folders set up, but I would prefer to have another virtual hard drive as well. How would I get it to work properly?

Hi,
i'm not sure if i totally understand your setup, but basically you can add/create new virtual harddisks (which are .vdi files on your host system) at the "settings" window of your VM. select "hard disks" and then attach a new "disk" to it, or if needed create and attach it.
if you've already done that, then the next step is configuring your linux guest to a) format the new drive b) mount the drive. iirc gparted (install it via synaptic) can guide you through both steps.

(1) go onto an XP forum and research convert32. This is an MS utility which converts a FAT32 file system to NTFS. Remember to defrag after you've done it. This will remove the 4Gb limit.

(2) Attach the second HDD as IDE0:1 and then you need to add a mount to your /etc/fstab. This will require an additional mount point which you will need to create, say /app. The Ubuntu community docs explain how to do this.

I'd rather not try convert32; I don't want to risk it doing something undesired to my system, Reformatting this computer is a royal pain, not to mention getting all my programs installed, setting up my shortcuts, unpacking all my files, and tweaking all the settings just right... I know the risk might be small, but I would rather not try it. As for mounting, I am not sure how to do this on plain old Ubuntu let alone in virtual Ubuntu (I never really used much Linux, never wanted to set up dual boot, and most of my programs are Windows-only). Can you point out a reference? I'm not sure where to begin looking.

Glaciusor wrote:I'd rather not try convert32; I don't want to risk it doing something undesired to my system, Reformatting this computer is a royal pain, not to mention getting all my programs installed, setting up my shortcuts, unpacking all my files, and tweaking all the settings just right... I know the risk might be small, but I would rather not try it. As for mounting, I am not sure how to do this on plain old Ubuntu let alone in virtual Ubuntu (I never really used much Linux, never wanted to set up dual boot, and most of my programs are Windows-only). Can you point out a reference? I'm not sure where to begin looking.

And now comes the nice line of RTFM . Open a terminal and enter man mount. Happy reading . If you are uncertain how to use a program/command in linux, read the man pages.

Glaciusor wrote:I'd rather not try convert32

This is a standard MS utility which does an in-place conversion from FAT32 to NTFS. You don't need to do anything to your installed programs, shortcuts or any tweaks. However, you might be wise to be wary of MS utilities. I personally have used often and have a little more confidence.

Glaciusor wrote:I'm not sure where to begin looking.

Have you heard of google? Try "ubuntu community documents"; that would be a good place to start. Also as Sasquatch says man XXXX is a good choice in Linux.

Please don't answer questions with "google it". I didn't ask a question here, I wound up here by googling and this page was the number one result.