Autostart XP VM on XP PC?

[squishyalt]

Autostart? I've searched everywhere for how to autostart a virtualbox VM on XP to no avail.

I have an XP Home PC and I want to autostart an XP Pro virtualbox vm when the user logs in to the XP Home PC.

This seems like a simple thing to do, but damned if I can find it.

I tried using...

"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\Virtualbox.exe" startvm Generic_XP

...but that just starts the virtualbox client and not the Generic_XP vm.

Any ideas?

[Perryg]

C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\Virtualbox.exe" startvm Generic_XP

Either drop the startvm or change the Virtualbox.exe to VBoxManage

[squishyalt]

Nope. They didn't work.

So far I have tried....

"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\Virtualbox.exe" startvm Generic_XP
--- just starts virtualbox xlient

"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\Virtualbox.exe" Generic_XP
--- just starts virtualbox client

"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" Generic_XP
--- starts a command window and looks like it tries to launch something but closes too quickly to tell what is going on - does not open client or vm

[MarkCranness]

"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\Virtualbox.exe" --startvm Generic_XP
(note "--" in front of startvm.)

Nope. They didn't work.

"Either x or y" != "x and y"...
"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" startvm Generic_XP
... works, but temporarily pops up a command window, and internally calls Virtualbox.exe --startvm anyway.

[squishyalt]

This works....
"C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" startvm Generic_XP

Thanks so much for your help!

Just one last question...is there a switch to force the launching vm to go fullscreen?

[MarkCranness]

I would use VirtualBox.exe --startvm in preference to VBoxManage startvm myself.

The VM should restart in the same state (fullscreen or not) as it was last closed:
Start the VM, turn Fullscreen off, turn 'Auto-resize Guest Display' on (Host+G, on the Machine menu, make sure it has a box and tick displayed), turn fullscreen back on (Host+F) and when you next start it should be fullscreen.
(I've also checked: Run: 'Maximized' on the shortcut that starts the VM.)

[squishyalt]

I would use VirtualBox.exe --startvm in preference to VBoxManage startvm myself.

For some reason, I did not include the "--" in the original test. Doing so makes this command work just fine.

The VM should restart in the same state (fullscreen or not) as it was last closed:
Start the VM, turn Fullscreen off, turn 'Auto-resize Guest Display' on (Host+G, on the Machine menu, make sure it has a box and tick displayed), turn fullscreen back on (Host+F) and when you next start it should be fullscreen.
(I've also checked: Run: 'Maximized' on the shortcut that starts the VM.)

Got it! Thanks for all of your help.

May you meet people just like you when you need them most.