virtualbox.org

I am running a WinXP Guest on a Win7 host. When I install guest additions I run into all sorts of problems with the guest video resolution, where I sometimes lose the ability to have color depth of greater than 4 bits. Everything else is fine. What I would like to do is install the guest additions WITHOUT changing the video driver (the default video driver works perfectly for my needs).

I have read the manual, but that just tells me how to extract the files from the guest additions ISO, which I have done. Now I have a folder full of drivers, but I'm not sure how to install them all.

So... is there a way to install all the guest addition drivers EXCEPT for the video driver?

Thanks!

I'm sure there is, but its much easier to (re)install your own driver via device manager if that is what you want. The fact that windows installs just about everything automatically for you does not mean you can't do this yourself as well.

That is what I ended up doing, but it was tricky! I installed all the guest additions and then with some trial and error managed to update the graphics driver to the VBE driver found here: http://www.geocities.com/bearwindows/vbemp.htm.

It doesn't resize automatically anymore, but I always run my Vbox fullscreen at the same resolution, so that's all I need.

Thanks!

I did A LOT of research to find the answer to this question. I never found the answer in any forums and this one came the closest but the link provided is dead. I finally figured out the answer to my question through trial and error. I will share my experience in hopes to make the easier on someone else looking for the same answer. I have a 22" widescreen monitor and the problem I had was that I needed to set a custom resolution (which you can't do with the guest additions) but using VirtualBox without mouse integration is extremely frustrating. I wanted to have my custom screen size and mouse integration. So the initial thought was, try to find a way to install just the mouse integration feature or install everything but the graphics driver. The Answer turns out is easier than that: You don't need to find/install the original graphics driver (windows will do this for you!). Install all the additions and then simply uninstall the driver fromt the Hardware Manager. Upon restart Windows will default to the original driver and you are good to go! Below is a step by step for those who need it.

Here is the EASY answer:

Install the guest additions by following the instructions in the manual. It will install all of them including the new graphics driver.

THEN:

-click the start menu and type "device manager" (without the quotations)
-Select Device Manager
-expand the Display Adapters section (there should only be one device under display adapters)
-right-click on the display adapter and select uninstall
-restart the machine

Voila! when the virtual machine restarts windows will default to the original driver and you can set your custom resolution.

This worked for me 100% and was very easy. This may, however, not be the answer for everyone. If you have any questions or problems along the way post a reply underneath and I will try to answer back and help you out.

Alternative.

@Jorgensen, Thank you for posting that. could you please include instructions on where to get to that feature and how to actually use it? or point to a thread if one already exists?

Mount the addition CD image and run VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe from the command prompt.