Some Very Simple Basic Questions From Newbie

[silvanet]

OK, I just installed VirtualBox. When I registered there were a couple of questions I had no idea about. One was the second regarding the version, so I answered "other." Anyway, I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3 on my machine. VBox seemed to install without any problems. I elected to install Windows 2000 on the virtual machine. It installed and everything looked OK, except that the resolution is not as good as it is on my host machine and the screen is limited to a small box, otherwise, it connected fine withe the Internet and I was able to browse with it. Now, in my system tray there is a little computer icon that wasn't there before I installed VBox. It says Virtual-Box Host Only Network, Speed: 100 Mbps; Status: Limited or no connectivity. I do have my computer on a home network. It gets its IP from my D-Link DIR 655 N wireless router, but it's connection is "wired." I set up the router with a non-standard IP address because it conflicted with the ISP's modem address, but everything works well now. Since I am new to this I have a couple of questions. First, I had discovered a program named Sandboxie that I had been using because I liked the fact that any program I ran "sandboxed" essentially could not make any real changes...once I shut down the box, everything was wiped out. This to me seemed kind of like running stuff in a "virtual" memory space. How is that different from a real virtual machine like that created by VBox? What are the advantages to running a virtual machine like VBox? For extra security purposes I had been reading about using a Tomato capable router. I bought a Linksys WRT54GL and thought of putting it first off the Internet connection from my ISP, using it to control the traffic, then feeding it's resulting traffic from one of its LAN ports to my DIR 655 WAN port. Would there be any advantage to that, or should I be asking that question in a forum that specializes in networking? Anyway, it's not as simple as it sounds, because apparently the Linksys has a factory set IP that is not in my network's range and I'm not sure how to set it. The DIR 655 sees it as a new network device and assigns it an IP and I can ping that IP, but I can't reach the router's user interface at all. I suppose those questions are best addressed in a network or router forum, though. So, please let me know about my "limited or no connectivity" icon and maybe about the size and resolution of the guest screen box, and some basic explanation about virtual machines and their usefulness for a total newbie. My apologies for any stuff that is really external and irrelevant on this forum, and much thanks in advance.

[silvanet]

OK, I'm sorry, I just found the posting on basic information. I must say it is a little more complicated than what I was looking for, but I have begun reading the user manual. It does give me some basic information about why a virtual machine is a good thing. I'd like to know more, but some of the articles listed assume too much. Isn't there something like Virtual Machines for Dummies?

[vbox4me2]

The answer to most of your questions can be found in the Forum FAQ or the QuickClick FAQ, have a look there first.
Alternatively you can also find the answer via Google, example: Click me.
Reporting a bug go's via bugtracker: Bugtracker Seperate account needed.
Give proper information with your question: Forum Posting Guide.