virtualbox.org

VirtualBox 3.2.8 PEUL on mac os X w/ winxp guest & guest additions installed

When I want to shut down my guest winxp and quit virtual box do I use the start > shutdown w/in winxp or do I use Machine > Send ACPI Signal from the menu bar or do I click the Window's close bubble and choose Send Shutdown Signal from that menu?

The manual compared the last option to holding down the power button which is windows freezes shutdown not normal shutdown. Does a VM windows os need to shutdown via the start menu?

You should shut down the guest the same way you would shut it down on bare-metal. Only do a power down if there is no other way to close the guest as this may cause the guest to become corrupt and fail to work afterward.

Thanks Perryg,

Is the "ACPI Shutdown" [Host+U] under Machine on the menu bar a shortcut for Start > Shutdown? Sounds like it from my google search/reading.

Yes that will work but the official way to shutdown Windows is to click start -> shutdown or alt-F4 then shutdown.

Not quite. What that option does, is send the ACPI powerbutton command, which is then interpreted by the OS. If you set the power management do do nothing when you press the power button, the system won't shut down. If you tell it to hibernate, it will do that instead. Tell it to shut down, and you get the same as start > shut down.

Thanks Sasquatch & Perryg.

I checked power options in control panel and the power button option on the advanced tab is set to shut down. [I don't have a hibernate option but I don't need one.] So on my VM pressing Host+U would be the same as Start>Shutdown. I might need that if winxp freezes and I can't get to start>shutdown. That happens on my "bare metal" pc now and then.

Keep in mind that sometimes a machine get stuck that bad that it won't even respond to the ACPI power button signal. That's when you usually pull the plug, and that's also an option in the close VM dialogue. No shortcut for it though, luckily.