virtualbox.org

I have 2 PCs, in different locations, and a notebook, all using WinXP. I installed a Virtual Box on all, and all using the same basic WinXP VM. On each PC I cloned the basic VM, and added programs specific to the PC's use. The notebook is old, and has a relatively small HDD., which is already fairly full. I'm going the VM route because I'd like to be able to use the same programs on each of my 3 computers. The limited size of the notebook's HDD, means that it can't store many large VMs. I'd like to use the notebook when the PC isn't available.

What I'd like to do is backup the PC's VM's to an external drive, and then copy the desired virtual program to a clone of the Notebook's basic VM. Then use the new guest, and delete it when I'm through. My need is to be able to copy/migrate an installed program from one guest to another, or be able to combine two guests to make a third. I've done a lot of reading and searching on the web but, as a newbie, I don't understand everything I read, and may have skipped over a solution to my problem.

I'd appreciate any help you can give me.

Your question really has nothing to do with VirtualBox, and is therefore beyond the scope of these forums. You are basically asking how best to copy installed applications between Windows PCs - and the answer is "as you normally would". This question has no special answer just because virtual PCs are involved.

In any case, the answer depends very much on which applications you mean (that is not a request for information!). If the application uses the Windows registry then moving it between PCs may be tricky. If the app only uses a local .ini file then moving it should be easy.