virtualbox.org

Hi,

Host: Win 7 64 bits

I'm a newbie to VirtualBox, but haven't found the answer, maybe worthwhile adding this to faq.

I want to partition my hdd so has to have:
1/ one partition for win 7,
2/ one for temp/swap and
3/ one for data.

I wish to achieve with VirtualBox, one WinXp fresh install that I can always revert to, and from this references one instance for games and another as testing.

My questions are related to how big to partition my hdd:
* do I need to install VirtualBox on the primary partition(win7) or can it be on my data partition?
* if installed on the primary partition (win7), can my different instances of WinXp installed on the data partition, or do they have to be installed in the same partion?

Thanks.

Your questions have nothing to do with VirtualBox. VirtualBox provides a simulated disk drive, it knows nothing about partitions or anything else which a guest OS might store on the simulated drive.

In other words, if you want a particular layout of partitions on the guest drive then you must use guest tools to achieve it, and don't ask us how - ask the people who made the guest tools!

Maybe I wrongly expressed myself.

VirtualBox needs to be installed.
Must it be installed on the primary c partition ?

If yes, must then be all the virtual environnement also be installed on c or can they be on another?

Ah, I see what you are asking.

The VirtualBox software could I suppose be installed anywhere, but it is small and there is no reason to avoid installing it on the system partition.

On the other hand, the Virtual Machines you create can be expected to require a lot of disk space. The default location for these is the system drive but the default can be changed after the VirtualBox software is installed; just choose the File|Preferences menu item, and change the default folder for new VMs to a non default drive.

After that you can create your VMs. I suggest that you make a single containing folder on your second drive, perhaps called "VirtualBoxVMs", which you would nominate as your default VM folder.