virtualbox.org

Hi,

on my Mac I've got a copy of my entire map structure of my company PC that I'd like to use as a guest OS on VirtualBox (so I don't have to carry around two computers). I haven't used VirtualBox before and need to understand how I install this map structure onto the virtue machine I just created?

Thanks...

/Mans

What does "map structure" mean? Do you mean you have a raw image of the donor PC?

Incidentally, it would help if you provided more information, e.g. what OS is/was the donor PC running, and confirm that you intend to use this image on a Mac host running VirtualBox?

If "map structure" does mean raw image then you need to convert that image to a supported virtual disk format. CloneVDI would do the job best (with "Compact" enabled, to produce the minimum sized VDI), but since (I think) you are using a Mac host you would need to have Wine installed first. The other way to do the conversion is "VBoxManage convertfromraw" (see the user manual for details).

Well with map structure I mean that I have no disk image of the donor PC (maybe I could create one?), what I have is a map with all the PC disk contents (Boot folder, Sources folder, autorun.inf file...and so on). The PC is Windows 7 and I would like to use it as a guest operating system on my Mac host running VirtualBox.

So do I need to convert this "map structure" into something usable for VirtualBox in order to use it as guest OS on the Mac host?

/Mans

No image, no boot.

And you need a valid windows license.

We cant help you with that.

A bootable disk has boot code, partition maps, and (depending on the guest OS), maybe also hidden partitions for swap or boot manager. A bunch of files from the managed side of the filesystem will not make a bootable disk I'm afraid. You need to make an image of the donor HD. I would recommend tools that make it easier for specific cases, but you still have not confirmed which operating systems are involved.

mpack wrote:A bootable disk has boot code, partition maps, and (depending on the guest OS), maybe also hidden partitions for swap or boot manager. A bunch of files from the managed side of the filesystem will not make a bootable disk I'm afraid. You need to make an image of the donor HD. I would recommend tools that make it easier for specific cases, but you still have not confirmed which operating systems are involved.

Sorry, maybe I don't understand what you need to know...The guest operating system is Windows 7 and the host operating system is Mac OS X (10.8.2). Or is it anything else you are referring to?

Anyway, this answers the question if a disk image is needed or if the "map structure" will do.

/Mans

Right, you need a disk image from a existing bootable windows partition. Or you need a windows DVD for a new installation.

In both approaches you need a valid license for windows.

You can make a VHD image of a Windows drive using Disk2VHD, which you run directly on the Windows PC while is running. I don't much care for the VHD format (it's prone to corruption), so I recommend you then convert to VDI format using CloneVDI or VBoxManage before creating a VM around the VDI. I recommend that the VM recipe should use an IDE drive and with the IO APIC option enabled. Where possible the other elements of the recipe should approximate the original PC - and bear in mind that VT-x is required if the guest is 64bit.

Note that you must image the entire drive, not just a partition or two. Don't worry, the point of using Disk2VHD is that it will not include unused fileystem areas in the image.

When run inside a virtual PC, Windows 7 will see new hardware and ask to be reactivated. As Stefan says, the Windows 7 license will generally not allow you to use the same image on two PCs at the same time, so if you activate one it may void the activation of the other. You can get around this by installing new new license key into the image, if you have one. That way you can be legal, and still have a working image with all your apps preinstalled. There are guides on the net for how to install a new CD key into a working Windows system.

Ok, thanks...I will start with this. And regarding licences, as soon as I get this running virtual I will retire my pc altogether...

/Mans

manlan wrote:And regarding licences, as soon as I get this running virtual I will retire my pc altogether...

No need to convince us of that... it's the Microsoft activation server you need to convince...