Can I decrease assigned memory without opening VM?

[spacebetty]

I created VMs for IE7-IE10 by using a terminal command which I got from xdissent (can't post link since I'm a noob). It seems to have worked well, but unfortunately they were created with way too much working memory assigned and I can't even open them to change the setting because my computer freezes up! Is there any way to change the assigned memory without starting the VMs? Or is there some other way I can fix this issue?

[noteirak]

You can by using vboxmanage configvm

[spacebetty]

thanks! I tried: VBoxManage modifyvm "IE6 - WinXP" --memory "1GB"

And got an error:

Code: Select all

Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 4.2.12
(C) 2005-2013 Oracle Corporation
All rights reserved.

Usage:

VBoxManage modifyvm         <uuid|name>
                            [--name <name>]
                            [--groups <group>, ...]
                            [--ostype <ostype>]
                            [--memory <memorysize in MB>]
                            [--pagefusion on|off]
                            [--vram <vramsize in MB>]
                            [--acpi on|off]
                            [--pciattach 03:04.0]
                            [--pciattach 03:04.0@02:01.0]
                            [--pcidetach 03:04.0]
                            [--ioapic on|off]
                            [--pae on|off]
                            [--hpet on|off]
                            [--hwvirtex on|off]
                            [--hwvirtexexcl on|off]
                            [--nestedpaging on|off]
                            [--largepages on|off]
                            [--vtxvpid on|off]
                            [--synthcpu on|off]
                            [--cpuidset <leaf> <eax> <ebx> <ecx> <edx>]
                            [--cpuidremove <leaf>]
                            [--cpuidremoveall]
                            [--hardwareuuid <uuid>]
                            [--cpus <number>]
                            [--cpuhotplug on|off]
                            [--plugcpu <id>]
                            [--unplugcpu <id>]
                            [--cpuexecutioncap <1-100>]
                            [--rtcuseutc on|off]
                            [--monitorcount <number>]
                            [--accelerate3d on|off]
                            [--accelerate2dvideo on|off]
                            [--firmware bios|efi|efi32|efi64]
                            [--chipset ich9|piix3]
                            [--bioslogofadein on|off]
                            [--bioslogofadeout on|off]
                            [--bioslogodisplaytime <msec>]
                            [--bioslogoimagepath <imagepath>]
                            [--biosbootmenu disabled|menuonly|messageandmenu]
                            [--biossystemtimeoffset <msec>]
                            [--biospxedebug on|off]
                            [--boot<1-4> none|floppy|dvd|disk|net>]
                            [--nic<1-N> none|null|nat|bridged|intnet|hostonly|
                                        generic]
                            [--nictype<1-N> Am79C970A|Am79C973|
                                            82540EM|82543GC|82545EM|
                                            virtio]
                            [--cableconnected<1-N> on|off]
                            [--nictrace<1-N> on|off]
                            [--nictracefile<1-N> <filename>]
                            [--nicproperty<1-N> name=[value]]
                            [--nicspeed<1-N> <kbps>]
                            [--nicbootprio<1-N> <priority>]
                            [--nicpromisc<1-N> deny|allow-vms|allow-all]
                            [--nicbandwidthgroup<1-N> none|<name>]
                            [--bridgeadapter<1-N> none|<devicename>]
                            [--hostonlyadapter<1-N> none|<devicename>]
                            [--intnet<1-N> <network name>]
                            [--natnet<1-N> <network>|default]
                            [--nicgenericdrv<1-N> <driver>
                            [--natsettings<1-N> [<mtu>],[<socksnd>],
                                                [<sockrcv>],[<tcpsnd>],
                                                [<tcprcv>]]
                            [--natpf<1-N> [<rulename>],tcp|udp,[<hostip>],
                                          <hostport>,[<guestip>],<guestport>]
                            [--natpf<1-N> delete <rulename>]
                            [--nattftpprefix<1-N> <prefix>]
                            [--nattftpfile<1-N> <file>]
                            [--nattftpserver<1-N> <ip>]
                            [--natbindip<1-N> <ip>
                            [--natdnspassdomain<1-N> on|off]
                            [--natdnsproxy<1-N> on|off]
                            [--natdnshostresolver<1-N> on|off]
                            [--nataliasmode<1-N> default|[log],[proxyonly],
                                                         [sameports]]
                            [--macaddress<1-N> auto|<mac>]
                            [--mouse ps2|usb|usbtablet
                            [--keyboard ps2|usb
                            [--uart<1-N> off|<I/O base> <IRQ>]
                            [--uartmode<1-N> disconnected|
                                             server <pipe>|
                                             client <pipe>|
                                             file <file>|
                                             <devicename>]
                            [--guestmemoryballoon <balloonsize in MB>]
                            [--audio none|null|coreaudio]
                            [--audiocontroller ac97|hda|sb16]
                            [--clipboard disabled|hosttoguest|guesttohost|
                                         bidirectional]
                            [--draganddrop disabled|hosttoguest
                            [--vrde on|off]
                            [--vrdeextpack default|<name>
                            [--vrdeproperty <name=[value]>]
                            [--vrdeport <hostport>]
                            [--vrdeaddress <hostip>]
                            [--vrdeauthtype null|external|guest]
                            [--vrdeauthlibrary default|<name>
                            [--vrdemulticon on|off]
                            [--vrdereusecon on|off]
                            [--vrdevideochannel on|off]
                            [--vrdevideochannelquality <percent>]
                            [--usb on|off]
                            [--usbehci on|off]
                            [--snapshotfolder default|<path>]
                            [--teleporter on|off]
                            [--teleporterport <port>]
                            [--teleporteraddress <address|empty>
                            [--teleporterpassword <password>]
                            [--teleporterpasswordfile  <file>|stdin]
                            [--tracing-enabled on|off]
                            [--tracing-config <config-string>]
                            [--tracing-allow-vm-access on|off]
                            [--usbwebcam on|off]
                            [--usbcardreader on|off]
                            [--autostart-enabled on|off]
                            [--autostart-delay <seconds>]

VBoxManage: error:

So I tried: VBoxManage modifyvm "IE6 - WinXP" --memory <1GB>

And got another error:
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
Silver:~ macpro$

[Perryg]

VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name>
[--name <name>]
[--groups <group>, ...]
[--ostype <ostype>]
[--memory <memorysize in MB>]
[--pagefusion on|off]
[--vram <vramsize in MB>]

[spacebetty]

Okay, I'm sorry, I feel like an idiot but I tried:
VBoxManage modifyvm "IE6 - WinXP" --memory <1000MB>
VBoxManage modifyvm "IE6 - WinXP" --memory "1000MB"
VBoxManage modifyvm <IE6 - WinXP> --memory <1000MB>

And none of them worked. Could someone please hold my hand and give me the exact text I should enter?

[Perryg]

Try without the MB or the <>

Code: Select all

VBoxManage modifyvm "IE6 - WinXP" --memory 1000

[spacebetty]

Thank you!!! I think it worked, at least I didn't get an error message. I didn't get a confirmation either, so I'll just try and open the VM again and see what happens.