virtualbox.org

I installed Windows 7 guest on an ubuntu 14.04 host from a usb key.

I created a vmdk file that is associated with the usb key. I then added a scsi hard drive where the windows was actually installed.

I might have done something incorrect during the install but everything seems to work now and I am able to use windows.

Please take a look at the storage tab attachment.
I still have one issue: I am not able to use the machine without the USB key.

If the USB key is not plugged I get an error message (please see error message attachment).
If I remove the vmdk file, the machine won't load and I get in the virtual machine the following message:

INT18: BOOT FAILURE

Thank you for any possible suggestion!

XP has no native support for SATA. Did you install non-native drivers?

It not - try moving the NewHardDisk.vdi file onto the IDE controller, after removing the vmdk.

P.s. Regarding the VMDK, what does "associated with the USB key" mean? Is the VMDK just a descriptor for raw access?

The windows version in Win7. The VMDK name is erroneous.

I tried moving NewHardDisk.vdi onto the IDE controllet - didn't solve it.

The VMDK was created using VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk with raw disk (usb key) in /dev/sdb.

Something strange that I realized: when loading the partition manager in Win7, the C drive appears to be "bootable" and there's another partition (due to its size I am guessing it's the USB key that marked as "system" and "bootable".

In that case I'm not sure what your question is.

You told VirtualBox to map a physical device into the VM (indirectly: it maps the VMDK, which in turn maps the USB flash drive). Naturally you get a startup error if either of those components is missing. And since Windows has never been installed - it remains on the USB flash drive - the guest will naturally fail to boot if the system drive (the USB drive) is missing.

One problem is that large chunks of your scenario are vague to me. What exactly is your goal, and what did you already do to try to achieve it?

Windows 7 was installed on NewVirtualDisk1.vdi (I posted a printscreen on the first message) not on the USB flash drive.

Partition manager on Windows indicates that the NewVirtualDisk1.vdi is bootable but not system.

I think that I need NewVirtualDisk1.vdi to be "system" in order to start it without the USB key but I have no idea how to do it.

Hope this is more clear now.

Thanks,

How did you establish all that? You don't see the host virtual filename from inside the guest, so are you simply assuming that Drive0 is "NewVirtualDisk1.vdi", or you guessing it from something else?

No, parts are still vague. What I would like to know is what is on the USB drive. For example, was this a Win7 system drive, and if so, how did you transfer this system to the VDI drive? If the USB drive didn't contain a Win7 bootable system then what was the purpose of attaching this drive to begin with?

It would be quite easy to virtualize the USB drive contents, but I can't suggest how to treat a drive when I don't know why it exists.

Finally, is this a new installation? - i.e. if you were to scrap the VM would that be a hardship?