virtualbox.org

Hello. I'm using VBox 4.3.18 on W7. Due to my laptop's screen size (1366x768) I would like to get display of guest desktop (XP) as big as it is possible. Including host taskbar located on bottom of screen. Nor fullscreen, nor seamless, nor scale mode is good for me. The best for me would be sth like seamless mode offers now
- taskbar of XP guest above the W7 taskbar,
- minitoolbar always shown, which replace menu bar and status bar.
plus displaying desktop of guest XP which seamless mode doesn't offer.

I tried to customizing menu by disabling menubar and statusbar (by GUI/Customizations noMenuBar,noStatusBar) but it still is not what i want - i can't enable minitoolbar, and i still see windowbar frame. I tried to enable minitoolbar by
VBoxManage.exe setextradata global GUI/ShowMiniToolBar yes
but i didn't work.
So summarizing:
- guest XP desktop fit inside host desktop like normal, maximized window (host w7 taskbar still visible on bottom),
- no guest windowbar, no guest menubar, no guest statusbar,
- minitoolbar visible all time.
Is there anyway to achieve it?

Short of downloading the source code, modifying it to suit your needs then compiling it I can't imagine how.

Sounds like you want the full guest desktop with guest taskbar showing, like fullscreen, but a little smaller, just so the host taskbar shows underneath the guest desktop. Haven't seen a setting so far that achieves that look.

But there is a way to get the full-screen guest's mini-toolbar to show all the time - click the thumbtack. It will stay up all the time the guest is showing. And, for largest guest with quick access to the host, fullscreen with pinned mini-toolbar gives one click access to the minimize button for the fullscreen guest. One click on Minimize, the host shows. One click on the guest button on the host taskbar brings back the fullscreen guest with the mini-toolbar still showing.

So you'd be one click away from what you want, perhaps....

scottgus1 wrote:Sounds like you want the full guest desktop with guest taskbar showing, like fullscreen, but a little smaller, just so the host taskbar shows underneath the guest desktop. Haven't seen a setting so far that achieves that look.

Other than maximizing the VM window?

scottgus1 wrote: But there is a way to get the full-screen guest's mini-toolbar to show all the time - click the thumbtack. It will stay up all the time the guest is showing.

That is not working.
When Seamless or Fullscreen are not the chosen one, there is no minitoolbar nor thumbtack.
Seamless is fine mode, but I need the guest desktop.
I'm using now maximized window with no menubar and with statusbar. But windowbar and statusbar still eat the valuable space.

Yes, when seamless and fullscreen are not being used, you have no mini-toolbar. My suggestion was to use Fulllscreen, which does give you a mini-toolbar, if you have it turned on in the guest's settings. Maximum guest desktop space. Thumb-tack the mini-toolbar, and you're one click from your host desktop.

Whatever floats the boat...

scottgus1 wrote:Yes, when seamless and fullscreen are not being used, you have no mini-toolbar. My suggestion was to use Fulllscreen, which does give you a mini-toolbar, if you have it turned on in the guest's settings. Maximum guest desktop space. Thumb-tack the mini-toolbar, and you're one click from your host desktop.

Whatever floats the boat...

I know you mean well but that does not address the OP's original question. He already stated Full Screen isn't what he wants.

loukingjr wrote:Short of downloading the source code, modifying it to suit your needs then compiling it I can't imagine how.

Yes, yes, tailor the product to Your needs. But my programming level is a little too low (or much too low) to change VBox.
I'm just a little sad, that I see that VBoxManage has GUI/ShowMiniToolbar and GUI/Toolbar options, but they do nothing. The GUI/Customizations noMenuBar,noStatusBar shows that developing team has noticed that some ordinary user might need to customize how VBox window looks like but there is still missing stuff in these customizations.
I really doesn't see any reason why I can't have menubar, statusbar and minitoolbar all together - these things are already implemented.
Well, I will stand it somehow .

My programming level is too low as well. As far as customization available in VirtualBox, developers have to make choices and stop somewhere. And, the reality is, no matter how many features an application has, someone will come along that wants something different.