virtualbox.org

I've been using VirtualBox for about a month and it's been a godsend. I can now finally retire my XP development machine that was on its last legs! I've got everything working fine except for one thing: it's driving me nuts not being able to use my second monitor.

So here's the real question: why are most of my settings disabled, e.g. Machine -> Settings -> Display?

I see settings for video memory and number of monitors, but the entire tab is disabled (as are most of the other tabs). There is obviously some fundamental concept I'm missing. (Yes, I'm working my way through RTFM, but it's taking awhile...)

Host: Win 8.1
Guest: Win XP
VBox: 4.3.18
Guest Additions are installed

You must shut down the VM before you can change the virtual hardware recipe.

I.e. not suspend.

Thanks for the reply, mpack.

Yes, I did shut down and restart the VM, even rebooted the host machine to be sure. But most of the settings tabs remain disabled (grayed out), whether I invoke them from within the instance or via the VirtualBox Manager.

Oops, I misunderstood your advice. When I selected "power off", the settings became available. Thanks again for your help!

If you mean you hit the X button on the Window and then chose "Power off", then that is equivalent to yanking the power cord on a physical PC, and is not something I recommend you make a habit of doing.

The proper way to shut down an XP guest is to click <start button>| <Shutdown menu button>, and then make sure "Shut down" is selected in the dialog before clicking ok. You can also shut down a VM by clicking the "X" close button in the Window and then choose "Send the shutdown signal" from the menu.