virtualbox.org

I just set up a new machine with Ubuntu and AMD 64 bit with 4GB of memory. I installed virtualbox but when I went to install Windows XP it is getting i386 erros (I only have a licensed copy of XP home edition, i386)

Forgive me for what I sense is a really stupid question but do I need a 64bit version of XP for this to work? I guess I assumed that Virtualbox encapsulates the operating environment to a certain extent.

Depending on the processor, you can either run a 32-bit or 64-bit Host OS. If you run a 32-bit Host OS, like Windows XP Home, you need to install the 32-bit VirtualBox. Inside VirtualBox, you can only install 32-bit Guest systems.

does that work the other way too then? If I run a 64bit host, I also have to run 64bit guests?

I wanted to run 64bit Linux so I can use 4GB of RAM. I've been able to run 32bit applications though, with some compatibility libraries.

No, if you're running a 64-bit Host system, you need to run the 64-bit version of VB, but you can't run a 64-bit Guest system. The VB version is the same as the Host system you're running, the Guest system will always be 32-bit. 64-bit Guests is in the roadmap, but it's not sure when it's done.

Thank you!

- Joe