Virtualbox Does Not See CD Drive

[Alann]

I have installed Virtualbox 5.0.2 and installed the extensions. I created a virtual machine for Windows 7. However virtual machine cannot install windows operating system. Error message says "could not read from the boot medium. System haulted". I then tried to mount the CD drive but virtual machine does not see a CD drive on my host computer. What do I need to do to fix this problem?

[mpack]

The VM is a different computer, so naturally it does not normally see media in any of your host's drives.

You can however tell the VM to map the host drive onto the guest (virtual) CD drive. You do that in the VM Storage settings panel. Select the CD drive in the left side of the panel, use the right half of the panel to select what you want to map the virtual drive to: this can be any host CD drive, or an ISO file. The latter is often more convenient (the host can't interfere, no danger of installing over the host OS, quieter, immune to mechanical errors, dirt etc - and easier to find). The likes of ImgBurn can be used to make ISO images of existing data CDs and DVDs.

[Alann]

Thanks mpack for your response to my plea for help. Unfortunately I do not see a CD drive in the left side of the panel to select. How do I get this to appear?

[BillG]

Are you sure? When you click Storage in the settings window you should see two devices attached to the controller, your .vdi file and a disk icon. Click on the disk icon.

[mpack]

Post a screenshot of your VM's Storage settings panel if you're unsure.