Virtualbox on USB

[blackwell99]

I am new to virtual box and have installed it to my USB drive.

I have set everything to the USB drive.

I had everything working perfect and then did a fresh install on my computer. When trying to run Virtualbox from my USB drive it says "Failed to create the VirtualBoxClient object. The application will now terminate."

Is there a way to make the system run completly from USB? or do i have to have virtual box installed on every computer i use aswell?

[loukingjr]

VirtualBox has to be installed on every computer you want to run VirtualBox Guests on. It doesn't create bootable USBs.

[socratis]

do i have to have virtual box installed on every computer i use aswell?

There is this program called Portable VirtualBox. Before we go any further;

IT IS NOT SUPPORTED HERE!!!
But, it is the closest that you're ever gonna get to your "dream" of having VirtualBox on a USB. I haven't tried it myself, but, from their own documentation:

VirtualBox needs several kernel drivers installed and needs to start several services: if the drivers and services are not already installed you’ll need administrator rights to run Portable-VirtualBox.

So don't think that you're simply going to walk to any computer, plug a USB and run VirtualBox off it, it's not going to happen. VirtualBox is a rather complex program that needs low level access to the underlying hardware. It's not a Notepad or Calculator type of program.

To add to that, access to external USB devices is rather slow compared to built-in HDDs, so do not expect any spectacular performance out of it. Add to that the differences in the hardware that you're planning on running it (CPUs, RAM, interface buses, networking) and you've got yourself a mini-nightmare. But, if it works for you, who am I to judge... Just remember:

IT IS NOT SUPPORTED HERE!!!