Cannot get host and portable VB to share folders

[Harryf]

Hi there everybody!

I installed a VB (version 5.0.8 r103449) on an external / portable hard drive and installed Windows XP Service Pack 1 in/on it. I need Outlook Express 6 to access certain .dbx folders/files, hence the requirement to get this old OS up and running.

All went well with the installation as far as I can tell. Guest Additions seems to have been automatically included in the setup with this version. If I am wrong, then this may be part of my problem...

The folder with the .dbx files is located on another computer running Windows 7. Shall I call the other computer the "host" when I have my external plugged into this machine? The folder is simply placed on the desktop and named "email".

I right clicked the email folder, then went to "share with", then "specific people" and clicked "everyone" and then clicked on "Everyone" in the drop down list. I then opened the Virtual Box on the external, clicked on Settings and added the path to the "email" folder on the host machine under the "Shared Folders" heading under Settings.

But I cannot find this shared folder when I start the Windows XP operating system on the virtual drive on the external!

Please tell me what I am doing wrong, will you be so kind?

Harry

[scottgus1]

I then opened the Virtual Box on the external, clicked on Settings and added the path to the "email" folder on the host machine under the "Shared Folders" heading under Settings.

Your chosen method to get a shared folder running is via Guest Additions Shared Folders. The Guest Additions need to be installed in the guest. They are not installed by default, you have to install them. See the manual, section 4. Once the Guest Additions are installed you can access the shared folders within the guest via the Virtualbox "server" \\vboxsvr. Type \\vboxsvr in the XP guest's Run... box and the server window will appear; you can navigate to the shared folder. Copy the desired files to your guest, then run the program on them - Guest Additions Shared Folders are only for file copy. If you do not want to copy the files to the guest you will need a full network between the host and guest. Guest Additions are not needed for a full network. See the manual, sections 3.8 and 6.

[Harryf]

Hi Scottgus1!

Thanks for your quick reply!

I cannot find the "Devices" menu in the VM's menu bar. I tried a Google search but could not find anything to help me. Typing your suggested \\vboxsvr in the guest's Run Box resulted in an error message "The network path was not found" - so you are correct. No sharing seems to have taken place as I'd done it before.

BUT how do I get to install the Guest Additions ISO file if I cannot find the "Devices" menu?

Looking forward to your help again!

h

[Perryg]

Probably the easiest way to get to the bottom of this is for you to post the guests log file ( as an attachment ). Right click on the guest in the Main Manager then click show log. Save and post as an attachment. Compress if it is too large to post.

[mpack]

You can mount the ISO in the VM settings Storage panel before starting the VM.

If you have further questions then please post a VM log file. With the VM fully shut down, right click and "Show Log" in the GUI, save "VBox.log" (ONLY) to a zip, and attach the zip here.

[scottgus1]

I'm running 5.0.10 on Windows 10 on my laptop and I have a Devices menu. Maybe 5.0.8 had a glitch?

[Harryf]

Hi Guys!

Thanks for all your responses. Let me begin with saying that, with your and Google's help, I'd sorted it out! Yay!!

I was researching installing the Guest Additions when the Devices menu was not showing at the time that your post came through, mpack. Found a video on Youtube (here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PXbbXFD8c) - BUT I found no VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file in the vboxadditions/guestadditions folder(s) in the install folder where I'd installed my Virtual Machine.

I'd installed a 64bit version of Windows XP on/in the virtual drive, and when I searched and found the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso in a folder named app32 and no such file in app64, I decided to download and run the latest version of Oracle VM VirtualBox (vers 5.0.12). I then searched the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file and used that ISO file to do as instructed in the Youtube video.

And guess what?

100% Success!

I have no idea why the initial setup "lost" the 64bit file. I followed the steps prescribed in this Youtube video (here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKpM41w-S88) to install the Virtual Drive on my external, and did not download the latest version because I did not know how it would effect the previous steps.

But thanks to your and Google's pointers and quick help, my *.DBX files can now be accessed!

Thanks guys!

h

[mpack]

It sounds to me like you were looking inside the guest for the guest additions, which unfortunately makes no sense.

The GAs ISO is in the VirtualBox executable folder on the host. The contents of this ISO will not be visible until the ISO is mounted in the VM, and the GuestAdditions folder in the VM will not exist until the Guest Additions are installed (in the guest).

[Harryf]

Hi Mpack

Nothing makes sense to me!

But, now that you mention it... For the *.iso file to even be on the "host", it had to have been placed there because I'd stored the downloaded VB software on the host. True? And from there, I would have installed it on the guest. In this case, the install files were placed on the external (which acts as the "host", even though it has no other operating system on it), and the same external then also had me create a guest on it - with all files stored in the same fricken folder!

Clearly not too clever...

So, what I'd found as the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso was the actual file on the host anyway... At least I found it and could install it via the storage section.

And guess what? IE6 does not work in a 64bit environment. I had to do everything all over as a 32bit install of Win XP. But all is fine. All the required folders are shared and all the software work as they should.

Thanks again, Mpack!

h

[BillG]

How did you get hold of XP x64? That was a rare beast, based on the Server 2003 x64 code base. It was never very common because not many apps ran on it.