virtualbox.org

Hello. I'm trying to install Linux Ubuntu 64bit into a virtual machine on my Windows host machine. What is the most optimal settings for best performance on both guest and host machines?

Here's the deal: I'm using Windows 10 64bit host machine, with 4GB DDR3, AMD Quad-Core A6-6310 2.4GHz CPU, AMD Radeon R5 M240 with 2GB dedicated VRAM. According to Task Manager, Windows itself use up 2GB of RAM, additional software (Google Update, Dropbox Service, and other that I use every day) take 1GB more, and only 1GB of RAM is free (aproximately). I'm a newbie developer and currently developing a small cross-platform terminal application. RAM usage is something that bothers me really vastly. When I set 1024 MB RAM for guest (recommended settings), it doesn't want to run properly, keeps lagging and occassionaly drops down. When I set it to slightly more (2048 MB is too much according to free RAM space), it's even worse. Guest's lagging like the hell and host lags the same. I had to hard reset my host in order to get my computer working. So: Below 1024 MB the guest doesn't run properly. Beyond 1024 MB, the guest doesn't run properly eighter and host refuses to respond, too. Exactly 1024 MB halts the guest machine.

Without Linux, I'm completely screwed up when it gets to cross-platform development. Ubuntu is the only one Unix platform I have, and of course Windows. I don't have MacOS and I do not want it, eighter. One thing: it's illegal to install MacOS in virtual machine. Second thing: It's rather difficult to install MacOS in virtual machine and get properly activated system. Third thing: it's too expensive, even more than Windows licence key...

Please, can you tell me how can I fluently run Linux Ubuntu in a guest virtual machine? Do I need to increase RAM in host machine?

If you can't answer that "optimal settings" question yourself then by definition you should stick to the settings selected by the Ubuntu template: there's a reason for the template choosing those settings and not others.

You can however size disk, RAM and graphics RAM appropriately for your host and your needs, which the template can't know about. If you can't work out what the RAM settings should be then post a VM log file: With the VM fully shut down, right click it in the GUI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (ONLY) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.