Windows 7 Beta VirtualBox Install hosted on Ubuntu 8.10
January 20th, 2009 | 
Author: Not too long ago I published a visual how to guide for installing Windows 7 Beta on VMware Workstation 6.5. In this post I am illustrating how to install Windows 7 in a VirtualBox 2.1 virtual machine hosted on a 32 bit Ubuntu 8.10 desktop. Once again the installation is straightforward, but I’ve taken the time to record screen shots of the process. Judging by the traffic from the first post, the topic of running Windows 7 in a VM has been very popular, so now this post provides a Linux open source alternative to the previous Windows Vista VMware Workstation post. Like before I’ve added some basic notes along with my impressions during the process.
There’s nothing really too complicated or tricky, but nonetheless use this guide to get an idea how simple the VirtualBox Windows 7 installation process really is.
| System Hardware VirtualBox is running on is 32 bit Ubuntu version 8.10
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| Create a new VM in Virtualbox 2.1 Started at 12:41 pm |
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| Used Windows Vista as OS Type |
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| Gave the VM 1 GB RAM. |
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| Created a new virtual hard disk. Virtualbox suggested 20 GB |
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| Summary screen of virtual hardware |
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| Before booting the VM I bumped up the video Memory to 128 MB and enabled the 3D Acceleration |
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| Used the Windows 7 Ultimate Beta ISO to install the OS |
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| Started the VM |
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| The installation paused on the starting Windows screen for an uncomfortably long amount of time. I was tempted to restart, but kept getting an occasionally flicker of activity from the CDrom icon in the status bar. Be aware of this and be patient if it happens to you. |
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| The install finally prompted me for information |
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| Accept the license agreement |
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| Set up your partition(s) I left the default alone |
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| Copying files started and installation begins |
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| Prompted to type a username and a computer name |
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| Beta license key is given to you from the download page when you sign up. Be sure to save it! |
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| Prompted to select networking type. Windows Home Networking requires a password? Never used that before. This was the wrong choice for my VM, but not a show stopper. |
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| Preparing the desktop |
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| Desktop loads for first time |
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| Windows 7 was ready to install some Microsoft updates immediately. I also tried to install Virtualbox additions before the first reboot. Although the install completes and the Virtualbox folder is created in the Program Files menu, the system tray icon never appeared. Instead I got got a message that platform was not supported for Virtualbox additions yet |
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| Completed by 1:35 pm |
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| Tried a second time to install Virtualbox additons and just like the first attempt, I got a message that they are not supported yet for Windows 7 beta. Surprisingly, 1 GB RAM for the VM is more than sufficient for Windows 7 Ultimate theme enhancements and desktop gadgets |
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Posted in beta, how to, linux, microsoft, virtualbox | 
Tags: beta, how to, microsoft, virtualbox, virtualization, windows7
You can install the guest addtions – you just need to run the guest addtions installation in Vista compatability mode. Seems to work fine.
On my Virtualbox host, with both VMs having the same configurations, Windows 7 feels considerably quicker and more responsive than Vista SP1.
Paul,
Thanks! That worked for me too. I am going to update the end of this post to explain the work around
You can install the guest addtions – you just need to run the guest addtions installation in Vista compatability mode. Seems to work fine.
On my Virtualbox host, with both VMs having the same configurations, Windows 7 feels considerably quicker and more responsive than Vista SP1.
Paul,
Thanks! That worked for me too. I am going to update the end of this post to explain the work around