Microsoft has various virtual machines running either Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 available for free download. These virtual machines, when opened or imported into a compatible virtualization software, can be booted up without any further configuration for instant usage of Windows operating system. Regarding the specialties of VirtualBox operations in the Windows 8.1 OS, there is absolutely nothing extraordinary or exclusive. The interface of the app is the same, as on any other program tool in Windows environment, thus it will take nearly half a minute to get used to gamma and the controls of the application, and start instantly working. Scroll for the Windows 8.iso file you previously downloaded to your actual (not virtual) system and load that up. Now click on the big OK button at the bottom of the overall Settings window. As simple as it sounds, you get the following text on your screen a few moments after booting the virtual machine configured for Windows 8.1, and using either Windows 8.1 DVD or ISO image. This happens with any one version of VirtualBox 4.0 and higher. Regarding the specialties of VirtualBox operations in the Windows 8.1 OS, there is absolutely nothing extraordinary or exclusive. The interface of the app is the same, as on any other program tool in Windows environment, thus it will take nearly half a minute to get used to gamma and the controls of the application, and start instantly working.
The Windows 8 Developer Preview is out and, let's face it, you want to give it a shot. Windows 8 marks a major departure from any other version of the OS and it behooves any geek to get out on the front lines of such an introduction. Even so, you might not have an extra computer lying around to install the young operating system on. Virtualization to the rescue.
Before getting started, we should keep in mind that virtualization isn't exactly the optimum solution for testing. It'll get the job done, but in all likelihood you won't get a feel for the full speed or smoothness of Windows 8. Your virtualized machine probably won't have a touchscreen either, so you'll be missing out there as well. That said, it's a free operation that isn't too difficult to set up, so it's worth the time if you are at all curious about Win8.
For this tutorial we'll be using VirtualBox, Oracle's free virtualization software. It's quite accessible given how complicated the work it's doing actually is, and it's easier to work with than VMWare Player. Plus, reports from around the web indicate that VirtualBox plays more nicely with Windows 8 than VMware Player 3.x. VMware Workstation 8 does seem to getting along with Windows 8 well enough, but you'll have to shell out some cash for that — and VMware Player 4 does seem to be capable of running Win8 but you need Workstation 8 to get that. So back to VirtualBox…
Follow these steps and you should have your computer running Windows 8 in no time:
- Download Windows 8 and VirtualBox
- Go into your computer's BIOS and make sure virtualization is enabled. (Note, if you can't find it look in the security settings.)
- In VirtualBox create a new virtual machine, choose Windows / Windows 7 as the type.
- During the initial installation process choose to create a virtual disk. You'll need at least 20GB to get the job done. It'll take a few minutes to create the disk. If you have an SSD you'll want this file to live there to speed things up and better match the dev hardware's performance.
- With the virtual OS created, go into Settings. It's time to start tinkering. (See the image below for a summary.)
- Within System > Motherboard enable IO APIC. Also make sure the memory is at a reasonable amount, say 1500MB or more. Change the chipset to ICH9.
- System > Processors enable PAE/NX.
- System > Acceleration enable VT-x/AMD-V and Nested Paging.
- Display > Video move the video memory to 128MB (the max) and then enable both 3D and 2D acceleration.
- Under Storage go to your virtual hard drive (.vdi) under the SATA controller. Make sure to click host I/O cache. Also make sure to mount your Windows 8 Developer Preview .ISO file. If you are using IDE make sure to move over to the ICH6 IDE controller.
- Run the virtual machine and follow the standard Windows installation instructions. At this point it's just like installing any other version of Windows.
Two quick notes: If you see a weird blinking error message saying something about '0xFFFFFFE6' before Windows 8 starts to install, check step 2. You probably need to enable virtualization. Secondly, remember that these aren't the only settings that will work; they are the ones that worked on my Intel Core 2 Quad/P45 desktop. Different settings could certainly work, depending on your situation. I do know this to be a stable environment though.
Windows 8 Iso Para Virtualbox Download
That's all there is to it. At this point you should have a fully functional Windows 8 dev preview running within VirtualBox. Everything should work well (you'll see this if it doesn't), and be relatively quick, though that will depend on your computer and the settings you chose for the virtual machine.
Now, if you've had your apetite whetted and want to take Microsoft's latest-and-greatest operating system for a real spin, read our guide on how to make a Windows 8 tablet!
Guest Additions is designed to marry common tasks between the Guest and Host operating systems so that your life as a VirtualBox user is easier.
Let's say you're running Windows 7 on the computer that has the VirtualBox installation and you want to install a Windows 8.1 VM in VirtualBox with Guest Additions.
The Windows 7 computer is called the Host machine because all your VMs are running inside it. And the VMs are the Guest machines, in this case, Windows 8.1 is your Guest OS.
If this get's confusing just imagine you were organizing a dinner party at home for your friends. You are the dinner host and your friends are the guests because they are inside your home. In the same way, your physical (real) PC is the Host and the virtual computers sitting around your dinner table are the Guests.
Windows 8 Iso Image
Benefits of Guest Additions
Guest Additions allows you to do a bunch of cool stuff.
For example, with Guest Additions, you no longer have to press funky key combinations to release the keyboard and mouse.
Without Guest Additions, you have to press the Host Key every time you want to liberate your mouse pointer from the VM. I have to press Ctrl + i on my Windows 7 Host OS every time I want to free the mouse; Guest Additions fixes this annoying problem.
In addition, you get Shared Folders. This is my favorite. With Shared Folders you can easily transfer files from the Host OS to the Guest OS and vice versa. The shared folders on the Host OS show up in the Network Locations of your Guest OS.
There are also a few other perks with Guest Additions such as having the Guest machines system time automatically synchronized with the Host. You'll also get the ability to share the clipboard so you can copy and paste stuff between computers.
Installing Guest Additions
You might be flummoxed if you open VirtualBox, click Devices and go to Install Guest Additions…
That's because there's no visible indication that anything happened after you click Install Guest Additions. Mac ios lion download.
Here's what you need to do:
Open up My Computer either by pressing the Windows Key + e or clicking the File Explorer icon in the taskbar.
Double-click the VirtualBox Guest Additions drive and you'll see all the files required to run Guest Additions.
Twins mini v1 1 – minimalistic duplicate finder. If you're running a 64bit version of Windows 8.1, choose VBoxWindowsAdditions-amd64; otherwise, choose the x86 (32bit) option. If you're not sure what version you're running you can easily enter a command at the command prompt to find out.
I'm running Windows 8.1 32bit so I chose the x86 option
Once you click the file the Guest Additions installation wizard will show up.
Pick your file location and click Next
Click Install.
The installation kicks off and completes in a matter of seconds.
Finish up and reboot
After the Guest OS returns, sign-in and click the tray in the bottom right corner to confirm it exists.
Now when you click the Devices menu in VirtualBox all the options for Shared Clipboard, Shared Folders and Drag ‘n' Drop work!
Don't you just love virtual machines?
