Greetings,
Please forgive me if my post is in the wrong location!
I was using Abhishek’s tutorial for installing Windows 10 as a virtual machine under VirtualBox. Here is some background that is relevant. My computer is running Linux Mint 21.1 which, of course, is built on Ubuntu 22.04. I downloaded the .deb installer and the corresponding extension pack from Oracle, and installed them both with very little fuss. Then, following Abhishek’s directions, I proceeded to install Windows 10 Pro 64 bit from the ISO downloaded from Microsoft. In setting up the installation, I allocated 10 GB of RAM (32 GB RAM in total) from my system and created a 100 GB drive for the virtual machine on a separate partition of the drive where VirtualBox was installed.
The installation of Windows 10 Pro started just as described. The process seemed a bit slow, but given that it was being installed as a virtual machine, I didn’t give it much thought. Eventually, I was asked for the installation language, keyboard type, etc. Then Windows stated it had work to do, so I sat there for a bit, then went off to do other things while checking back periodically. After perhaps 15 or 20 minutes, I returned to see a notice from Windows that it had encountered trouble finishing the installation, but that it though downloading an updated file should solve the issue, and so I told it to proceed. I returned in another 10 or 15 minutes, only to see the same screen that I had seen before (and why I didn’t take a screenshot of it, is beyond my ken at the moment). At that point, I shut down the process through VirtualBox, and decided to seek the wisdom of those more experienced than myself (which, I hasten to add, is nearly everyone!)
I am sure there is no end of particulars that need to be shared, and I shall be happy to do so, if you will but ask.
Sorry man - no idea … I’ve installed Windows 10 3 times recently (on hardware) - which is very unusual for me - as I’m proud not to use, or need, Windows (1 was to build a laptop up for my brother in law - other was to hack the firmware in an e-scooter)… I’ve also installed Windows 10 as a VM in virtual box, and VMware Fusion (on an intel Macbook Air) - and never ran into any major dramas…
If I was doing it again, I’d settle for 8 GB of RAM, but make sure I gave it 4 cores / cpus (my system also has 32 GB of ram, but has 16 virtual CPU’s via AMD Ryzen 7 8 core / 8 thread or whatever)… I can’t imagine trying to run Windows 8, 10 or 11 on a single CPU/core.
Also - I don’t know why Virtual Box doesn’t do this - but - I ALWAYS opt for “Bridged Adapter” in the network settings for ALL VM’s… and I don’t think Enable 3D Acceleration works, but I always give the VM (especially when doing Windows) as much Video Memory as possible, up to 128 MB (note I often also enable “Remote Display” but not necessarily for Windows “guests”).
Questions :
What “version” of Windows 10? The latest 22H2 from Microsoft?
The reason I wiped Windows 10 off my Dell laptop and re-installed - was I think the ISO I originally used with Ventoy was one of those shonky “pre-activated” Windows 10 thingies (like you might get a torrent for from the likes of pir8bay), and I’m convinced it had some agents or trojans embedded in it - cursor and everything would just stall or make me wait 30 seconds or longer. Much happier with a new Ventoy stick with Windows 10 22H2 official from Microsoft. Dunno why I bothered with pre-activated anyway - this Dell laptop has a Windows license anyway - which I found when it was still running Linux (Ubuntu 18.04) with the strings command : sudo strings /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM
But it hasn’t even bugged me yet, to activate…
Every time after installing VirtualBox off their website I, always as a rule add myself to virtual machine properties inside the app called users and groups, the proper name is gnome-system-tools especially on an Ubuntu based system. Open it then left click Manage Groups scroll down to vboxusers highlight it then on the right a box comes up left click properties and put a tick in the box by your name. Apply it pop password in. Reboot your computer and try installing Windows again.
This probably won’t be the answer, but before I installed Windows 11 in VirtualBox in ArcoLinux I installed gnome-system-tools and added myself to the vboxusers group and Windows installed flawlessly.
I’ve just moved back to Linux Mint myself from Arco Linux, now using Mint Xfce 21.1 Vera. Have deleted all the Mint Themes and Icon themes, added my own theme and preferred icon theme. Got rid of all the bloat like the whole Libreoffice suite, upgraded from Xfce 16 to 18. Tinkered around in the grub too, to make it boot faster without the splash screen.
A curse on me for a forgetful lout! I totally spaced off doing that after installing VirtualBox 7. Thank you for reminding me of this crucially important step. It has now been done, and I have verified that my user is a member of vboxusers.
I appreciate anyone who is honest enough to say when they don’t know. The Almighty knows I get enough practice! !
As I said, my system (a Dell Precision T-5400) is maxed out at 32 GB of RAM. That’s why I decided to allocate 10 (rather than 8) GB of RAM to it when it’s running. My goal is to install Fusion360 on it as soon as I get Windows 10 Pro installed and operational. It also has 2 Yorkfield Xenon X5400 4 core processors on board, which is why I allocated 4 cores to VirtualBox. The video card is a VisionTek Radeon 5450 with 2 GB DDR3 VRAM. One thing I failed to do was to increase the VRAM allocation above 128 MB. Think I should bump that up to 512 or 1024 MB?
I do not recall a setting to enable (or disable) 3-D acceleration for the video card. I will have another look for that since my end goal is the installation of Fusion360, I will have to consult with (the) Oracle on the wisdom of disabling that function.
I DO recall seeing a setting to enable remote display. Tell me, please, what function does that serve, especially on a single user system, such as mine?
Yes! I am using the latest version of Windows 10 (22H2), downloaded directly from Microsoft. Last year, I bought a Dell Laptop which had Windows 10 Pro already installed. As I am given to understand, my licence is tied to my Microsoft User account, which I set up immediately after starting the laptop for the first time. I have no idea if that will be a working solution, but cynic that I am, I doubt it. On the other hand, you say your virtual Windows 10 hasn’t asked you for your key. Perhaps that will be true for me as well. Time will tell.
Again, thanks so much for sharing your input. I DO sincerely appreciate it, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon!
@RenaissanceMan
With a system like that why even bother with a VM, pop in an SSD install Windows chose the
Linux drive in bios to boot first, update grub and you have the best of both Linux and Windows.
