Installing Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox 2.1.0

In: VirtualBox|Windows
Written by: Taylor Gerring

31 Dec 2008

If you’ve snagged yourself a copy of Windows 7 Beta 1 and are anxious to give it a whirl, installing it in a virtualized environment is a great way to go. It’s no secret that VirtualBox is my favorite VM application, so I wanted to mention a bit of advice for getting it working properly.

Update: VirtualBox Guest Additions for Windows 7 are now fixed in the 2.1.2 release.

If you’ve not yet installed the OS, my first recommendation is to set OS Type to Windows Vista. Although this is largely for display purposes, of all the choices, Windows 7 is the closest in compatibility to Windows Vista.
Select OS Type
Go ahead and install Windows just as you would any other: Mount the ISO in the virtual CD/DVD drive and install.
Install Guest Additions
Once the VM is finished installing, install VirtualBox Guest Additions. This process might take a few minutes to download, but with enough patience, the ISO will download and mount.
The problem is, Sun is performing version checking and Windows 7 isn’t yet officially supported. Therefore, when you try to install Guest Additions, you’ll receive the error, “Platform is not supported for Guest Additions yet!”. Here’s the big tip: You must install Guest Additions in compatibility mode.
Guest Additions Error Message
To work around this, once the Guest Additions applications pops up, hit Cancel.
Guest Additions Setup Wizard
Navigate to Computer (Start Orb?Computer)
Link to Computer
Right-click CD Drive (D:) VirtualBox Guest Additions and choose Open.
Explore the Guest Additions CD
The “big tip” part:
1. Right-click VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86 and select Properties.
  Guest Addition Properties
2. When the dialog box opens, switch to the Compatibility tab
3. Check the box labeled, “Run this program in compatibility mode for”
4. Select Windows Vista.
  Compatibility Settings
Hit OK and Run VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86 as normal. The Guest Additions should now install without error and you will be prompted to reboot Windows.
After the reboot is complete, you can confirm the installation by verifying that mouse integration works.

Update: Currently, shared folders don’t work, but I’ve posted a workaround.

Best of luck!

Tags: HOWTO, VirtualBox, Windows 7

32 Responses to Installing Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox 2.1.0

Get in on Windows 7 Beta on 1/9/09 (public release)! | I suck at spellings | Politically Motivated (dotnet)

January 8th, 2009 at 7:34 am

[...] support Windows 7 yet but people have tested it out and some got it to work while others didn’t. Here is a guide to help you try to get Windows 7 Beta installed in VirtualBox. If you chose to install [...]

January 8th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

that’s a beauty, eh!

why didn’t I think of that .. geez
run in compat mode ..

Cheers

jese

January 9th, 2009 at 3:26 am

i have the 64 bits OS version and the freaking VM wont let me install it

i downloaded de amd64 VM version , so i don’t know what the problem is

any advice plz =)

Taylor Gerring

January 9th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

I snagged myself a copy of the 64-bit version, and am installing now. The first issue I ran into was on setup: Windows insisted that it was not being installed on a 64-bit CPU, and gave me the error on a typical DOS screen. I checked my BIOS, enabled Virtualization support, and ensured the option was also enabled in VirtualBox. After that small snafu, I’m currently trudging through the installation process without issue.

At what point do you get an error?

blksnake

January 9th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

Thanks for the tip.
Works great!

Vista x64 Ultimate host -> Windows 7 x86 Ultimate guest

conqrr

January 10th, 2009 at 8:31 am

yup, all done, thanks a lot, i chose other windows at the first step(not vista,saw this post laeter on)
everything worked fine and i chose vista compatibility for guest additions, now it fine!!
thanks for the tip!!

January 10th, 2009 at 8:36 am

sorry forgot to add, 32bit xp host and 32 bit win7 guest.
also is there any way to get aero transparency here in guest win7 with virtualbox???

January 10th, 2009 at 11:17 am

Unfortunately, at this time, all your graphics scores will flatline at 1.0, preventing you from enabling Aero. As of Virtualbox 2.1.0, Sun has 3D acceleration, but only for OpenGL, and it’s considered “experimental”. If they ever add acceleration for Direct3D, then it’s conceivable the WEI scores get high enough for transparency to be enabled.

Windows 7 32-bit guest on Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) 64-bit host
Windows 7 64-bit guest on Vista 64-bit host

Windows 7 Beta is now officially up for download. ***Download guide inside | I suck at spellings | Politically Motivated (dotnet)

January 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

[...] are installing Vista since, according to Microsoft, Windows 7 Beta is closest to that OS. This guide may be helpful for people who are having trouble getting Guest Additions working in VirtualBox for [...]

January 11th, 2009 at 2:05 am

Thanks Dude. Worked like a charm. Very helpful.

Ashish

January 11th, 2009 at 9:48 am

Hi Taylor,
I’m getting the same error complaining of incompatibility with CPU, though I have 64 bit vista running on my PC, what you did to resolve this?
TIA
Ashish

January 11th, 2009 at 9:56 am

You probably need to go into your BIOS (reboot your computer and watch for a message indicated to press a certain key to enter setup)and verify that Virtualization is enabled. Many motherboards ship with this defaulted off.

Save and Exit and boot back into your OS and try installing Windows 7 again.

January 11th, 2009 at 10:12 am

Hi Taylor,
Thanks, in BIOS I cannot select Initialize Intel virtualization, and it is disabled, I cannot change it to enable. Any clues.
TIA
Ashish

January 11th, 2009 at 10:34 am

Hi Taylor,
Thnx for reply, in BIOS I’m not allowed to enable Intel Virtualization as it is not selectable. Any clues?
TIA
Ashish

January 11th, 2009 at 8:24 pm

It really depends on both your CPU and motherboard. Do you happen to know the make & model of both?

If not, give CPU-Z a spin.

Bradley M. Law » Blog Archive » Virtual Box - Windows 7 - Guest Additions Compatibility Mode

January 12th, 2009 at 8:49 am

[...] installed Windows 7 today and in my Virtual Box and wanted to install the Guest Additions. I found this link on how to install the Guest Additions using Windows 7 Compatibility Mode. More SQL Date [...]

alevra

January 12th, 2009 at 8:59 pm

how do you improve the performance of the graphics? i keep getting a “1″ performance on windows 7 use Imac or macbook.

January 12th, 2009 at 10:15 pm

Currently, it’s not possible to get better than a 1.0 score in graphics when running Windows in Virtualbox.

Linux Mall » Blog Archive » Installing Windows 7 on VirtualBox

January 13th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

[...] with installing the guest utilities. They won’t install right out of the box but I found some instructions for installing the guest utilties with Windows 7. At some point Sun will fix this in the VirtualBox distribution but for now it is the only way to [...]

Tony Young

January 13th, 2009 at 8:40 pm

Good write-up – GA installed no problem for me following these instructions.
Everything appears to be working except for the Shared Folders – I can’t seem to get access to them.

In my WinXP guest I can see the shared folders under “My Network Places\VirtualBox Shared Folders”, and I’m able to ‘net use \\VBOXSVR\’.

In the Win7 guest I can’t find the equivalent to “My Network Places\VirtualBox Shared Folders”, and the net use option doesn’t work (error 53 – not found).

Anyone tried this and got it working? Am I looking in the wrong place?
Thanks

wilkdraht

January 15th, 2009 at 2:00 am

Yes man! Thanks a lot, vista x64 host and win7 x32 guest, the install of the guest additions work now!
i will tell my friends!

thanks a lot!!!

greetz,
wilkdraht

Windows 7 in VirtualBox: Shared Folders workaround | Idea Excursion

January 15th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

[...] blogged about enabling Guest Additions on Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox. While most items work, such as mouse integration and Auto-resize Guest Display, one [...]

January 15th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Tony:

I’ve made a new post on a workaround for Shared Folders until VirtualBox 2.1.2 is released.

January 15th, 2009 at 4:56 pm

Thanks Taylor,
I was aware of that option – currently using it and NFS. It relies on having a network connection though, which for me means switching between Host-Only and NAT adapters regularly as I move around – so not as nice.

I’ve since found reports that Shared Folders don’t work yet, which I gather is behind your response too. So I’ll live with this until they do.

Do you have confirmation that 2.1.2 will have support for them for Win7?

Thanks

January 15th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

According to the bug report (linked at the top of this post), the item is marked as being fixed for 2.1.2. I have no idea when this will debut, however, updates seem to come out about a month apart.

duckman1221

January 18th, 2009 at 4:59 am

thanks for this post. worked great!!! i’m now enjoying windows 7 in a virtual machine on my home pc running windows xp.

VirtualBox 2.1.2 released | Idea Excursion

January 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 am

[...] 7 is now a supported OS (see Installing Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox 2.1.0 and Windows 7 in VirtualBox: Shared Folders [...]

zyx valinjee

January 22nd, 2009 at 3:17 pm

yes Yes YEs YESSSSSSSS!!!!

ASL4U

January 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

You are amazing! My windows7 was installed in Virtualbox but would not recognize my ethernet card – so no way to update, and no way to share -and the mouse would not stick. I followed your directions and ALL of the issues I was having were resolved.
Wonderful! Thank you!

Installing Windows 7 on VirtualBox @ IONCANNON

February 11th, 2009 at 8:23 am

[...] with installing the guest utilities. They won't install right out of the box but I found some instructions for installing the guest utilties with Windows 7. At some point Sun will fix this in the VirtualBox distribution but for now it is the only way to [...]

Arthur Fuller

June 9th, 2009 at 11:41 am

On VirtualBox 2.2.4 Windows 7 is included in the list, so instead of following your steps. I just took a shot and Windows 7 installed without a hitch.

luis vaca

July 16th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

If you map a general linux location such as “\\vboxsrv\media” you will have access to all the media in your pc, USB, CD-DVD, ALL. IT REALLY WORKS, I have it working now for 2 months with ubuntu and WIndows 7…

KALImaR:Im having the same 11.10 problem with this irritating disaster...Solutions please [...]

Balkan:Hi All, I have similar problem as Dwarakesh, I set the automatic login on, and after that my passwo [...]

Creating an automated database backup by means of SQL Server Agent Job « Placko's SQL KB:[...] Configuring SQL Server Agent Operators by Taylor Gerring [...] [...]

Dwarakesh:yeah even I'm getting the same error on my sony e series laptop!!!! I am currently running ubuntu 1 [...]

Phil:Thanks - this article was a great help. [...]

Installing Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox 2.1.0

32 Responses to Installing Windows 7 Beta 1 in VirtualBox 2.1.0

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