Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing a a guide to installing Ubuntu. The last post in my series wraps up the Virtualbox installation from last month, how to install guest additions. Installing guest additions really completes your virtual XP installation and gives you better display integration (higher screen resolution) and better integration with simple processes like copy and paste, and mouse actions between your two environments. It also allows a “seamless mode” which layers your XP interface over the top of Ubuntu and makes it even easier to switch between the two environments.
How to install guest additions
Once you have your guest Windows operating system installed and running in your Virtualbox console, click Devices>Install Guest Additions
You’ll get this message. Click yes to download the CD image from the internet.
The download takes only a few minutes (depending on your internet connection) and you should see a progress bar down in the bottom right hand corner of your virtualbox console.
Once the image has been downloaded, virtualbox will ask if you’d like to register the cd image on the guest machine’s virtual CD drive. Click mount.
The setup should automatically run. Follow the prompts, and setup will begin.
Agree to the licence agreement and continue.
Seems Microsoft hasn’t passed the Vbox additions graphics driver through it’s compatibility testing… Don’t worry it should work perfectly well. Click continue.
You’re all done. Click finish and restart your machine.
When you restart your virtual machine, go straight to the display properties and sort that screen resolution out!
Guest additions will give you some pretty cool new tricks. For one, you can now run your machine in fullscreen mode. Combined with compiz 3d, you’ll be able to switch between the interfaces very easily.
I have set up full screen mode by pressing my host button (F12) and “F”. You can choose your own host button and it just helps switch between Ubuntu and XP, unless you’re running in seamless mode. Seamless mode can be activated by pressing host>L
Have fun!
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