VirtualBox

I have the great pleasure of be able to run Linux at work. Since I’m working with test it is important that all types of operating systems are represented (there’s probably about 1% of our users who actually run Linux but don’t tell anyone!).  However I am forced to do some tasks in Windows so I’ve installed VirtualBox.

At first I wasn’t too impressed. Sure, the installation was smooth but my desk neighbor runs VMware on his Windows machine and it has many more cool features. Copy and paste, drag and drop files, etc. There is a way to make some of that work with VirtualBox as well.

You need to install the Guest Additions. here’s a guide: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/virtualbox-guest-addons.html

Of course, the next time you start your image, it will be in a 800×600 resolution… don’t panic. Just resizing the window in which your VirtualBox is running and it will change resolution.

Now you can create a shared folder to share files between you machine and your virtual machine without having to email them back and forth.

Edit 2011-08-24: setting up a new vbox on my new job I ran into the windows xp shared folder bug again. It seems impossible to see the shared folders in the network using Windows Explorer. The answer is to click the plus sign next to the network instead of clicking the label. This will make the tree of folders appear. I found the solution here : http://www.giannistsakiris.com/index.php/2007/09/28/virtualbox-access-shared-folders-from-windows-xp-guest-os/