Windows in Virtualbox

[Dilitirio]

Hello,

I've seen a lot of people that run Windows in Virtualbox on Linux, and effectively. My father would like to switch, but he has to run some software for work, and WINE is insufficient. I was wondering if anyone on here has a similar setup, and what you do to make it run well? What settings you have for your Windows VMs, just your setup in general? Thanks in advance.

[SC23]

I think there are two options here.. you can try it in VirtualBox and depending on how heavy the applications are and how beefy the machine is that may be fine, or you might want to try the dual boot thing and boot to Windows for the necessary evils and Linux for everything else if VirtualBox dosent perform well enough.
I do have Win7 in a VB and it runs pretty well, but I havent really done any heavy applications in it. I give it as much memory and video memory as possible and dont pop in and out too much to Linux while Im running it in VB as well as keep the Linux side clean from Apps as well just to give the machine as much umph as possible for the guest OS. Trial and error I am afraid as there are too many variables to say for sure this or that will work.

[Pierre]

the set-up in general for both win_5 & win_7:
- 50% of available ram
- 50Gb of virtual disk space
- 50% of available GPU ram

and NO internet connection, unless specifically needed
( to avoid any auto-updates )

[Flemur]

I have Win7 in virtualbox to run Photoshop; about the only hint I have is to
Vbox GUI (menu) -> Machine -> Close -> Save virtual machine state
when you quit, rather than shutting down windows.

Then start it from the saved state like:

Code: Select all

virtualbox --startvm  vmwindows 

Then Win7 doesn't have to boot up, and P-shop is up and running faster than it starts up in real Win7.

Another note: Adobe products don't play nice with v-box's shared folders (to access linux filesystem), so I use the Win7's 'explorer' to copy files back and forth. AFAIK, non-Adobe software doesn't have this problem.

[fraxinus_63]

Good advice from Pierre and Flemur.

I have depended upon VirtualBox to run Adobe Creative Suite for a least six years now. I have found it totally dependable, capable of handling tough-image editing tasks without sweat. Once set up, it just works and works for you. In my experience, WIndows boots faster in my VMs than on bare metal.

Like Pierre, I deny my Windows virtual machines any Internet connectivity so there is no need to get involved in Windows auto-updates. In the rare situations where I have needed a WIndows patch or service pack I have applied it manually.

Go for it! Let us know how you get on.