Virtual Box running 2 versions of Windows

[#1]

At the moment, I am running on Linux Mint 19.1 Mate 64bt.   and running two versions of Windows on Virtual Box.

Version 1, is Windows Vista 32 bit.  With the "extension" installed to be able to access the USB ports on Windows VB.

That was the original install...

Version 2, is Windows 7 Professional 64bit and it shows the extension is also installed, ( although I never actually installed it on the W7 install.... I assume it has "recognised" it as already installed from the previous.

Both installs were for 32GB hdd type install...

I will not be using the VB for accessing Banking or Paypal or EBAY sales,... so not worried about that kind of security.  Windows is only installed to be able to access certain Windows type programs that will not run on Linux in WINE configurations..  therefore usage will be "local"..

Question is.... If I "delete all files" on the VISTA install... when I remove VISTA,... will that also destroy the "extension" , or will that be "safeguarded" because of the second W7 install   only reason is, it is taking up 32GB of my host HDD albeit 500GB  I still would like to be able to save the space for something useful, rather than having it "in the shed" !

[#2]

I use VB to run old versions of Windows - but on a Win10 Host - so I can't be 100% sure what you need on the Linux Host

But if you mean by Extensions the Virtual Box Guest Additions which you need the Guest to have to run USB, then the answer is no it won't. The Guest Additions need to be installed on each guest, they are drivers that form part of the guest OS. At some point in the creation of the Win7 VM you must have run them - it was probably a single tickbox.

However just to be certain, it might be worth installing the Guest Additions again on the Win7 setup. In Devices  click on "Insert Guest Additions CD image" then if it doesn't autorun, browse to the CD drive and run the VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe program. That will reinstall the additions - it takes a couple of minutes.

Four other things

It's probably worth upgrading your version of VirtualBox by getting a copy direct from Oracle they are up to version 6.0.10. You can get it from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

You will need to reinstall the new version of the guest additions, but that will be automatically downloaded when you do the upgrade (at least it is on Windows), you just go through the Install Guest Additions CD image routine again. Getting it from Oracle means that the guest Additions support USB2.0 and USB3.0. The original open source version only supported USB1.0.

I presume you are using Fixed disks in Virtual Box. Why not convert them to Dynamic Disks. That way they only consume the amount of host disk storage corresponding to the data stored in them rather than the full size. If the hard drive seen by Vista is full, it won't really help, but if its fairly empty you could recover a lot of the space by changing the disk to a dynamic one. My Win7 VM thinks it has a 40G hard drive with 10G free. But only uses 30G of real disk space. Instructions to switch are at https://www.howtogeek.com/312456/how-to-convert-between-fixed-and-dynamic-disks-in-virtualbox/

Have you tried seamless mode. Apart from an extra taskbar, you get to use the Linux desktop with the Windows programs appearing as "normal" windows on that desktop.

[#3]

@shutter 

Is the Extension pack not installed in Vbox so it is available to any and all VM's?

One way to find out is to take a system snapshot (or whatever it's called) so you have a back up and then simply Delete the Vista VM and see what happens. If the Extension pack disappears then you can revert to your previous state (speaking as someone who has no idea how this works!!!)

Or you could simply re-install the Extension pack.

Brian

[#4]

@wisty  Am running v.6. ( latest version from Oracle site ).

Fixed HDD size is supposed to be faster access.  So I opted for that..

I only asked the question cos I wasn`t sure if it was "retained" on the "host" hdd   seeing as how the WIN 7 pro said it was already installed.. ( and it works !) .

Being kinda lazy, I didn`t want to have to re-install it, if it wasn`t necessary.. so still not clear if it is, or isn`t"safe" after delete all files, to get rid of VISTA..

@bmc   Yeah... That`s what I thought ! ! ! ..

[#5 · Accepted solution]

UPDATE ! ! ..

I "bit the bullet"...... and clicked "Remove" for the VIsta Version... and then clicked " Delete all files"... and YAY !... after a re-boot of the VB... the USB still functions... and the settings / extensions shows that it is still installed..

So @bmc  you were right,... it does remain.... 

[#6]

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@wisty wrote:

It's probably worth upgrading your version of VirtualBox by getting a copy direct from Oracle they are up to version 6.0.10.

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Just a comment: version 6.0.10 with AMD graphics on a Linux host can be a disaster. I am running 5.2.32 because display re-draw with v6 is exceptionally slow with at least one "blank screen blink"  during the process.

Phil

[#7]

I have no problem running V6.0.10 . !!!!

The sticker on my laptop says Intel inside  Core i3... so presume the graphics is the same Intel.... so maybe its an issue with AMD graphics. ? ?   rather than the VB version... but... if the earlier version works ok, then " no worries " as they say in Oz... !