A while back my workplace’s information security department decided to increase the security of our PCs. The increase in security meant my computer was more locked down with some administration privileges removed, and was being very heavily monitored. Not wanting to through to all the approval process to install free/open source software which aren’t company standards, I decided to create a virtual machine so I can still have my sandbox to play with.
VirtualBox is an open source software from Sun Microsystems that allows a “guest” operating system to run on top of an existing “host” operating system. A portable version is available at http://vbox.me, giving you the ability to create a virtual machine on a portable drive.
Creating a Virtual Machine
Creating a virtual machine with VirtualBox is very intuitive, just click on the “New” icon and go through the “New Virtual Machine Wizard”
Sun VirtualBox
New Virtual Machine Wizard
After you have completed the wizard you will be presented a screen with all the details of the virtual machine you just created. I’ve created a Windows XP virtual machine.
Windows XP Virtual Machine
To install the operating system onto your virtual machine. In the “Details” tab, click on the “CD/DVD-ROM” settings and check off the “Mount CD/DVD Drive” check box.
CD/DVD-ROM Settings
Insert the installation disc of the operating system in your ROM drive and click on the “Start” icon to being the installation.
Installing Windows XP
After the installation has completed un-mount your CD/DVD drive or change the boot sequence in VirtualBox before starting your virtual machine again, and you are done.
Running Windows XP Within Windows XP
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