Hi all, I've encountred a couple of problems making a new VM (I already have several VMs that went well). My host system is currently Win7x64 Ultimate on an Acer laptop which I dearly love and wish to keep, but realize that "things change". So, I'm trying to push my current installation into a VM for the future. After restoring my current system (using Acronis) to the VM, my Windows shows to be counterfeit which I ASSume is because my Acer has an OEM key and installing it into a VM may require purchasing a retail serial? For some reason, "guest additions" refuses to install. This is after upgrading to 5.2.18-124319. I'm about to try downgrading back to one that worked. May not be a problem, but my partitions don't match in size, is this because of dynamic allocation? If so, do the individual partitions expand as needed? I have a VPN on the host (PIA) but the guest network never works with it running. Works fine if I shutdown PIA. Do VM's have problems communicating thru host VPNs? Any advice would be appreciated! Russ
Well, the guest additions problem is fixed. Downgrading didn't work, so I expanded the ISO into a folder and was able to install it from the EXE file. Seems my virtual disc drive was seeing an old (4.2xx?) version. For some reason, releasing and reloading the image would not load the new one. Russ
If the Host Windows 7 is activated using OEM:SLP (use slmgr.vbs /dlv to find out), then the virtualized version will show "Not Activated". That's normal, as VirtualBox doesn't pass through the required SLIC table to the VM. The solution is in Chapter 9.13 in the VirtualBox Manual. Dump your SLIC table or get the correct one from these forums (BIOS section). Once you have the SLIC.bin file, just use the Code: VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/acpi/0/Config/CustomTable" "/path/to/table.bin" command. Replace the path and name of the table with the actual values, of course. When done correctly, VirtualBox will provide the SLIC.bin file as SLIC table to the Guest OS and Windows will shaddap. You can enlarge the VDI file at any time in the Virtual Media Manager (slider at the bottom). As for resizing the partitions in the Guest, that's done exactly the same way as you would on the Host (using a Partition tool). Depends on what you selected as Virtual Network Type. You should test the Bridged Network Type if you haven't, yet (Default is NAT).
Carlos, I ran "slmgr.vbs /dlv" on my host and it is indeed OEM. Was unable to find a "safe to DL" V 3.2 SLIC kit, but I did have an older V 3.0 copy that was able to generate a 374 byte file "ACRSYSACRPRDCT_V2.1.bin". I followed your instruction above and got no error (cmd prompt came back to the VirtualBox folder, run time < 1 second). Started my VM and am still getting the counterfeit message? I copied the generated bin file to C:\ and shortened it to acr.bin. Please see if my command line is correct: Code: C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage setextradata "Win7x64" "VBoxInternal/Devices/acpi/0/Config/CustomTable" "c:\acr.bin" So, what should happen when running the above VBox command? Should I be seeing anything if it executes correctly? Once I get this problem fixed, I'll try the network stuff... Thanks! Russ
Ahhh, nevermind! All the times I ran that command, VBox was running. Once I remembered to shut it down first, it took maybe 2 seconds and my VM is now nag-free. Now, has this BIOS table been injected into the guest or will I need to do this with each host I run it on? Big THANKS! Russ
The SLIC table remains in that file, it is not injected, merely read and passed through. So, if you move the VM to a new Host, move the C:\acr.bin along with it (to the same location).
More good news! Once Windows was "legit", the default network (NAT) started working. Can't imagine the connection, possibly coincidence... Russ
FYI: You can also dump the SLIC table from your machine easily with RW-Everything. It's similiar to the example shown in OP of that thread. Under ACPI in the lower window click the 'SLIC' tab and use the export to BIN option (diskette icon named BIN).
One good example of an awesome tool that can do so much more than the one feature it is commonly known for...