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Getting VirtualBox Windows 8.1 guest setup - encountered multiple challenges

5

5pips49

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 7, 2025
Messages
167

First time booting Windows 8.1 in VB 7.2: black screen​

VirtualBox 7.2.14​

Host: Linux Mint 22.3, 12 GB RAM allocated to it
Guest: Windows 8.1, 4 GB RAM allocated to it

I just installed Virtualbox and I am trying to boot up a Windows 8.1 virtual machine. I am using the folder structure that I used with an older version of VirtualBox (.vdi, logs, etc). When I boot, I see the Virtualbox logo and then all that I see is a black screen (within the Virtualbox guest window).

Looking for ideas on how to fix this.

edit 1: changed thread title to be more general
 
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MrGuvernment said:
You booting from an ISO? or an existing virtual machine you had made?
Click to expand...
an exiting VM.
I used the existing folders and "added" a virtual machine by navigating to the .vdi file.
MikeTrike said:
Graphics?


View: https://youtu.be/vdbT4kkdJhg
Click to expand...

The computer is Optiplex3070 micro. Has 16 GB of RAM, and the motherboard has integrated graphics. I think I have the VM set to use 256MB of video ram, which is the max that Oracle Virtualbox can support.
I haven't watched the video yet. I will have time to do that later.

I don't think it's video problem because wouldn't that mean that the computer boots but just that I can't see anything. I don't think it's really booted because when I "send the shutdown signal," which virtually pressing the power button, it doesn't respond.
 
MrGuvernment said:
any logs?
Click to expand...
should I provide zipped version?
1.6 MB
124 KB zipped

Edit 1:
Here is the zip file - (edit 4: removed because troubleshooting solved)

Edit 2:
While it's running, in the activity log, I see that the amount of CPU and RAM usage is changing. RAM is ~720MB.

When I look at the log while it's running, it says,
GUI UIMachineLogic guest screen count changed
VMSVGA: Using hardware accelerated screen 0
Display::i_handleDisplayResize ...
But, I am not sure if that is the current session. Seems to not be if the timestamp is correct.

Edit 3:
In the YouTube video linked earlier, the narrator mentions,
"guest additions not installed or outdated"
as a possible reason for the black screen.

The Guest Additions version that is on this guest is 6.1.x, which is quite old compared to latest 7.2.x iterations. But, I am not aware of a way to install the latest. Maybe if we can get a command line in the guest?
 
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5pips49 said:
an exiting VM.
I used the existing folders and "added" a virtual machine by navigating to the .vdi file.

The computer is Optiplex3070 micro. Has 16 GB of RAM, and the motherboard has integrated graphics. I think I have the VM set to use 256MB of video ram, which is the max that Oracle Virtualbox can support.
I haven't watched the video yet. I will have time to do that later.

I don't think it's video problem because wouldn't that mean that the computer boots but just that I can't see anything. I don't think it's really booted because when I "send the shutdown signal," which virtually pressing the power button, it doesn't respond.
Click to expand...
It goes through a few settings, no guarantee it's related, but I'd rule everything out anyway.
 
MikeTrike said:
It goes through a few settings, no guarantee it's related, but I'd rule everything out anyway.
Click to expand...
I edited my previous post probably just seconds before your post. In there, I say that the old guest additions version on the VM could be a suspect. If no other path, maybe I can boot from older version of Virtual Box, and remove Guest Additions entirely.

Edit 1:
The video gave me the idea to disable hardware acceleration. I tried that and I now have video! Doing that caps the video RAM at 128 MB. Right now, I think I will restore the backup of the VM (because I have done several "pull the plug" shut downs).
 
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I have been having trouble installing guest additions... Might be more on that later. As part of that, I tried uninstalling the older guest additions. Now I can't get the mouse to work inside of the virtual machine. The Windows desktop is centered on the monitor but there is a lot of white space around that. when I move the mouse into the Windows desktop area, it disappears. I can then press the control key on right hand side of keyboard. then, the vm guest gives me the option to capture the mouse. I press capture. The mouse continues to behave in the same manner. I tried...

Changed usb 1 to usb 2
In the motherboard settings, I tried setting pointing device as PS2 device, USB tablet, and USB multitouch tablet.
Disabling Mouse Integration - I did this twice--once to turn it off, once to turn it on again.

Any suggestions?
 
could be the newer tools do not support windows 8?

Could you try vmware workstation instead, convert it over and see if all works fine?
 
MrGuvernment said:
could be the newer tools do not support windows 8?
Click to expand...
I will have to look into that.
MrGuvernment said:
Could you try vmware workstation instead, convert it over and see if all works fine?
Click to expand...
I tried using vmware workstation pro last year. I had a tough time figuring it out, but since I was following closely behind someone else that had just done it, I got it mostly working. However, I never got the shared folder between host and guest working, which is absolutely critical for me. Guess I could try again but wasn't the most pleasant experience. Also, I wonder if Windows itself and/or the software on it will want to ([edit:] reactivate). If so, that would defeat the entire objective. But, thanks for the idea. Might do it.
 
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