VirtualBox - Install Windows 8

How to Install Windows 8 and 8.1 in VirtualBox​

   Information

This will show you how to install either the 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) version of Windows 8 and 8.1 in the free program VirtualBox.

For FAQs and more information about VirtualBox, see: End-user_documentation - VirtualBox

   Note

In order to run VirtualBox on your machine, you need:

• Reasonably powerful x86 hardware. Any recent Intel or AMD processor should do.
• Memory. Depending on what guest operating systems you want to run, you will need at least 512 MB of RAM (but probably more, and the more the better). Basically, you will need whatever your host operating system needs to run comfortably, plus the amount that the guest operating system needs. So, if you want to run Windows XP on Windows XP, you probably won't enjoy the experience much with less than 1 GB of RAM. If you want to try out Windows Vista in a guest, it will refuse to install if it is given less than 512 MB RAM, so you'll need that for the guest alone, plus the memory your operating system normally needs.
• Hard disk space. While VirtualBox itself is very lean (a typical installation will only need about 30 MB of hard disk space), the virtual machines will require fairly huge files on disk to represent their own hard disk storage. So, to install Windows XP, for example, you will need a file that will easily grow to several GB in size.
• A supported host operating system (your computer). Presently, VirtualBox supports Windows (XP and later), many Linux distributions, Mac OS X, Solaris and OpenSolaris.
• A supported guest operating system (virtual machine). Besides the user manual (see below), up-to-date information is available at "Status: Guest OSes".

   Warning

64-bit guests Requirements:
VirtualBox supports 64-bit guest (virtual machine) operating systems, even on 32-bit host (your computer) operating systems, provided that the following conditions below are met. See page 166 in manual.

• You need a 64-bit processor (CPU) with hardware virtualization support.
• You must enable hardware virtualization in your motherboard's BIOS settings.
• If you want to use 64-bit guest support on a 32-bit host operating system, you must also select a 64-bit operating system for the particular VM. Since supporting 64 bits on 32-bit hosts incurs additional overhead, VirtualBox only enables this support upon explicit request.

On 64-bit hosts (which typically come with hardware virtualization support), 64-bit guest operating systems are always supported regardless of settings, so you can simply install a 64-bit operating system in the guest.

Here's How:

1. If you have not already, then you will need the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8 or 8.1 ISO file version you want, and save it to your desktop (ex: Windows 7 or Vista).

2. If you have not already, download and install the latest version of VirtualBox (Windows hosts), download and install the VM VirtualBox Extension Pack (All platforms), then run VirtualBox. (see screenshot below)

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3. In the left side of the toolbar, click/tap on the New button. (see screenshot below)

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4. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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5. Type in a name (ex: Windows 8) for the virtual machine, select Windows 8/8.1 if have a 32-bit ISO (step 1) or Windows 8/8.1 (64-bit) if you have a 64-bit ISO, then click/tap on Next. (see screenshots below)

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6. Select or type in how much of your computer's RAM (1024MB = 1GB) you would like for the virtual machine to use when it's running, then click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: I would recommend to use at minimum 1GB. Ideally, 3GB for 32-bit and 4GB for 64-bit would be the sweet spot if you have plenty of RAM (ex: 8GB+) installed on your computer and can spare it to be used by the virtual machine.

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7. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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8. Select (dot) VHD, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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9. Select (dot) Dynamically allocated, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You could use either fixed or dynamic, but I would recommend using dynamic to help save HDD space.

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10. Select how large you would like the VHD file to be, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: The default size is 20 GB, and is fine if you are not going to be installing a lot on the virtual machine. For 64-bit, you might use 25 GB instead since 64-bit uses a bit more space.

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11. Click/tap on Create. (see screenshot below)

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12. Click/tap on Create. (see screenshot below)

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13. In the left pane, double click/tap on the new virtual machine (ex: Windows 8). (see screenshot below)

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14. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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15. Click/tap on the browse folder icon, select the downloaded ISO from step 1, click/tap on Open, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshots below)

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16. Click/tap on Start. (see screenshot below)

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17. Now, you will just need to finish installing Windows 8. (see screenshot below)

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18. When you are finished installing Windows 8, click/tap on Devices on the VirtualBox menu bar, and Install Guest Additions. (see screenshot below)

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19. When the new CD drive notification pops-up at the top right corner, click/tap on it to open AutoPlay. (see screenshot below)

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20. Click/tap on the Run VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe option. (see screenshot below)

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21. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes. (see screenshot below)

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22. Run the VBoxWindowsAdditions-amd64.exe (64-bit) or VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86.exe (32-bit) file that you selected in step 21 that is the same as the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8 ISO you are using, then click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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23. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

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24. Click/tap on Install. (see screenshot below)

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25. When prompted twice, click/tap on Install each time. (see screenshot below)

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26. When finished, select (dot) Reboot now, and click/tap on Finish. (see screenshot below)

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Install Windows 8 and 8.1 on VMware Player
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Download and Run "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant" and "Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant"
• How to Create or Download a Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO
• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1
• How to Do a Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade
• How to Reset Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Create a Windows 8 VHD at Boot to Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Boot from a VHD using Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Speed Up Performance of a Virtual Machine

 

[theog]

Nice one, Will try later, but I like my dual boot 32 & 64 bit.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Shawn

Im not getting an option for windows 7 64bit

 

[yowanvista]

Does it require Hardware Visualization for the 32-bit version?
I got an error while loading the VM

Shawn

Im not getting an option for windows 7 64bit
View attachment 1590

Running 64-bit guest OSes require Hardware Visualization which isn't available in your CPU

 

[kado897]

Was there a reason you chose VHD as the disk format. I chose VDI with no problems.

 

[Morpheus]

I get the same error as @yowanvista...

 

[Urthboundmisfit]

FWIW, didn't work in VMware Player.....

I'm off to d/l VirtualBox...:grin:

...

 

[Shadowjk]

Looks like some mixed views on installing it but the tutorial is great Shawn

 

[Brink]

Was there a reason you chose VHD as the disk format. I chose VDI with no problems.

Hello Kado,

I just used VHD, since I find them easier to work with. You can use what you like though.

Boot from a VHD using Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

Virtual Hard Disk - Create and Attach VHD - Windows 7 Forums

Convert a VHD File to a ISO File - Windows 7 Forums

 

[kado897]

Was there a reason you chose VHD as the disk format. I chose VDI with no problems.

Hello Kado,

I just used VHD, since I find them easier to work with. You can use what you like though.

Boot from a VHD using Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

Virtual Hard Disk - Create and Attach VHD - Windows 7 Forums

Convert a VHD File to a ISO File - Windows 7 Forums

Thank's Shawn. I thought that was it.

 

[Brink]

Does it require Hardware Visualization for the 32-bit version?
I got an error while loading the VM

Hello Yowan,

No, you should be able to install a 32-bit guest on your 64-bit host without the need of hardware virtualization. You might start over to see if something mau have just gone wrong the first time. I have added additional information to the tutorial that may help.

 

[Brink]

Looks like some mixed views on installing it but the tutorial is great Shawn

Hello Josh,

I think most of it will be the issue in the red warning box at the top of the tutorial. I have added additional information in the tutorial to hopefully help with the most common issues.

 

[Brink]

Shawn

Im not getting an option for windows 7 64bit
View attachment 1590

Hello Danny,

Do you have hardware virtualization enabled?

 

[Golden]

Mmm. Is anyone else having the situation of having to reinstall Windows 8 if you do a Windows 8 shutdown, and then exit VBox? Perhaps I duffed soemthing up.....but I have been running Vbox and Ubuntu for a while now, and not seen that.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Shawn

Im not getting an option for windows 7 64bit
View attachment 1590

Hello Danny,

Do you have hardware virtualization enabled?

Hi Shawn

I've no idea how would I find that out. I have a feeling maybe not and its not an option for me in the bios but I'm not sure.

Danny

 

[Brink]

Danny,

It would be a setting in the BIOS to enable if available. Here are some instructions on how to under the Sample instructions for your PC section at the link below that may help to see how with your motherboard's BIOS.

Windows Virtual PC: Configure BIOS

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Does it require Hardware Visualization for the 32-bit version?
I got an error while loading the VM

Shawn

Im not getting an option for windows 7 64bit
View attachment 1590

Running 64-bit guest OSes require Hardware Visualization which isn't available in your CPU

Thanks Yowan Will try x86

Danny

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Danny,

It would be a setting in the BIOS to enable if available. Here are some instructions on how to under the Sample instructions for your PC section at the link below that may help to see how with your motherboard's BIOS.

Windows Virtual PC: Configure BIOS

Thanks Shawn

No its not an option for me will try x86.
What exactly do you do with the downloaded extension pack

 

[Brink]

Did you click on the All platforms link like in the screenshot under step 2 to download the extension pack? That doesn't look like the right one.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Did you click on the All platforms link like in the screenshot under step 2 to download the extension pack? That doesn't look like the right one.

Yes but just going to try it again.Does it show like that until you install virtual box maybe