Virtualbox: fatal error..no bootable medium found

YuckTheFankees

I downloaded virtualbox through the ubuntu software center..now when I try to create a windows 7 OS and click start...the black screen comes up but then says " fatal error: no bootable medium found"

I found this through google #495 (Fatal: no bootable medium found! System Halted) - VirtualBox its someone asking the same exact problem,,,but I really dont know what they are trying to say to solve the problem

Do I need to put a cd-rom in before I start virtaulbox? Im so confused

MentholMoose

Just think of a VM as a physical machine. When you build a PC, there is no OS installed on the hard disk. If you boot a physical PC with no OS, you will get a similar error about "no bootable medium". You would need to insert the Windows 7 installation CD, install Windows 7 on the hard drive, and then boot into the installed OS.

Similarly, when you create a VM (e.g. in VirtualBox), there is no OS installed. If you want the VM to run Windows 7, you need to connect the Windows 7 installation CD (or ISO) to the VM, boot the VM from the CD/ISO, and install Windows 7 to the virtual hard disk attached to the VM. Once Windows 7 is installed on the VM virtual disk, the VM can boot from its virtual disk instead of the installation CD/ISO.

YuckTheFankees

So how do I get the installation cd or iso, do I have to already own the system before I can use it virtualbox?

MentholMoose

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

So how do I get the installation cd or iso, do I have to already own the system before I can use it virtualbox?

Yes, you need the installation CD (or ISO) for the OS you want to use before you can install the OS in a VM. VirtualBox and other hypervisors create and manage VMs and don't include any OS to install in those VMs. You can buy the OS or use an evaluation (if available). For example:
Windows 7 Enterprise | Trial, Evaluation, Test, Download
Windows Server 2008 R2 Evaluation Free 180-Day Trial

YuckTheFankees

ohhhh thanks for all the help. I thought they provided you with the actual OS and the platform to practice on but I did find it weird that mircosoft and apple would be ok with a company letting people use there software for free.

JDMurray

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

I thought they provided you with the actual OS and the platform to practice on but I did find it weird that mircosoft and apple would be ok with a company letting people use there software for free.

This is a very common mis-assumption with virtualization programs. When Virtual PC came out years ago, many people bought it thinking they no longer needed to buy retails copies of Windows, and were confused when they started VPC and it wanted a Windows installation CD. The same thing still happens today with people trying VMware Player, VirtualBox, and QEMU for the first time.

YuckTheFankees

If I have another computer with windows vista on it, how can I copy that OS on a CD or USB and use it in my virtualbox on my other laptop running Ubuntu?

Or is that not possible?

JDMurray

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

If I have another computer with windows vista on it, how can I copy that OS on a CD or USB and use it in my virtualbox on my other laptop running Ubuntu?

Or is that not possible?

Migrate_Windows - VirtualBox

YuckTheFankees

thanks JD again, you always answer so quick. How long have you been in IT or interested in IT?

JDMurray

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

thanks JD again, you always answer so quick.

It's the power of "The Google."

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

How long have you been in IT or interested in IT?

Well, I touched my first computer in 1977, and my interest in IT stretched back about ten years before that.