25 ms·

Booting a physical Windows 10 disk on Linux using VirtualBox

25 points by jamieweb 8y ago

titanix2 8y ago
A similar technic also exists to use Windows in VirtualBox on MacOS. http://danielphil.github.io/windows/virtualbox/osx/2015/08/25/virtualbox-boot-camp.html http://danielphil.github.io/windows/virtualbox/osx/2015/08/2...
hddherman 8y ago
The same could be achieved using QEMU/KVM by adding the physical disk path (/dev/disk/by-id/<drive ID here>) as a storage device using whatever method you fancy. I have used this technique quite a bit and it is very handy in dual/multi boot systems where I need to run the second OS while using my main OS. Or install one to an external drive and use it elsewhere later on.
Rjevski 8y ago
I once did something similar on a Linux & Windows dual-boot where the Linux partition was bootable both as bare-metal and under Windows in VirtualBox.
- zamadatix 8y ago
  That's what this is just the other way around on the VM portion. I have my current computer set up in a 4 way: Windows native, Linux Native, Windows disk in KVM VM, Linux disk in Hyper-V VM. Hyper-V was probably the easiest, just click the radio and select the disk.
Jaruzel 8y ago
This seems complicated. You can download a copy of of Windows 10 in ISO format via this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10I... (You need to be using a non-Windows PC otherwise that link will redirect to the Windows Media Creation Tool[1]) Then just install it into a new VM in VirtualBox. It won't activate, and it will nag you about this, but it will still stay fully usable, you just wont be able to change small things like the colour scheme. Which is perfectly fine if it's a crash-and-burn VM for testing. --- [1] Or just change your browser user-agent to report linux.
- vetinari 8y ago
  When a vm is running off a physical partition or lvm lv, it is much faster than vm running off a file. All the overhead of the host filesystem goes away. If you do this with a SSD, make sure the guest OS can do the trimming.
- jwilk 8y ago
  Even better, MS offers free VMs for testing their browsers: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/ https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/v...
8_hours_ago 8y ago
I did this many years ago with a dual boot computer and Windows (7 iirc) kept complaining about needing to be reactivated when I’d switch between running natively and virtualized. Has that been fixed on Windows 10?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- nhauz 8y ago
  If you substantially change the hardware of your computer, you are supposed to get a new licence because it's like it is another computer. It's not a bug but a feature.
  - jamieweb 8y ago
    In my case, the first time I fully booted the Windows 10 disk was in the VM. I wonder if this counted as a 'change' or does it think that the VM is the original hardware now?
    - 8_hours_ago 8y ago
      I bet that if you tried to boot the disk naitively then Windows would want to be activated.
      - jamieweb 8y ago
        Maybe! Windows seems to be activated just fine in the VM.
  - beagle3 8y ago
    It’s a feature for Microsoft, but a bug as far as the users are concerned.
    - nhauz 8y ago
      If you want to use Windows without paying for a licence you can just install kmspico.

25 points by jamieweb 8y ago

A similar technic also exists to use Windows in VirtualBox on MacOS. http://danielphil.github.io/windows/virtualbox/osx/2015/08/25/virtualbox-boot-camp.html http://danielphil.github.io/windows/virtualbox/osx/2015/08/2...

hddherman 8y ago

The same could be achieved using QEMU/KVM by adding the physical disk path (/dev/disk/by-id/<drive ID here>) as a storage device using whatever method you fancy. I have used this technique quite a bit and it is very handy in dual/multi boot systems where I need to run the second OS while using my main OS. Or install one to an external drive and use it elsewhere later on.

Rjevski 8y ago

I once did something similar on a Linux & Windows dual-boot where the Linux partition was bootable both as bare-metal and under Windows in VirtualBox.

zamadatix 8y ago
That's what this is just the other way around on the VM portion. I have my current computer set up in a 4 way: Windows native, Linux Native, Windows disk in KVM VM, Linux disk in Hyper-V VM. Hyper-V was probably the easiest, just click the radio and select the disk.

Jaruzel 8y ago

This seems complicated. You can download a copy of of Windows 10 in ISO format via this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10I... (You need to be using a non-Windows PC otherwise that link will redirect to the Windows Media Creation Tool[1]) Then just install it into a new VM in VirtualBox. It won't activate, and it will nag you about this, but it will still stay fully usable, you just wont be able to change small things like the colour scheme. Which is perfectly fine if it's a crash-and-burn VM for testing. --- [1] Or just change your browser user-agent to report linux.

vetinari 8y ago
When a vm is running off a physical partition or lvm lv, it is much faster than vm running off a file. All the overhead of the host filesystem goes away. If you do this with a SSD, make sure the guest OS can do the trimming.
jwilk 8y ago
Even better, MS offers free VMs for testing their browsers: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/ https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/v...

8_hours_ago 8y ago

I did this many years ago with a dual boot computer and Windows (7 iirc) kept complaining about needing to be reactivated when I’d switch between running natively and virtualized. Has that been fixed on Windows 10?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
nhauz 8y ago
If you substantially change the hardware of your computer, you are supposed to get a new licence because it's like it is another computer. It's not a bug but a feature.
- jamieweb 8y ago
  In my case, the first time I fully booted the Windows 10 disk was in the VM. I wonder if this counted as a 'change' or does it think that the VM is the original hardware now?
  - 8_hours_ago 8y ago
    I bet that if you tried to boot the disk naitively then Windows would want to be activated.
    - jamieweb 8y ago
      Maybe! Windows seems to be activated just fine in the VM.
- beagle3 8y ago
  It’s a feature for Microsoft, but a bug as far as the users are concerned.
  - nhauz 8y ago
    If you want to use Windows without paying for a licence you can just install kmspico.