Table of Contents (Fancy design)



By: Dave PersaudTABLE OF CONTENTSSECTION 1. Good To KnowPages 3-41.1 About this guide31.2 why use virtualization31.3 benefits of virtualization41.4 what is a virtual machine41.5 what is virtualbox 4-5SECTION 2. Prerequsities5-82.1 is your host machine ready52.2 Downloading virtualbox5-82.3 Installing virtualbox on windows8SECTION 3. Setting up your virtual Machine3.1 Starting up virtualbox 93.2 Creating your virtual machine103.3 installing the operating system113.4 maintaining your virtual machine121. Good to know1.1 About this guide:This manual is to help users who are knowledgeable about windows operating system, create a virtual machine on their computer. This manual assumes that the user knows basic operations such as using a web browser application, can install applications, download operating systems, installing operating systems and have other basic computer skills and knowledge. The user should also understand basic terms such as RAM, and the understanding of the parts of the physical computer which they are using. For the purpose of this manual your physical desktop computer will be referred to as the host computer or host machine and the operating system on your host computer will be referred to as the host operating system along with all parts of the host computer. The virtual machine will be the environment we will be creating and the operating system which you choose to load will be called the guest operating system (guest os). This manual will walk you through the procedure of creating your own virtual machine within your personal desktop computer and installing an operating system on the virtual machine so you can use it. This manual is not advised for those who cannot perform the operations listed above. In order to build your own virtual machine this manual will use an application called VirtualBox which is owned by Oracle, there are many other virtualization applications but this manual will be limited to only use VirtualBox.1.2 Why use virtualization?Virtualization is defined as the technical process that is used for the abstraction of physical computer resources such as the processors, hard drives, memory, physical network, software applications and operating systems. This means that it gives users the ability to use the resources abstracted for more than one purpose and more than one purpose at a time. For example your computer currently runs one operating system and that operating system uses the resources such the processor, hard drive and memory but with the help of virtualization you could have another operating system on the same machine using the same processor, hard drive and memory running at the same as your original operating system.1.3 Benefits of virtualizationThere are many benefits to using virtualization and knowing it going forward in the future. It is one of the new technical process which has been taking businesses by storm and allowing the world of computing to be more efficient. This manual will only be covering virtualization on a basic level which will benefit the average user in many different ways. One way it can help users is to allow users to try out different operating systems within their current computers before upgrading to a future operating system or a different operating system. Users can also test application within their virtual machines before actually installing it on their computers which helps to prevent against security issues or bugs affecting your host computer. Another benefit of using virtualization is allowing limited access to users who wish to use your host machine by having them use your virtual machine and not your host machine. Users will also be able to test network operations such as remote connections to the virtual computer. These are just some of the benefits that is provided by virtualization. 1.4 What is a virtual machine?A virtual machine (VM) can be defined as a machine which is created by use of virtualization. It has no physical parts but instead uses those which are part of the host machine such as the processor, hard drive, memory, keyboard, mouse and other devices connected to the host machine. This manual will be creating a virtual machine using windows operating system as your host operating system however the virtual machine can have any operating system you wish to load on it. The virtual machine’s limits are limited to those possessed by your host machine such as processing power of your processor, hard drive space as well as amount of memory it has, etc. 1.5 What is VirtualBox?VirtualBox is an application which is owned by Oracle. It is a virtualization software which can be obtained for free. It is very simple to use and is easy to obtain. The application is widely used and has a small amount of bugs which normal users will not encounter. Virtualbox enables you to create a virtual environment in which you can choose the amount of processors, hard drive space, RAM memory and network setting for the environment as well as the guest operating system, this environment is called the virtual machine. Users can also have multiple virtual machines either running one at a time or multiple which depends on the physical resources on your host machine.2. PREREQUISITES2.1 Is your host machine ready?In order to complete this manual you need to have a desktop computer consisting of the following specifications:Monitor - 19inches and aboveCPU - Dual core and above, Speed of 1.9 GhzRAM Memory- 4 Gigabytes and aboveHard Drive - 250 Gigabytes and aboveNetwork - connected to the internet, wired or wirelessUSB Ports- 2 minimumDisk Drive- at least 1 of any read/write speeds Mouse - PS2 or USB mouse Keyboard - standard QWERTY layout keyboardOperating system- Windows 7 or higherUser Privilege- Administrator user privilegesApplications Installed- Internet Explorer,Once your computer meets the above standards then you can proceed to the next procedure without any issues. **It is not advised that you proceed to the next section should your computer not meet the following specifications otherwise performance will not be guaranteed and this manual will not be responsible for any damages done to your host computer. **2.2 Downloading VirtualBoxAs stated earlier in this manual users will be using the VirtualBox application in order to create their virtual machine (VM). In order to do so you must be connected to the internet and have a working internet connection as well as have a web browser application installed on your computer. If you are using windows 7 or higher operating system as your host operating system then an internet browse called Internet Explorer should be installed on your computer already. For simplicities purposes this manual will be using the application Internet Explorer in order to download the application VirtualBox. To do so please follow the steps below1. Open the application called Internet Explorer on your computer it has the following icon. where2. You should be prompted with the application’s starting page which might be different for some depending on which host operating system windows version you are using. However, the starting page should have an address bar which looks similar to the photo below, the area that is boxed inside of the red box. Another way to identify the address bar is by looking for the web address location which usually starts with a http:// or a https:// 3. After locating the address bar, clear the current address and type in the web address:. After entering the address above press the Enter key and you should arrive at a page that is similar to the one below. 5. Once you are on this page, click on the option that says “VirtalBox 5.0.16 for Windows hosts x86/amd64” The numbers 5.0.16 represent the current version of the application VirtualBox and depending on the date you are reading this manual it may change however it will always be the latest version which will always be better than this version. As you can see below the current version is 5.0.16 and you should click on the x86/amd64 part as this is where the link is to download, it is the text outlined by blue. 6. After clicking on the link you should be prompted by Internet Explorer at the bottom center of the Internet Explorer window. It will read “Do you want to run or save VirtualBox-5.0.16-105871-Win.exe (114MB) from download.?” And you will be given the options to choose from which are “Run”, “Save” or “Cancel”. You will select the run option. For a better understanding see the image below, once again the version number which is 5.0.16-105871 might change depending on the date that you access the site and also the size of the file which is the 114MB might also change. The option for you to click on is circled in red.7. Once you have selected “Run” please wait for a while until you are prompted with the window displayed below. This time may differ depending on your internet speed from seconds to minutes. Once you are prompted with this screen you have completed the downloading of this application and may proceed with the installation of this application by following the next section of this manual. Please do not close this installation window until you are told to so later in the manual. The window that should pop up is the following:**If you are not prompted with this window after doing all of the above steps please close Internet Explorer and proceed to restarting your computer. After restarting your computer ensure you have a stable internet connection. Continue by repeating steps 1-8 of this section. **2.3 Installing virtualbox on windowsCongratulations on making it this far you’re only a few more clicks away from creating your virtual machine! Now that you are at the installation window which looks like the image ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download