Help setting up VirtualBox

[AllenMc]

Thanks for everyone's responses. For now I'm just gonna stick with having to reboot my computer to switch between ubuntu and windows 7 and, when I have a little time, try and find a simple way to try and share files between the two. I would try black3agl3's suggestion but this is the 1st time I've ever done a partition which was completely done by the Wubi installer so I would have no idea how to do make a 3rd.

But when I am a little less busy I am going to use y'all's suggestions to actually learn what virtualBox is and how to correctly use it and install it and everything.

[SeijiSensei]

The easiest method to share files in a dual-boot arrangement is to write them to a USB thumbdrive. If it is formatted with FAT32 or NTFS, you'll be able to see it from either operating system. Alternatively you could allocate a portion of the hard drive, format it as NTFS, and mount it on both sides. If you have already installed both operating systems and have the entire drive allocated, it's easiest to write to a thumbdrive or some other external USB drive.

I have a server on my network that I sometimes use to move files between a VirtualBox host and guest rather than using the "shared folders" method. As a bonus, copying the file to the network server creates a backup copy.

[black3agl3]

I would try black3agl3's suggestion but this is the 1st time I've ever done a partition which was completely done by the Wubi installer so I would have no idea how to do make a 3rd.

That should contain enough information about partitioning http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html

I dont know if you can mount your windows partition from ubuntu installed via Wubi. If it is possible, you might not need to partition your drive at all. Saves you from doing stuff that you dont understand right now...

EDIT: oh and wubi does not partition anything at all https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_%28Ubuntu_installer%29

Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows the user to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the Windows file system (c:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk), as opposed to being installed within its own partition.

[Cheesemill]

I dont know if you can mount your windows partition from ubuntu installed via Wubi.

Wubi installations automatically mount the host Windows partition under /host.

[black3agl3]

Wubi installations automatically mount the host Windows partition under /host.

Thanks for the info.


@AllenMc:

From ubuntu:
Then you can simply make a shortcut to your windows "My documents"

 ln -s "/host/Documents and Settings/Username/My Documents" LinktoMyDocuments

Username is your username on windows.
[C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents]

You can change LinktoMyDocuments to whatever you want. This is the name of the shortcut that will lead you to your windows "My Documents"

Then, you just save everything you want to My Documents on windows...
On ubuntu you save everything to LinktoMyDocuments which will be found in your home folder
(
which contains all the classic folders: Music, Desktop, Documents,..."
[/home/UbuntuUsername/LinktoMyDocuments] if this form makes it clearer for you
)


EDIT: use this suggestion only if you haven't yet partitioned your hard disk drive and you want to continue using ubuntu installed via wubi

[AllenMc]

@black3agl3
That sounds exactly like what I want since I am keeping Wubi for and will probably just end up keeping it and not doing a partition.

Thank you!