Installing Windows on the Mac for Free using VirtualBox and Windows Server 2003
Step 1 - get the software
WINDOWS SERVER
The
existence of a free version of Windows is due to a quirk
of licensing fate which has - for the moment - benefitted Mac OU
students. In February 2008, Microsoft announced
the DreamSpark
programme - a student promotion that gives qualifying students the
opportunity to download and use a whole range of professional Microsoft
software. The software is mostly a single-license, full-issue version - not a "lite"
version.This is a very clever move. Microsoft hopes that by giving all this software away to people in education, it'll mean a whole new generation of professionals using MS software in the future.
What it means to us, is that we can get our hands on one particular piece of software which we can then use to run our OU apps. Windows server 2003 Standard Edition.
Heres what you have to do:
1. Join the DreamSpark programme.
The scheme is open to certain qualifying students who pass the verification process - but the great news is the Open University qualifies! All you need to do is get yourself a Windows Live ID if you don't already have one, and then follow the instructions on the site. You verify using your OU personal FirstClass email address, which - if you don't know - is like :
ab123@student.open.ac.uk
Where "ab123" is the unique ID you use to sign into the OU. Microsoft will send you a verification email to prove you're at the OU, and then once you've replied you're off!
A full student FAQ for DreamSpark is available here.
2. Download Windows Server 2003.
When
you sign into DreamSpark, you'll see images for all the software
you can download. Click on Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, and
follow the prompts to download it.As well as the software files, you are given a button which allows you to generate a software key for the software. Do this and make sure you record the key safely. You will need it later in the install process.
Now it's a lot of software - there are two CD images to download - so use broadband or be VERY patient. The files downloaded are CD images called .ISO disk image files - which means they can be burned straight to a CD using Disk Utility on your Mac. The result is two CDs identical to the CDs you would buy boxed up in a shop. It's a good idea as a backup to burn them straight away - but to install it in VirtualBox, we won't need to burn them first, as VirtualBox can use the images directly instead of a CD. Very smart. Just leave the files you've downloaded on your desktop when you're finished. They should look something like this:-
VIRTUALBOX
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
And leave the downloaded file on your desktop.
Step 2 - Install VirtualBox
After you've downloaded the VirtualBox software from the site above, you should be left with the following icon on your desktop (numbers in filename will correspond to the latest version - may differ from this):-
Double-click on it, and you'll get the following window:-
Now on the top right, you'll note a PDF copy of the user Manual - very handy to have around. Drag this file to somewhere convenient on your Mac for later perusal.
To install, follow instruction number 1 and double-click on the Yellow box icon top-left.
In the window that opens, you'll receive the following warning:-
Press Continue. Then you will see the following window:-
Press Continue. Then choose your preferred Software License instruction language (English by default) and press Continue. Press Agree to agree to the licensing terms. Now you should arrive at the following window:-
You'll notice that most options are greyed out, meaning that they're essential. The final one is for controlling the app via the 'Terminal' app. Just accept all the default installs for this app by pressing Continue. You'll receive a final notification window with the install size - currently 46.1 MB:-
Also you can change the destination folder for your VirtualBox install here - but unless you have a burning desire to place it somewhere else, just leave it to install in the Applications folder by default by pressing Install.
It'll ask for your admin password to install, then will start. When the process is done, it'll tell you. Press Close.
Now, go to the "Applications" folder and double-click the VirtualBox app. The app should open to the following registrations window:-
Fill in or dismiss as you wish. You are now presented with the main welcome window:-
So here's where it now gets interesting. What you have is a nice clean install of VirtualBox - but it's not any use, because you haven't yet installed a copy of Windows to run inside it! So lets do that now.
Press the "New" button top-left (the blue star). This will open up the Virtual Machine Wizard.
Press the Next button. Now you'll see options to both uniquely name your new installation of Windows, and also to select the type of operating system you're installing. As far as the name is concerned, you can call it what you like :-
You that you can have more than one Windows install on your Mac - memory permitting - or even many different types of operating system, not just Windows! To illustrate this, press the menu bar in the middle of the window under "OS Type". You should now see a whole list of different operating systems to choose from for installation - various Windows systems, Linux systems like Ubuntu, as well as other UNIX systems. This shows the real power of virtualisation - all these OSs can be controlled within VirtualBox on your own desktop.
Now, we're just interested in Windows Server here, so select "Windows Server 2003" as your option.
When you're done, press Next.
This will now bring you to a window which requires you to enter the amount of your system RAM that you wish to allocate to this virtual machine (see "a word about memory" above):-
As I'll be installing a server OS I've given it just over a gigabyte of RAM as base. As you can see, my Mac system has 3584MB available (4GB RAM installed), so this shouldn't break the bank for me. Your system resources may differ, but try to give it at least 512MB. When done press Next.
In the next window, you are now required to set up your virtual 'hard disk'. :-
You will notice <no hard disk> is visible, as we don't yet have an existing disk to use, so press the New... button to create a new disk.
This opens a new sub-wizard to create the new virtual disk :-
Press Next >. The following window appears :-
Now here's something rather useful and clever. The virtual hard disk - unlike a real one - can exist in two forms. One is as a fixed-size disk, just like its physical equivalent. But the other is as a dynamic disk, which expands in size on your Mac only when more memory space is needed, up to some predetermined maximum.
What this means is that you don't have to store a hulking great 80 GB virtual disk on your mac for a virtual operating system that's only currently taking up 8GB of space. But if you do need the disk space later, it'll expand automatically as needed. Cool, n'est pas?
So here we shall leave the default choice selected - Dynamically expanding image.
When you're done, click Next >.
Now you should arrive at the above window, where you select your ultimate virtual disk size. This is the maximum that your dynamic disk will expand to. How big you want to make this really depends on how much space you have free on your own Mac's hard drive, and also what you intend using the virtual drive for. Don't give it too little, as it would be so irritating to find you were short of space after installing all those lovely bloated OU Windows apps ( ;-)). But by the same token don't go mad, if all you're going to use the virtual disk for is to run the coursework.
Personally? I would give Windows Server at least 20GB of space, but it wouldn't need more than 40GB if I wasn't using it for lots of other stuff. Remember, all this is dynamic - so if you don't need the space, it won't use the space.
Okay, so slide the bar in the window until you get your desired maximum disk size. When you're happy, press Next >. This opens up a final window, summarising the details of the virtual disk you are about to create:-
Happy? Press Finish. The new virtual hard disk will now be created.
This puts you back at the earlier boot hard disk window - but now you should see your newly named virtual disk selected as the 'Primary Master' in the Boot Hard Disk pane:-
Press Next > to continue.
A final summary window will open. Press Finish....and that's it! You've created your new virtual Windows disk.
Step 3 - Install the Guest Operating System
Here's a picture of what my VirtualBox window now looks like, with my fresh new Windows virtual disk as created above. But don't touch anything yet! :-
There's a lot to take in. But don't worry for now, as you'll be able to explore more later at your leisure. Some main points to note are:-
The left side of the window now contains the named Virtual disk, with the message that it's "powered off". This simply means that our virtual PC is currently waiting to be activated. On the right side of the screen is a wealth of information about our virtual disk. You needn't involve yourself with any gory details at this point, except to note that all these hardware categories are virtual - meaning that the PC we've created really believes it is a hardware PC with all these specifications. And if you click on each of the category headings, you'll see that you can adjust the settings for each. Very clever stuff!
Actually, there's just one setting I'd like you to adjust. So click on the blue word "General" at the top of the list on the right. The following window will open:-
These are some very basic settings for your virtual disk. I want you to change the amount of video memory given to your virtual disk. It's the bottom slider. Move it up to something like 64mb - but no less than 32mb. That'll come in handy later on.... once you're done, press OK.
Now we're back at the main screen, we're going to continue with our installation. You see, although we have a nice new virtual hard disk, it suffers from a fatal flaw....it doesn't have an operating system on it! That's why we're about to put Windows Server 2003 on the drive you've created.
So click on the green Start arrow at the top of the window to start the virtual disk....
A little word about virtual
device control...
|
Anyway, back to the install. What will happen when you click on the green start arrow is the virtual PC will try to start up - realise it has no OS, and - because it's starting for the first time - it will open up another nice new wizard to help you install one :-
Press Next >. The following window appears:-
This window is asking you where you want to install your copy of Windows from. The default - unsurprisingly - presumes that you are using a CD/DVD disc inserted into your Mac's CD drive. In most cases, this will be quite correct, and won't need adjustment. (a Floppy device?! oh sure - let me just get my platform shoes and Abba records out of the cupboard... ;-))
Ah, but we are going to install Windows Server via the image files we downloaded. So what we do is select Image File, and then press on the little yellow folder icon button to the right of the image file menu bar.
Up will pop a new window entitled Virtual Disk Manager:-
We are going to use this to register our WinServer disk images with VirtualBox, so it knows where to find them. Press the Add button at the top, and navigate to your desktop. Select the first disk image you downloaded. Then repeat the action, selecting the second disk image. The window should now look something like this:-
The biggest disk - the 594MB one, is CD1. That's our main installation disk. Select this disk in the window, and then press the Select button.
You'll now be back at the installation media window, but this time you'll see that your chosen image has been selected in the menu bar at the bottom:-
Press the Next button. You will be presented with a window asking you to confirm that this is the disk media you want to boot from. Press Finish.
The virtual disk will now begin bootup. After a brief view of the Sun VirtualBox flash screen (picture of a man typing on a laptop!) the Windows Server setup program will begin the install process, as below:-
This will take a minute. Eventually the arcane messages along the bottom of the window will complete, and you will be presented with the following screen:-
Press the ENTER button on your Mac keyboard to continue.
You will now be presented with the Windows licensing agreement, which you will have to press F8 on your keyboard to agree with (or fn + F8 on modern Mac keyboards). The next window to appear is this one:-
Windows wants to partition your disk - but don't worry! It doesn't mean your Mac's disk - just the virtual disk you've created inside your Mac. So it won't trash anything it shouldn't. Just press ENTER to let it install by default on the new dynamic disk you've created.
Now the next window that opens wants you to select a file system to format the new partition with:-
This choice is easy. Windows Server only runs on NTFS - but you could opt for the quick NTFS format version, as it'll speed the install up a little. Use the directional arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll up and down through the choices, and then press ENTER to continue when you're done.
The install will now begin in earnest. First you'll see a screenshot of the disk being formatted - then it'll move straight on to copying the files that it needs from the CD to the virtual disk:-
When it's got to the end of file copying, the Virtual disk will reboot - you'll see the Sun flash screen again - and then the main install screen will appear as the software is installed:-
The next window you're presented with is Region and Language options:-
The defaults are for American locations, formats and keyboards - so you may want to change these. Remember to 'capture' your mouse inside the PC window, and then release it afterwards by pressing the left cmd key. Click Next > when your done.
After this you are asked to type your user name (compulsory) and that of your organisation(optional). do so and press Next >
Now we come to the all-important Product Key entry window:-
Remember the generated key DreamSpark gave you? Enter it now, and press Next > when you're done.
The next window is about licensing modes:-
As you are not going to be using this install as a real server, just accept the default configuration by pressing Next >.
The next window requires you to enter a suitable computer name and account password:-
The computer name is mainly so the PC can be recognised on a network - not a particular priority with OU VirtualBox users. The password is important, as you'll need to log in to your Windows account with this. Don't forget it!
Next is the date and time:-
You'll need to adjust the timezone for Greenwich Mean Time, although I found that Windows could read my computer clock time okay.
After this, the install will continue until you are asked about Network Settings. Just accept the default Typical Settings, and continue by pressing Next >.
Now you may be asked about a Workgroup or Computer Domain. Unless you have your own advanced ideas, accept the default by pressing Next >.
Once the above settings have been made, the install should resume by copying the relevant files over from the disk image. Be patient - this will take a few minutes.
Eventually, the virtual disk will restart - the screen will go blank - the VirtualBox splash screen will briefly appear (again) - then Windows Server will start up in the VirtualBox window. Hurrah!
The first thing you'll see is this:-
Ahh. Now pressing control-alt-delete is the famous (and unfortunately much-used ;-)) key combination that Windows users employ to get their machine back from the grip of some terrible crash or other. But - hang on - we've got mac keyboards. How the heck are we going to type this in?
Easy! Virtualbox has provided a way to enter this key combination automatically from the VirtualBox menu. Just go to the "Machine" menu, and select "Insert control-alt-delete".
The prompt will clear, to be replaced by a password box for a user called Administrator. Yep - that's you. Enter the password you put into the box earlier during install (see above)
After a few moments, the window turns blue - loads your settings.....and then stops again with the following:-
Remember that second disk image we downloaded to the desktop and registered with VirtualBox? We need it now to complete the install. Do you see that little CD icon at the bottom of the VirtualBox window - second from the left? Get control of your mouse back, and then click on this little icon. It will open up a little menu.
Select "CD/DVD ROM Image..." from the menu.
This will open up the Virtual Disk Manager window you saw earlier:-
This time choose the smaller disk CD2- 121 MB - by clicking on the name and pressing Select.
This will take you back to the Windows Server CD2 request window (above). Our CD2 image has now automatically been 'attached' to the virtual CD drive of Windows server, which is drive D:. So in this window, press OK to continue.
You'll see the following:-
Ignore all this by pressing next >.
Then comes the end user license agreement. Accept the terms and press Next >.
A setup summary page appears. Press Enter to continue.
Finally, a wizard completion window appears. Press Finish to dismiss this.
Oops. Still not through. Now the following window appears:-
This is just to organise updates for your machine. They're a good idea, but you can skip this till later. Press the Finish button. It'll then nag you with an alert warning you about inbound connections. Dismiss this with the Yes button.
Yes - you guessed it. Another window appears:-
All this setting up is concerning administration of your server which - let's be fair - the software was designed to do! But we don't need to concern ourselves with the stuff in the above window. What we actually want is for Windows Server to behave as much like a normal operating system as possible. So scroll down this window till you get to the bottom, and select "don't display this page at startup". Then click on the little X at the top right of the window to dismiss it.
This will bring you finally to.....a desktop! Albeit, a rather bare one.:-
The first thing you should notice is - despite this being a server - the basic arrangement is exactly the same as Windows XP or earlier. There's your start menu. Your Recycle Bin. And if you press on the Start Menu, you'll see the same basic arrangements as in all versions of Windows, although the choice of menus and apps is sparse to say the least.
Step 4 - Installing The Guest Additions
But hang on... Isn't the desktop window a little....small? And all that having to click inside the window to use your mouse is a bit annoying....Ahhh. That's because we haven't finished our install. We still have one important app to install from VirtualBox which will make our virtual experience a LOT better. On the virtualBox menu at the top of your screen, go to the Devices menu and select "install guest additions...".
This will open up a windows installer from Sun :-
Follow the instructions on this installer, accepting all defaults. Every time an alert window flashes up, warning you about untrusted programs or unsigned drivers, ignore it by pressing 'Yes' to accept, or "Continue anyway". At the end, you'll be asked do you want to reboot. Select reboot now.
You'll now reboot, and be faced with that irritating control-alt-delete box again. Don't worry - we'll soon be getting rid of that - but for the meantime, just do as you did before, by selecting it from the menu.
Enter your password again, to get to your desktop.
Now you're at your desktop, try something. Move your mouse over from the Mac desktop to the Server window, and watch what happens. Eureka! Your mouse should now magically become a windows mouse as soon as it gets over the windows desktop - and then revert to a Mac mouse when you move it back out! This will make your life a lot easier. But that's not all...
Go to the bottom-right of the Server Window and pull it at the bottom corner to expand the window, as you would any Mac window. After a few moments of blinking and adjustment, the Windows desktop will expand to fit the new size! You can now make your working desktop any size you like. This is what the installed guest additions have done for you.
But that's not the best bit. Go to the "Machine" menu, and select "Fullscreen Mode".
You'll get a little box which pops up and explains what's going to happen. Make a note of the keyboard shortcut it gives you - Command-F - and then click on the Switch button.
Voila! You are now the proud owner of a full-screen Windows machine! Your Mac has disappeared....
Wait!...stop screaming! It's not really a Windows machine ;-) Just a convenient screen mode. The mac is still there behind it. Either press Command -F, or move your mouse to the top of the screen, and unselect "fullscreen Mode" from the Machine menu, and you'll get your Mac back.
There! You're back in Window mode. Good eh?
Instant Internet
Another great thing about VirtualBox, is that you should already be connected to the Internet through your Mac's own connection. The virtual PC simply piggybacks on your existing connection.Give it a try. Open Internet Explorer from the Start Menu, and navigate to a popular page. If the browser gives you lots of warnings about restricted web pages, then read on.....
And Finally....
I'll leave you to explore the wonders of VirtualBox for yourself - but there are three very important things to tell you about before I go....Step 5 - Tweaking the System
I could continue on forever with a long list of instructions on how to adjust all those hidden little settings that will make your Windows Server experience so much better. But the GREAT news is that some fine person has done it all for me!Simply direct your Mac web browser to the following wonderful website:-
http://win2k3.msfn.org/
Which explains exactly how to get rid of all those annoying promps, screens, crl-alt-deletes, passwords, etc., that stop you doing what you need to do - and which will turn your server install into a much more friendly system.
For instance, there are certain essential settings you need to do to turn on services like audio - because Windows Server comes with sound turned off by default. Another problem it fixes is that the Internet Explorer web browser that comes with Server is crippled by security restrictions. This means it's very hard to download things like Firefox, or the Thunderbird Mail programme to replace it! This great website explains how to do it all very simply. By the end of the instructions, you should have a much more consumer-like system - which can run your software just fine.
Any problems that persist, contact this site and we'll help you sort it.
Step 6 - getting your OU software and files into the virtual system
This is pretty easy, but obviously very important. So I'll just go through it.1. Startup your Virtual Windows system, till you get to your desktop.
2. Insert the OU disk into your Mac's CD drive.
Now chances are, VirtualBox will detect this CD disk straight away, and the installation program will appear on your PC desktop. If not, just do the following:-
3. Click on the little CD icon at the bottom of the VirtualBox window - second from left. Your local Mac's CD drive should be listed- select it to attach the CD to the virtual space.
Alternatively, select "Mount CD/DVD ROM" from the Devices menu.
4. After a moment, the installation should now start. If by any chance it doesn't, navigate to
Start menu > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer and open it.
5. Expand the "My Computer" icon to the left of the screen, and you should see your CD under disk D: Click on this to access your CD files and programs.
Step 7 - sharing files between your Mac and your Virtual PC
This is important. One of the great benefits of having a virtual PC on your Mac desktop is the ability for you to move files around between them - say, by writing your assignment on the Mac, and then effortlessly delivering it to the OU via PC. Or doing some essential work using PC software, and then moving it back to the Mac to be completed. Great!Well, to do that on VirtualBox, there are just a few little things you have to do first. I'll tell you what and where:-
1. Start up your Virtual PC and go to your desktop (in window mode)
2. At the bottom of the window there is a row of little icons. Fifth from the left is a little folder Icon. Click on this.
3. This opens up the Shared Folders Window:-
Now VirtualBox requires you to tell it which Mac folders you would like to share with your PC environment. An obvious one would perhaps be your desktop folder - so that you could quickly access files on your Mac desktop for use in the PC. There are two types of shared folders -
Machine Folders - which are always shared with the Virtual machine
Transient Folders - which are temporary shares you only need for one PC 'session'.
We're really interested in the permanent machine type - so that's what I'll run through:-
4. Click on the little folder icon with the plus sign, top-right of the window. This will open up a new window called "Add Share" .
5. In the "Folder Path" box , put the path to the Mac folder you want to share. Your desktop folder is something like "/Users/my_home/Desktop", where my_home is your personal home name.
In the "Folder Name" box, put a name you'd like your folder to be known by on the windows side. A single name answer is best, as VirtualBox doesn't handle spaces between words well.
Read-only means you can't write to your Mac side. It's a good security measure - but I prefer to read/write, so I leave this unchecked.
Now click on Make Permanent to ensure that you've always got access to this folder by default.
6. when you're done, click OK.
Your shared folder should now appear in the Shared Folders window under Machine Folders.
7. Restart your Virtual System from the start menu.
8. When you arrive back at your Windows desktop, Navigate to Windows Explorer (see above) and open it.
9. To the left of the Windows Explorer screen, expand the My Network Places icon.
10. Then expand the Entire Network icon.
11. Finally expand the VirtualBox Shared Folders Icon.
This reveals your shared folder(s). A good idea is to drag this shared folder to your PC Desktop to make a shortcut to it. Then you've always got quick access to your Mac!
Any problems, just get in touch and we'll talk you through it.
The Last Word
So that's it. Windows Server is not perhaps the most elegant, complete or simple way to run OU software but - thanks to the wonders of VirtualBox and DreamSpark - it's now possible to run an entire virtual solution for OU study for free!For advice on this, and all Mac related OU stuff - don't forget to visit the OUSA Mac General conference at the university.
How to get there form your FirstClass desktop:-
FirstClass desktop-> Open University shield-> OU Students Association-> OUSA Signpost-> scroll down to OUSA Mac General
By Stephen McGann February 2009