VirtualBox Startup Script

By opening VirtualBox with the startup script, you can specify where you want VirtualBox to save its data. You may want it to be stored in a different location on the computer or on your removable hard drive.

1. Start notepad by clicking the start menu, choosing Run... and putting "notepad" in the dialog box.

2. Paste the following lines in your notepad file:

SET VBOX_USER_HOME=D:\fa10-benfranske
start "" "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VirtualBox.exe"

3. Replace

D:\fa10-benfranske

with the location where you would like your VMs to be stored (flash drive, etc.)

Replace

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox

with the location where VirtualBox is installed on your system. This varies depending on the version.

4. Save the file to your desktop as "Start VirtualBox.bat" Make sure to put the filename in quotes so that the correct extension (.bat) is saved.

5. Start VirtualBox using your file to create or access VirtualMachines from the new location.

Troubleshooting

The virtual machine crashes when I try to start it.

If you download the drivers for a virtual machine, it may not work when you try to run it on a different computer.

My removable hard drive comes up as a different drive letter between different computers.

You can go into disk management, right click on your removable hard drive, and change the drive letter. This way the same script will work between computers.

VirtualBox will not open.

Make sure you have the correct location of VirtualBox on your computer in the script.

Another solution could be to restart the computer, enter the BIOS, and enable virtual machine.