VirtualBox: Use real hardware settings for CPU, Hardware Controller etc

Question

I'm trying to boot Windows7 off a partition using a openSUSE 11.2 host.

What happens:

1. Turn on the virtual machine
2. Grub shows up like it would on a real reboot. I select windows
3. Windows shows some error about hardware changes. I choose to start windows normally
4. I see the shiny startup animation with the logo
5. BSOD with stop error 0x000007B.

I assume this is because the virtual hardware doesn't match my real hardware. I don't know what to change as I set the CPU count etc accordingly. is there a way for virtualbox to detect and use my real hardware settings (except for ram)?

Answer 1

Try checking Enable IO APIC under system in the VM settings. That might make it work. It may take more work though. The problem you're having is that the HAL that was installed doesn't like the VM. Here's a link that describes how to migrate a windows install to a VM. You may also need to do the suggested changes in the Hard Disk Support section.

Try removing the IDE controller from the VirtualBox settings and instead use the SATA. You can do that by right clicking in the controller list. You should be able to add your .vmdk that way.