Preparing a Windows VM

with VirtualBox from scratch

Author: Stefan Waldvogel

Install a Windows VM with VirtualBox

-under construction-
If you are new to the blue or red side, you should not use your main operating system for your tests. The reason is simple: You do not have the knowledge about tools and some tools open ports and execute things you do not know/understand.
This page shows you a way to install a Windows VM with VirtualBox. The goal is to have a free test VM for your lab at home

Download Windows 10
You do not have to use "illegal" software for tests. Microsoft offers a free evaluation (30 to 90 days) for all never operating systems including Windows 10 and all servers. The official download link for Windows 10 is this:
www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-10-enterprise
To follow the next steps, download a Windows 10. This will talk a while and you can prepare the next steps.

The hypervisor
For this lab, I use Oracle VirtualBox, but you can use HyperV, VMWare Workstation or a different hypervisor. Download and install VirtualBox for your operating system. The download link is this: www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
After installation, it should look like the following picture.

The left side should be empty, because you do not have machines in it. We need a new VM, we need a name, we have to set the version to Windows 10 and click Next:

The next question is about memory. The recommended size is 2GB but if you have a lot of RAM increase it to 4GB or 8GB. My main system has 24GB and 8GB are fine. Adjust your wanted setting and click next.

The next step is to create a hard disk. Choose "Create a virtual hard disk" and click Create.

The next setting is about the file type. I pick VHD, because I might want to use it via a different hypervisor, but for our tests it does not matter.

The next setting is about dynamic vs. fixed. I pick dynamic, because my VM is small and I do not want to waste space on my system.

Choose a location with enough space. I reduced the size to 20GB, because it is a test machine.

If you click the next button, you see you machine in the list. Do not start it right now because we have to change some settings.
First we check the System setting and we remove EFI. Windows 10 might not start with this setting.

The next changes are under Processor.
I have 8 cores and therefore I reserve 3 for this machine. You can pick your wanted number.
It is a Windows 10 and you must enable PAE/NX. Windows 10 will not start without it.

All settings are done and we can create a snapshot. This is important, because our machine runs for 90 days (without problems) and we can reset it to the starting point.

We have to give a useful name and click OK.

Now we can start the machine and install Windows 10.

The next step is similar to insert the installation medium. In early days, we had a DVD but we downloaded the iso file and we have to select it.

Select your location and open the downloaded ISO file.

Choose the iso and click the button.

Now you can start the installation process.

If you see the next picture, you did everything right.

Follow the steps to install Windows with your settings.

Select, custom install.

If you get a question to set up a user, select domain and move on. Everything else will create a MS account and that is not needed.
If everything went well, shot down Windows and create a snapshot. If you break your machine, you can go back to this point.

Congratulations, now you have a running Windows 10 in a VM.
Later you can change advanced setting, but this was the first step for your own home lab.