Using VirtualBox
- Thread starter Old Man
- Start date
I don't think I've seen it any other way with virtualization than this:
hardware imposes the greatest limit, so if it's not 64-bit capable then there's no choice
host OS imposes the next limit, if it's not 64-bit, then you can only run 32-bit apps
VM software next, if it's not a 64-bit version of the virtualization software app, then you can only host 32-bit guest OS's.
So it would need to be 64-bit from top to bottom in order for the guest OS to be allowed as 64-bit.
hardware imposes the greatest limit, so if it's not 64-bit capable then there's no choice
host OS imposes the next limit, if it's not 64-bit, then you can only run 32-bit apps
VM software next, if it's not a 64-bit version of the virtualization software app, then you can only host 32-bit guest OS's.
So it would need to be 64-bit from top to bottom in order for the guest OS to be allowed as 64-bit.
Sorry to contradict but I am fairly sure you are all wrong 
I believe you can run a 64 bit guest on a 32 bit host as long as you have a 64 bit capable CPU.
Some info here http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html
I believe you can run a 64 bit guest on a 32 bit host as long as you have a 64 bit capable CPU.
Some info here http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html
Sorry to contradict but I am fairly sure you are all wrong
I believe you can run a 64 bit guest on a 32 bit host as long as you have a 64 bit capable CPU.
Some info here http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html
Hmm can some nice person confirm this please.
ty
Looks like you'd have to try it, in case you do have a motherboard (bios) or cpu that don't offer the hardware virtualization it needs.
You could try it with a 64-bit linux distro as a guest OS if you haven't yet gotten a Win7 64-bit to try and are looking to find out for free if it will work before you pay for anything.
Even if I did confirm it (and not sure my 2003 cpu/mobo/xp32 combo is up to scratch and it has been gathering dust for a while now since I last attempted to hook it up and switch it on), it wouldn't guarantee the same for you, given what it says on the page phil shared since it might just be a different mobo that makes a difference:
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html#intro-64bitguests
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch10.html#hwvirt
Here it also explains that without hardware virtualization enabled, you're not necessarily stopped from running a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit chip, but according to the virtualbox docs, you would be prevented from running a 64-bit guest OS:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/32-bit-and-64-bit-explained.htm
(Look at table 4, and without hardware virtualization the end column would describe your situation where it is flagged as a No).
Still, I learned something. Whilst I still use virtualbox today I wasn't aware of those improvements to it.
Edit: This might help too, at least to show the Intel or Microsoft utility you can run which should help tell you if you have the features available or not:
http://www.sysprobs.com/disable-enable-virtualization-technology-bios
You could try it with a 64-bit linux distro as a guest OS if you haven't yet gotten a Win7 64-bit to try and are looking to find out for free if it will work before you pay for anything.
Even if I did confirm it (and not sure my 2003 cpu/mobo/xp32 combo is up to scratch and it has been gathering dust for a while now since I last attempted to hook it up and switch it on), it wouldn't guarantee the same for you, given what it says on the page phil shared since it might just be a different mobo that makes a difference:
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html#intro-64bitguests
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch10.html#hwvirt
Here it also explains that without hardware virtualization enabled, you're not necessarily stopped from running a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit chip, but according to the virtualbox docs, you would be prevented from running a 64-bit guest OS:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/32-bit-and-64-bit-explained.htm
(Look at table 4, and without hardware virtualization the end column would describe your situation where it is flagged as a No).
Still, I learned something. Whilst I still use virtualbox today I wasn't aware of those improvements to it.
Edit: This might help too, at least to show the Intel or Microsoft utility you can run which should help tell you if you have the features available or not:
http://www.sysprobs.com/disable-enable-virtualization-technology-bios
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