Ubuntu running as a Virtual Machined on Win 7

Forums › Linux › Ubuntu running as a Virtual Machined on Win 7 - Memory issues

Technofreak

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#223282 22-Sep-2017 08:45

Hello,

I'm new to Linux.

About 18 months ago I decided to run Unbuntu as a virtual machine on my Dell Inspiron using VMware. Something happened where the Virtual Machine replicated it self several times (at least that's what appears ed have happened) and chewed through most of the spare space on the SSD drive. I didn't have time to figure out what happened and I uninstalled VMware to free up memory space.

A few days ago I decided to try a virtual machine again. Last night a similar thing happened and the virtual machine hogged up about 130 Gbytes of memory. There was 4 or 5 very large Virtual Machine files in the Unbuntu folder

What's likely to cause this?

I'd like to not go to dual boot but is this a better option?

Is running Linux from a USB stick a good way to go?

Running a VM is my preferred option but the memory issues I've described have made this a non starter so far. Any ideas on how to fix this? Is Virtual Box a better option?

Thanks for your help.

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MikeB4

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#1870701 22-Sep-2017 08:57

Your best option if you want to keep Windows is to use dual boot where Grub handles the boot sequence, it is straight forward and there is complete instructions on ubuntu.com. Booting from a live USB is OK if you have a good PC and USB 3 but you need to set it up each time you use it.

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#1870711 22-Sep-2017 09:07

Ive been running Ubuntu on and off via Vbox for years and never had anything like that.

Im tempted to go Linux as my primary desktop and run Wine for anything Windows related (mainly games), but checking that the games I want to play in Wine is proving entertaining on its own :)

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davidcole

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#1870712 22-Sep-2017 09:10

I assume by "memory" you're actually talking HDD storage. Otherwise, damn, I want your system if you've got over 130GB of RAM to play with!!

How is the virtual machine replicating itself? As someone who's used Hyper-V and VMware Server/Workstation, I've never seen a VM replicate itself automatically. I've initiated it for a VM backup (and normally point the resulting copy somewhere else).

Have a look if you're got auto snapshots turned on or something like that. I assume you've not written any batch files/scripts to copy VMs or do something to the VMs from an external source?

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MikeB4

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#1870713 22-Sep-2017 09:11

I have tried Wine a few times and to keep inline with the FUG it's total poop. I use dual boot for that and it safes a lot on stress meds.

Technofreak

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#1870744 22-Sep-2017 09:49

davidcole:

I assume by "memory" you're actually talking HDD storage. Otherwise, damn, I want your system if you've got over 130GB of RAM to play with!!

How is the virtual machine replicating itself? As someone who's used Hyper-V and VMware Server/Workstation, I've never seen a VM replicate itself automatically. I've initiated it for a VM backup (and normally point the resulting copy somewhere else).

Have a look if you're got auto snapshots turned on or something like that. I assume you've not written any batch files/scripts to copy VMs or do something to the VMs from an external source?

No only 8GB of RAM.

I haven't deliberately set up auto snapshots.

Last night it seems to coincide with when I attempted to install Android Studio. The installation froze (actually the Linux system froze), I couldn't "Power Off" Linux and I had to go back to Windows and do an shutdown via Task Manager. All the replicated files had yesterdays date and were created within a short time frame. Perhaps they were created when the system froze.

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timmmay

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#1870818 22-Sep-2017 10:19

I use VirtualBox for linux VMs, it works well. You could give it a shot.

Technofreak

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#1871237 22-Sep-2017 21:58

I have decided to go down the dual boot path but with a slight twist.

I have a spare 128 GB SSD kicking around and I also have a case with a USB connection which allows me to connect the SSD to the laptop.

My plan is to choose this SSD for the install, rather than install Ubuntu alongside Windows and the laptops SSD. The BIOS is set up with the boot order being USB, DVD, Local Drive. So any time I want to run Linux all I have to do is plug in the SSD prior to boot. All other times the laptop will boot straight to Windows.

Are there any fish hooks with my plan? Is there any fear of the install interfering with the main Hard Drive on the laptop? I've read in a couple of places of a recommendation to disconnect the main Hard Drive during the install. I cannot see why this would be necessary.

Thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

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afe66

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#1871391 23-Sep-2017 11:09

Wouldn't using a usb connection negate the speed of the ssd? Might as well just use a fast usb memory stick and install it on that.

So you have a sd memory card slot in your laptop, could you install ubuntu to that instead?

I personally would go for dual booting beside W7 and set up w7 as the default os with a short time to select the alternative os.

The minimium install is 5GB but realistically how hard would it be to free 10-15GB from the laptop? I always seem to have GB of rubbish which I can easily delete from my laptops.

(I ran w7 Ubuntu dual boot for many several years on two machines and was surprised how much of what I _really_ did on my pc could be done on ubuntu. For games I just switched to w7 and ran from there. One of those machines I still use to rip my dvds)

(I also run mint 18.2 in Oracle VM on my w10, bit of a struggle on my 3 year old laptop though)