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When I install one of the 90-day Windows 7 trial VMs for Virtualbox on an Ubuntu 16.04 host, everything works fine except sound. The Device Manager shows an unknown audio device, but can't find any driver for it. I'm not sure how to proceed, as I haven't had to deal with hunting down Windows drivers in a long time, and even then, I'm not sure what driver I'm looking for. A Windows driver for a virtual audio device to Linux? Would it be the driver for the physical audio device on the host?

Googling this problem is nearly impossible since a large combination of host/guest/sound issues come up for the same search terms.

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    You need to install the guest additions for full support for the virtual hardware.
    – user931000
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 2:18

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I'd be careful with any "trial" of Windows 7. Microsoft doesn't offer Windows 7 evaluations any longer, so the image could be compromised.
A fresh install of Windows 7 in Virtualbox will automatically install the necessary sound drivers. IIRC, the Windows 7 evaluations were made for Hyper-V so that could be the reason you're not getting sound.

Installing the VirtualBox additions should solve the issue. You will need to have your VM up and running to install the Additions.

  1. From the VirtualBox menu, Click "Devices" and then "Insert Guest Additions CD image"
  2. In Windows, you should be prompted by Autoplay to "run VBOXWindowsAdditions", click to run. If not, open explorer and double-click the D: drive
  3. Follow the wizard's prompts to complete the install
  4. When prompted by Windows Security, click "Install" to allow the device software to be installed. This will happen at least two times.
  5. Reboot

Under Device Manager you should see the "High Definition Audio Device"

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