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I'm working on converting a brand new Windows 8 install (came preloaded on a new laptop) into a virtual machine I can open with VirtualBox with Ubuntu as the base OS.

I first installed Ubuntu onto a new SSD, and then attempted to boot to the Windows 8 drive when it was connected via USB. Windows 8 wouldn't boot, so I then had to place that drive (which was the original drive) back into the laptop, so that I can do an initial boot (and let Windows 8 configure itself for first-time use).

I used the Windows Disk utility to shrink the Windows partition. I then downloaded and ran VMware vCenter Stand-Alone converter, and shrank it even further. I also made the following changes to the destination .vmdk file:

  1. Went from 4 processors to 2
  2. Went from 8GB RAM to 2GB RAM
  3. Shrank the disk image down to 50GB

I then put the SSD back into the laptop, booted into Ubuntu, and fired up VirtualBox. Copied the .vmdk file over from the original hard drive, and tried to boot.

First, got a message saying that no media disk was found, and so I reviewed the VirtualBox settings, and checked the checkbox in the Settings -> System screen to "Enable EFI".

Now, when I try to boot the virtual machine, all I get is a black screen, and nothing else. No text, no other output.

Is there something I did wrong, and/or something I'm missing? Anything else I can try?

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Are you getting a cursor? It may have crashed on boot and hung there in limbo.

Try creating and mounting a VHD file in Virtual Box. I know the Windows version handles them without a problem, but I do know it doesn't like the VHDx version or extended version of the file.

These links might help.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/haroldwong/archive/2012/08/18/how-to-create-windows-8-vhd-for-boot-to-vhd-using-simple-easy-to-follow-steps.aspx

http://www.qc4blog.com/?p=84

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