Setting up a Mapped Network Drive in VirtualBox

I've set up a Windows XP virtual machine in VirtualBox to do .NET development. I want my work to be backed up by my host machine's backup software, but the 10GB virtual hard drives wreck havoc as the whole thing needs to be uploaded every time a single file on the virtual machine changes. To avoid this, I've set up a shared folder in the VirtualBox VM configuration, and in the VM I've mapped the share to a network drive. this way all the files on that mapped drive are stored on the file system of the host machine and can be backed up separately from the large virtual hard drive.

The steps were as follows:

1. Create a folder on the host machine to serve as the VM's network share (all mine are under ~/VirtualBox/Shares)
2. With the WinXP VM powered off, open up it's settings form the VirtualBox main console (right-click -> Settings)
3. Under 'Shared Folders', click the 'Add Shared Folder' button
4. Set the Folder Path to the folder you created above, note the Folder Name if you don't change it, and make sure the share is not marked as read-only. Click OK.
5. Power on the VM.
6. In Windows Explorer, open the 'Folders' side panel.
7. Navigate to 'My Network Places -> Entire Network -> VirtualBox Shared Folders' and open the shared folder you configured above.
8. Note (or copy to clipboard) the UNC path to the network share (probably something like "\\VBOXSVR\[folderName]")
9. In Windows Explorer, choose "Tools -> Map Network Drive"
10. Pick a Drive letter, and paste the UNC path from above into the 'Folder' text box. Ensure 'Reconnect at logon' is checked, and click 'Finish'.

Now you can open 'My Computer' and navigate to the drive letter you selected. The mapped drive will be there every time you start the VM.

Update 2/3/2011: Originally I removed the optical drive from the VirtualBox VM configuration so I could add the shared network drive as D: and move the optical to E:. But when I re-added the optical drive, the VM did not add the optical drive and had trouble mounting the network share to D:. After some tinkering, I ended up with the optical drive back on D: and mapped the network drive to E:. No trouble so far.

How I Configure A New WinXP System

I've just finished created a new WinXP VM in which I plan to do some .NET development. Since I was getting the system to a customized/workable state from essentially a clean installation, I thought I'd capture the typical tweaks I make when I start work on a new machine.

Typically, I prefer the cleaner (and more compact) "Windows Classic Style" over the "Windows XP Style", though on occasion I've used a tool to enable skinning of the WinXP UI. The windowing style can be set in the Display Properties dialog (right-click on the desktop -> Preferences), on the Appearance tab, via the 'Windows and buttons' pick-list.

I prefer to darken the standard light-grey window coloring. On the Appearance tab, click the Advanced button in the bottom-right. Then click on the OK button in the example window to set the Item picklist to "3D Objects". Pull down the "Color 1" color selector and choose 'Other' so you can set the RGB values to Red: 155, Green: 147, Blue: 128.

For the desktop background, I can usually find something on DeviantArt, or I might just go for a clean, solid color. Either way, it's set on the 'Desktop' tab of the Display Properties dialog. Some decent solid colors are:

• Green (R:25 G:70 B:25)
• Blue (R:0 G:67 B:128)
• Grey (R:73 G:73 B:73)
• VS2010 Blue-Grey (R:41 G:57 B:85)

Also, ClearType font smoothing is a must! Microsoft has an online setup wizard to turn this on (you'll have to install the ActiveX component).

While we're on fonts, I'm a huge fan of the Consolas font for any monospaced text editing (programming, notepad, the command prompt). You can download the Consolas Font Pack here. Though it says it's only for uses of Visual Studio 2005 or 2008, I was able to install it without a hitch.

In the QuickLaunch bar, I typically keep three icons visible, with the '>>' popup list for any others I may want. The three are:

1. A shortcut to 'My Documents' (more on this later)
2. Chrome (or Firefox, or IE if I'm in a locked-down ecosystem)
3. The "Show Desktop" link

For the 'My Documents' shortcut, I actually use a modified shortcut to Windows Explorer, as I prefer to have the Explorer 'Fodlers' sidebar open by default. The modifications are probably overkill, but I like it "just right". ;-) To create the shortcut, I copy the Windows Explorer shortcut from the Start menu (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories) and edit it (right-click -> Properties) to the desktop. On the 'General' tab, I change the name to 'My Documents'. On the 'Shortcut' tab, I change the "Run" picklist to 'Maximized' and change the Icon to match the normal My Documents icon (in 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\mydocs.dll'). Then just drag this shortcut from the desktop to the Quick Launch bar.

I also tweak the layout and options in Windows Explorer a bit. The navigation buttons toolbar gets changed to use small icons (right-click on it -> Customize -> change 'Icon options' to 'Small icons'). The menu, address, and navigation button toolbars are all dragged to all be on the same line across (navigation on far left, menu on far right, address filling the space in the middle). The Views drop-down is changed to Details. I also turn on the Status Bar (View -> Status Bar). Next, I go to Tools -> Folder Options, to the 'View' tab and click "Apply to All Folders" so these settings stick as I navigate around. In the View tab Advanced Settings list, I do the following:

• Select "Show hidden files and folders"
• Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"

As far as programs to install, here's a breakdown:

• Launchy - I can't live without this anymore!
• Chrome (or Firefox as a backup)
• WinLayout for window positioning/resizing at a keystroke.
• Notepad++

Launchy get's a little extra setup. In Launchy's Options (right-click on the system tray icon), on the General tab, check "Hide Launchy when it loses focus" and "Always on top", and change the hotkey combination to Control + Space. On the Skins tab, change the skin to "Spotlight Wide". On the Catalog tab, I'll add a custom folder (like "MyDocs\util\Shortcuts\") set to index "*.lnk" files, where I can throw any shortcut I want to be launchable.

Alright, that's all I can think of for now. I'll try to keep this updated as I think of further customizations.

Launching Windows Explorer in a Specific Directory

Here's something I've wanted to do for ages in Windows: starting Explorer in a specific directory from a shortcut. The command-line is this:

C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe /n,/e,c:\somepath

Note that the commas are necessary. Refer to this knowledge base article for info on the commane-line switches.

ClipX - Windows Clipboard History Manager

ClipX is a handy little tool I've been using for a while now. It's a clipboard history manager for Windows XP, which in laymen's terms means it remembers the last few things you've copied to the clipboard and allows you to re-use any of them. A customizable keyboard shortcut (I use Ctrl-Shift-V) pops up a small list of your clipboard history, and you just select the one you want to paste. You're no longer limited to keeping one thing on the clipboard at a time.

For example, let's say you're filling out an address form on a webpage, and you're copying fields like street address, city, state, and zip from a document. ClipX allows you to stash all four items on the clipboard and separately paste each one into the appropriate field in the webpage. No constantly jumping back and forth.

Or, as I find even more useful, let's say you're copying some text to a couple different places. You finish up, and grab the next bit of text you need to copy with a quick Ctrl-X and paste it to it's destination. But then you realize you missed one last location for the first value you copied. With the regular Windows clipboard, you've lost that first value and will have to go find and copy it again. But with ClipX you just put the cursor where you want to paste, tap the keyboard shortcut to bring up the ClipX clipboard history, and select your value from the list.

I can't emphasize enough how essential this little utility has become. It sounds like a small thing until you start using it every day. Now I can't imagine living without it!