Accessing VirtualBox Windows Guest

[1.21gigawatts]

OK, for those who don't know, I've been battling an instability problem with Windows 7 running in VirtualBox. This has been a problem on two different motherboards (both SuperMicro) and at least two versions (9.3 & 9.10) of FreeNAS. I have plenty of processor and plenty of RAM.

Today, I did some more experimentation and found that I can crash the VM reliably (there's a weird twist of grammar) by connecting with VNC (tried three different VNC viewers) and rapidly dragging a window around on the virtual desktop. The VM does NOT crash when I do the same thing using RDP directly to the windows VM or when IO connect to the windows VM through citrix GoToAssist (which I use extensively to connect to my clients).

Further, when I connect with GoToAssist AND open a VNC connection, all is well until I drag a window around. It appears to be more stable if I set VNC to use only 256 colors, but it's still crashable - just not as easily.

So, "Simple," says I, "you're supposed to be able to connect to VirtualBox VMs through RDP, right?" Well, not so simple. When I try to connect to port 9000 (same as VNC port), I get "Because of a protocol error detected at the client (code 0x1104), this session will be disconnected." I have tried other ports, including 3389, with no luck. Is this something that's supposed to work? Do other people use RDP to connect to Windows virtual machines in VirtualBox on FreeNAS? HOW?

I can connect reliably with GoToAssist, but I'm unable to do so until the Windows system is running (at a login prompt). I suppose I could use VNC if I have to view the startup and then switch to RDP or GoToAssist once windows is up, but if I could just connect with RDP or fix the instability with VNC, that would be a lot better. Fixing the instability would go a long way towards increasing my comfort level.

Thanks for reading, and your input is welcome.

also, if this is the wrong place to be asking this, please let me know where would be a better place.

 

[danb35]

Do other people use RDP to connect to Windows virtual machines in VirtualBox on FreeNAS?

Yes. Don't try to connect to VirtualBox, connect to the Windows VM at whatever its IP address (or hostname, if you've given it one on your DNS server) is. You'll need to turn on support in Windows, of course (in Win7: Start menu, right-click on computer, Properties, Remote tab).

 

[1.21gigawatts]

Yes. Don't try to connect to VirtualBox, connect to the Windows VM at whatever its IP address (or hostname, if you've given it one on your DNS server) is. You'll need to turn on support in Windows, of course (in Win7: Start menu, right-click on computer, Properties, Remote tab).

Yes, that works fine, but it ONLY works after windows is running. As I said above,

I suppose I could use VNC if I have to view the startup and then switch to RDP or GoToAssist once windows is up...

I still would like to know what's causing the instability, and to know that simply avoiding VNC is really a solution, not just a longer fuse on the bomb.