allheart55 (Cindy E)
Administrator
As with any product that’s still in development, running Windows 10 Technical Preview has risks.
The safest and easiest way to install and work with the preview of the next Windows is within a virtual machine — here’s how.
Long-time readers might recall a similar article, the March 14, 2012, Top Story, “Step by step: How to safely test-drive Win8.” Today’s article is in the same vein but covers recent changes in virtual PC (VPC) software and the process of installing Windows 10 Technical Preview (Win10 Preview, for short).
If you’d like a quick refresher on what a VPC is and how it works, please see that March 14 article.
VPCs are not only safe and simple to set up — you can run them on just about any operating system. And in this case, both Windows 10 Preview and the virtual PC software are 100 percent free. Best of all, running in a VPC, Windows 10 Preview presents essentially no risk to your primary (host) system. It’s as if Win10 were installed on its own, separate, physical PC!
The three major steps to get everything going
These steps assume that you don’t have virtual-PC software already installed. As with that earlier Windows 8 article, we’ll use Oracle’s VirtualBox. Not only is it free, but it’s highly capable and relatively easy to set up. (Note: VirtualBox is updated frequently. If you already have it installed, now is a good time to get the latest version.) The steps are:
The requirements for running Win10 Preview inside a VirtualBox VPC are relatively modest. The vast majority of today’s PCs, running any current version of Windows — Vista, Win7, or Win8 — will likely meet or exceed the minimum specifications.
Here’s what you need:
Setup step 1: Download and install VirtualBox
Head over to the download section on VirtualBox.org. Under the VirtualBox platform packages heading, select VirtualBox {version number} for Windows hosts (as of this writing, it’s Version 4.3.16). It’ll run on all current versions of Windows.
Note: Oracle also offers the VirtualBox Extension Pack, a separate download that lets a guest operating system more fully integrate with a host OS. Your particular PC setup might — or might not — require the Extension Pack.
To keep things simple, I suggest installing just the basic VirtualBox package. If the Extension Pack is required, you’ll receive a prompt to that effect later on. You can then return to the VirtualBox download page to install the Extension Pack.
Once the VirtualBox for Windows hosts installation file has fully downloaded, click it and let the software begin the setup process (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Oracle's free VirtualBox provides a safe environment for testing software such as Windows 10.
After the opening screen, VirtualBox will offer two Custom Setup dialog boxes, the first of which is shown in Figure 3. Technical Preview works fine with the default settings — make no changes; simply click Next in both dialog boxes.
Figure 3. Accept the default settings for both this Custom Setup dialog box and the next.
You’ll receive a warning that your network interfaces will be reset (Figure 4). VirtualBox requires this step to hook into your PC’s networking system and allow a VPC (guest) operating system — Win10, in this case — to go online.
Figure 4. VirtualBox's warning that your network will be reset
This network interruption is brief, but it will temporarily drop your Internet connection. Make sure you don’t have any tasks such as software downloads in progress. Click Yes to continue with the VirtualBox setup.
Next, you’ll see a Ready to install confirmation screen.
Click Install. From that point on, the process is mostly automated; you’ll simply be prompted to allow various permissions along the way. Grant the required permissions and accept all default settings — eventually, you’ll see a final dialog box (Figure 5) reporting that the VirtualBox installation is complete. Click Finish.
Figure 5. Click the Finish button, and you're ready to set up a virtual PC.
Step 2: Save time; start the Win10 download now
Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, downloading Win10 Preview will take about 30 to 45 minutes (the ISO download files range in size from 2.91GB to 3.96GB). Configuring a virtual PC will take only a few minutes. So this is a good time to start downloading the Win10 Preview installation file. Let it download in the background while you set up the new Windows 10 VPC.
Win10 Preview is free but requires that you have a Microsoft account and that you sign up for the also-free Windows Insider Program (site). Once that’s done, click the “Install Technical Preview” link, which takes you to the ISO-file download page. Select the language and bittedness (32 or 64) of your choice and click Download.
If you’re currently running 64-bit Windows, you can download and run either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Win10 Preview; if you have a 32-bit system, you can use only the 32-bit version.
Note that there’s only one key — NKJFK-GPHP7-G8C3J-P6JXR-HQRJR — but you probably won’t need it.
Keep in mind that an ISO image file is essentially an image of a DVD. VirtualBox can use a Win10 Preview installation file directly — you don’t have to burn the image to an optical disk or flash drive. Just leave it on your PC in an obvious place, such as the Downloads folder.
Step 3: Create a new VPC for Win10 Preview
The first time you launch VirtualBox, its main VirtualBox Manager will display a welcome screen (Figure 6). Begin the process of setting up a new virtual PC by clicking the blue New icon in the manager’s upper-left corner.
Figure 6. Clicking New begins the process of creating a virtual machine.
VirtualBox will now walk you through a series of setup screens.
Step 4: Two final, preinstallation tweaks
By default, a new VPC will try to boot from its virtual hard drive. But the virtual drive for your VPC is currently empty. To install Win10 Preview on the empty drive, the VPC must first boot the downloaded ISO file, using a virtual optical drive. (At this point, however, the file is probably still downloading. Take a coffee break.)
Selecting the VPC’s virtual optical drive takes only a few clicks — as does the other preinstallation tweak, choosing the VPC’s pointer. Let’s start with the pointer.
Select the new Win10 VPC in VirtualBox Manager and click the Settings icon (the big orange gear), as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9. Click the Settings icon (the orange gear) in VirtualBox Manager.
Click to the System section in the Settings window. Under the Motherboard tab, click the Pointing Device dropdown box and choose PS/2 Mouse, USB Tablet, or USB Multi-Touch Tablet, depending on what pointing device your host PC uses. I’m using a standard, mouse-based PC, so I’ve selected PS/2 Mouse (see Figure 10). Click OK once you’ve made your choice.
Figure 10. Select the Pointing Device that your host system uses.
You now have to tell VirtualBox to use the Win10 Preview installation (ISO) file. The process is effectively inserting a virtual setup DVD into the VPC’s virtual optical drive. (The next few steps are illustrated in Figure 11.)
Click the main Settings icon again and select Storage. Next, in the Storage Tree box, under Controller: IDE, click Empty (#1 in Figure 11). New options will appear on the right side of the Storage screen.
Now, under Attributes, tick the Live CD/DVD check box (#2) and then click the disc icon next to CD/DVD Drive: IDE Secondary Master (#3). A pop-up menu will appear; select Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file (#4).
Figure 11. The Win10 ISO is opened in a virtual CD/DVD drive. Follow the steps described in the text.
That step opens a familiar, Explorer-like window. Navigate to the location of your downloaded ISO file — most likely in your Downloads folder — and select the file (typically labeled something similar to WindowsTechnicalPreview-x; see Figure 12). Click Open.
Figure 12: Find and select the downloaded Win10 Preview .iso.
You’ll then be returned to the Settings/Storage screen. Click OK.
Note: As mentioned earlier, you might see a dialog box prompting you to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack. The Extension Pack is free and can be downloaded from the same VirtualBox.org page where you obtained the base VirtualBox installation file.
Congratulations! The VPC setup is now complete; you’re ready to install and run Windows 10!
Step 5: Installing Win10 Technical Preview
In the VirtualBox Manager’s main menu, either double-click the Win10 VPC or select it and click the Start icon (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Start the Win10 VPC to install and set up the new operating system.
The VPC will now boot from the ISO installation file in the virtual DVD drive and launch Win10 Preview’s setup. Its initial screens will likely be familiar to you — they’re very similar to those of previous Windows versions.
Note: Your first click inside the VPC’s window might trigger a VirtualBox message stating that your cursor will be temporarily captured within the window. This is normal. If or when you wish to navigate outside the VPC window, simply press the left (or, on some systems, the right) Ctrl key to return mouse control to the host PC.
The first Win10 setup screen will ask you to confirm or change your language and keyboard type. Next, you’ll see a screen with an Install now button. Click it. You’ll then be asked to accept the license terms — do so.
A Which type of installation do you want? dialog box will open. Select the Custom install, as shown in Figure 13 — that’s the correct option for setting up Win10 on a previously unused hard drive, such as the VPC’s. (Figure 14)
Figure 14: Select Custom Install to set up Win10 on the VPC's empty hard drive.
Click Next and accept the offered defaults from here on out; Win10 will go through a complete, from-scratch setup on your VPC’s hard drive.
After some time, the VPC will reboot. Ignore the prompt to “Press any key to boot from the CD/DVD” and let the VPC boot normally from its hard drive. After the reboot, you’ll be stepped through a final series of Win10 settings (the defaults work fine) and personalization settings such as a request for your Microsoft Account credentials.
If you don’t have an MS account — or you don’t want to use an existing account — you can create a new account on the fly, for free. The final setup options and features are self-explanatory; again, they’ll look familiar to Win8/8.1 users (more on this at the end of this article).
When you’re done, Win10 will be up and running, ready for your test drive. If you selected a mouse-based pointing device, you’ll be taken directly to the Win10 Desktop, shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15. If all goes well, you'll have Win10 Technical Preview up and running in a virtual PC.
Note: Win10 Technical Preview has already had several updates. One of your first tasks should be to launch Windows Update. (Right-click the Windows-flag Start button and click Control Panel from the popup menu, click System and Security/Windows Update, and then click the Check for Updates link.)
A bit of housecleaning for smoother boots
At this point, your VPC is still set up to boot from the ISO-based installation file. If you leave things as is, you’ll get a “Press any key to boot from the CD/DVD” prompt every time your VPC starts up.
To avoid this, you need to disconnect the ISO file from the virtual DVD drive. Doing so takes only a few simple steps.
Shut down Win10 normally — i.e., right-click the Win10 Start button and select Shut down or sign out, then Shut down. When Win10 closes, you’ll be back at VirtualBox Manager. (Note: Most settings for a virtual PC can’t be changed while a virtual machine session is running.)
With the Win10 VPC selected, click the VirtualBox Settings icon and navigate to the Storage section. (You’ve been there before; see Figure 11.) On the right-hand side of the Storage window, click the disc icon next to the IDE Secondary Master item.
In the popup list of options, select Remove disk from virtual drive, as shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16. Once Win10 is running properly, select Remove disk from virtual drive in VirtualBox's Storage menu.
Click OK to close the Settings/Storage window. You’re done!
Taking Windows 10 Technical Preview for a spin
If you’re familiar with Windows 8, you’ll feel mostly at home with Win10 Technical Preview. The overall design is much the same but with many welcome improvements. For more information, see the “Highlights of the Windows 10 Technical Preview” subsection in the Oct. 9 Top Story, “Why you should join Win10′s tech-preview process.”
If you’ve never used Win8, the new OS might be a bit baffling. Windows Secrets’ previous Win8/8.1 articles should help you find your way.
Three good ones to start with:
Enjoy your Win10 Technical Preview test drive!
The safest and easiest way to install and work with the preview of the next Windows is within a virtual machine — here’s how.
Long-time readers might recall a similar article, the March 14, 2012, Top Story, “Step by step: How to safely test-drive Win8.” Today’s article is in the same vein but covers recent changes in virtual PC (VPC) software and the process of installing Windows 10 Technical Preview (Win10 Preview, for short).
If you’d like a quick refresher on what a VPC is and how it works, please see that March 14 article.
VPCs are not only safe and simple to set up — you can run them on just about any operating system. And in this case, both Windows 10 Preview and the virtual PC software are 100 percent free. Best of all, running in a VPC, Windows 10 Preview presents essentially no risk to your primary (host) system. It’s as if Win10 were installed on its own, separate, physical PC!
The three major steps to get everything going
These steps assume that you don’t have virtual-PC software already installed. As with that earlier Windows 8 article, we’ll use Oracle’s VirtualBox. Not only is it free, but it’s highly capable and relatively easy to set up. (Note: VirtualBox is updated frequently. If you already have it installed, now is a good time to get the latest version.) The steps are:
- Download and install VirtualBox on a standard PC;
- Use VirtualBox to create a new virtual machine that’s optimized for running Win10 Preview;
- Download Win10 Preview and install it on the new virtual machine.
The requirements for running Win10 Preview inside a VirtualBox VPC are relatively modest. The vast majority of today’s PCs, running any current version of Windows — Vista, Win7, or Win8 — will likely meet or exceed the minimum specifications.
Here’s what you need:
- At least 3GB of system RAM: Win10 Preview needs at least 1GB of RAM, VirtualBox needs about another 512MB, and the host system typically needs at least another 1GB or so. Add a skosh more memory for shared system functions. It’s better to have more than 3GB of RAM — the typical PC sold today comes with 6GB to 12GB. (To quickly check your system’s installed memory, click Start/Control Panel/System. In the System section, look for the heading “Installed memory [RAM].”)
- A minimum 30GB of available disk space: Win10 Preview needs about 25GB of free space plus another 4GB or so for the Win10 installation file — but as with RAM, more free drive space is always better. (You will, of course, get that space back when you delete the Win10 VPC.) The Win10 virtual machine doesn’t need to reside on your primary (C:) drive, but this will make the setup process a bit easier.
- Hardware-virtualization support: Almost all PCs sold in recent years feature built-in, hardware-level support for the kind of virtualization used by VirtualBox (and similar VPC/VM products). But older systems might not have this needed feature.
- Here are ways to determine whether your PC has virtualization support:
- One method is to simply install VirtualBox and set up a new VPC (more on that below). Next, click the VPC’s VirtualBox Settings icon and go to the System section. Click the Acceleration tab and check whether Enable VT-x/AMD-V is — or can be — checked, as shown in Figure 1.
(Note: On some systems, you might have to enable hardware-virtualization support in the host system’s BIOS. See this Windows SevenForums page for a quick how-to. For more on this topic, see “Details about hardware virtualization” on the “VirtualBox Technical background” page.)
-
Figure 1. VirtualBox's hardware-virtualization setting is under Settings/System/Acceleration.
If your system doesn’t support hardware virtualization, simply uninstall VirtualBox.
- If you’d rather find out in advance, Intel offers its free “Does my processor support Intel Virtualization Technology?” utility (more info). Likewise, AMD offers the “AMD Virtualization Technology and Microsoft Hyper-V System Compatibility Check Utility” on its Utilities page.
- (Scroll down toward the bottom of the list or click this direct download link.) You can also try Microsoft’s “Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool” (Download Center page), but the app works only on XP, Vista, and Win7 — not Win8.
- You can also look up the model number of your CPU on the manufacturer’s site and check the listed specs.
Setup step 1: Download and install VirtualBox
Head over to the download section on VirtualBox.org. Under the VirtualBox platform packages heading, select VirtualBox {version number} for Windows hosts (as of this writing, it’s Version 4.3.16). It’ll run on all current versions of Windows.
Note: Oracle also offers the VirtualBox Extension Pack, a separate download that lets a guest operating system more fully integrate with a host OS. Your particular PC setup might — or might not — require the Extension Pack.
To keep things simple, I suggest installing just the basic VirtualBox package. If the Extension Pack is required, you’ll receive a prompt to that effect later on. You can then return to the VirtualBox download page to install the Extension Pack.
Once the VirtualBox for Windows hosts installation file has fully downloaded, click it and let the software begin the setup process (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Oracle's free VirtualBox provides a safe environment for testing software such as Windows 10.
After the opening screen, VirtualBox will offer two Custom Setup dialog boxes, the first of which is shown in Figure 3. Technical Preview works fine with the default settings — make no changes; simply click Next in both dialog boxes.
Figure 3. Accept the default settings for both this Custom Setup dialog box and the next.
You’ll receive a warning that your network interfaces will be reset (Figure 4). VirtualBox requires this step to hook into your PC’s networking system and allow a VPC (guest) operating system — Win10, in this case — to go online.
Figure 4. VirtualBox's warning that your network will be reset
This network interruption is brief, but it will temporarily drop your Internet connection. Make sure you don’t have any tasks such as software downloads in progress. Click Yes to continue with the VirtualBox setup.
Next, you’ll see a Ready to install confirmation screen.
Click Install. From that point on, the process is mostly automated; you’ll simply be prompted to allow various permissions along the way. Grant the required permissions and accept all default settings — eventually, you’ll see a final dialog box (Figure 5) reporting that the VirtualBox installation is complete. Click Finish.
Figure 5. Click the Finish button, and you're ready to set up a virtual PC.
Step 2: Save time; start the Win10 download now
Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, downloading Win10 Preview will take about 30 to 45 minutes (the ISO download files range in size from 2.91GB to 3.96GB). Configuring a virtual PC will take only a few minutes. So this is a good time to start downloading the Win10 Preview installation file. Let it download in the background while you set up the new Windows 10 VPC.
Win10 Preview is free but requires that you have a Microsoft account and that you sign up for the also-free Windows Insider Program (site). Once that’s done, click the “Install Technical Preview” link, which takes you to the ISO-file download page. Select the language and bittedness (32 or 64) of your choice and click Download.
If you’re currently running 64-bit Windows, you can download and run either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Win10 Preview; if you have a 32-bit system, you can use only the 32-bit version.
Note that there’s only one key — NKJFK-GPHP7-G8C3J-P6JXR-HQRJR — but you probably won’t need it.
Keep in mind that an ISO image file is essentially an image of a DVD. VirtualBox can use a Win10 Preview installation file directly — you don’t have to burn the image to an optical disk or flash drive. Just leave it on your PC in an obvious place, such as the Downloads folder.
Step 3: Create a new VPC for Win10 Preview
The first time you launch VirtualBox, its main VirtualBox Manager will display a welcome screen (Figure 6). Begin the process of setting up a new virtual PC by clicking the blue New icon in the manager’s upper-left corner.
Figure 6. Clicking New begins the process of creating a virtual machine.
VirtualBox will now walk you through a series of setup screens.
- VPC name and OS: It’s best to keep virtual-machine names simple and obvious. In the following examples, I’ll set up a 64-bit version of Win10 Preview. So in the Name field, I’ve entered the utterly obvious title: Win10-64 Preview. Name your VPC as you like.
- Next, in the Type field, define the operating system: Microsoft Windows.
Last, use this handy shortcut when selecting the Version. The Win10 Preview uses the same VirtualBox presets as does Win8.1. So if you downloaded the 32-bit Win10 Preview, select Windows 8.1 (32-bit); if you downloaded the 64-bit Win10 Preview, select Windows 8.1 (64-bit). Figure 7 shows my choice.
Figure 7. Enter a name for the new Win10 VPC and then select Type and Version.
When you’re done, click Next.- Configure virtual memory size: In the “Create Virtual Memory” dialog box (Figure 8), make sure your Win10 VPC is assigned at least 1GB of RAM. More is better. Moving the slider control along the color-coded scale adjusts the amount of RAM available to the VPC. Keep the slider within the green section so that both the VPC and the host system have sufficient memory to run efficiently.
Figure 8. Keeping the memory slider out of the orange and areas will ensure that the host system has sufficient RAM for its own operation.
Click Next when you’re done.
- The rest of the configuration settings: You’ll next step through screens for Hard drive, Hard-drive file type, Storage on physical hard drive, and File location and size. Simply accept the default setting for each screen (“Create a virtual hard drive now,” “VDI,” “Dynamically allocated,” and “25GB” for the virtual-drive size).
Step 4: Two final, preinstallation tweaks
By default, a new VPC will try to boot from its virtual hard drive. But the virtual drive for your VPC is currently empty. To install Win10 Preview on the empty drive, the VPC must first boot the downloaded ISO file, using a virtual optical drive. (At this point, however, the file is probably still downloading. Take a coffee break.)
Selecting the VPC’s virtual optical drive takes only a few clicks — as does the other preinstallation tweak, choosing the VPC’s pointer. Let’s start with the pointer.
Select the new Win10 VPC in VirtualBox Manager and click the Settings icon (the big orange gear), as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9. Click the Settings icon (the orange gear) in VirtualBox Manager.
Click to the System section in the Settings window. Under the Motherboard tab, click the Pointing Device dropdown box and choose PS/2 Mouse, USB Tablet, or USB Multi-Touch Tablet, depending on what pointing device your host PC uses. I’m using a standard, mouse-based PC, so I’ve selected PS/2 Mouse (see Figure 10). Click OK once you’ve made your choice.
Figure 10. Select the Pointing Device that your host system uses.
You now have to tell VirtualBox to use the Win10 Preview installation (ISO) file. The process is effectively inserting a virtual setup DVD into the VPC’s virtual optical drive. (The next few steps are illustrated in Figure 11.)
Click the main Settings icon again and select Storage. Next, in the Storage Tree box, under Controller: IDE, click Empty (#1 in Figure 11). New options will appear on the right side of the Storage screen.
Now, under Attributes, tick the Live CD/DVD check box (#2) and then click the disc icon next to CD/DVD Drive: IDE Secondary Master (#3). A pop-up menu will appear; select Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file (#4).
Figure 11. The Win10 ISO is opened in a virtual CD/DVD drive. Follow the steps described in the text.
That step opens a familiar, Explorer-like window. Navigate to the location of your downloaded ISO file — most likely in your Downloads folder — and select the file (typically labeled something similar to WindowsTechnicalPreview-x; see Figure 12). Click Open.
Figure 12: Find and select the downloaded Win10 Preview .iso.
You’ll then be returned to the Settings/Storage screen. Click OK.
Note: As mentioned earlier, you might see a dialog box prompting you to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack. The Extension Pack is free and can be downloaded from the same VirtualBox.org page where you obtained the base VirtualBox installation file.
Congratulations! The VPC setup is now complete; you’re ready to install and run Windows 10!
Step 5: Installing Win10 Technical Preview
In the VirtualBox Manager’s main menu, either double-click the Win10 VPC or select it and click the Start icon (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Start the Win10 VPC to install and set up the new operating system.
The VPC will now boot from the ISO installation file in the virtual DVD drive and launch Win10 Preview’s setup. Its initial screens will likely be familiar to you — they’re very similar to those of previous Windows versions.
Note: Your first click inside the VPC’s window might trigger a VirtualBox message stating that your cursor will be temporarily captured within the window. This is normal. If or when you wish to navigate outside the VPC window, simply press the left (or, on some systems, the right) Ctrl key to return mouse control to the host PC.
The first Win10 setup screen will ask you to confirm or change your language and keyboard type. Next, you’ll see a screen with an Install now button. Click it. You’ll then be asked to accept the license terms — do so.
A Which type of installation do you want? dialog box will open. Select the Custom install, as shown in Figure 13 — that’s the correct option for setting up Win10 on a previously unused hard drive, such as the VPC’s. (Figure 14)
Figure 14: Select Custom Install to set up Win10 on the VPC's empty hard drive.
Click Next and accept the offered defaults from here on out; Win10 will go through a complete, from-scratch setup on your VPC’s hard drive.
After some time, the VPC will reboot. Ignore the prompt to “Press any key to boot from the CD/DVD” and let the VPC boot normally from its hard drive. After the reboot, you’ll be stepped through a final series of Win10 settings (the defaults work fine) and personalization settings such as a request for your Microsoft Account credentials.
If you don’t have an MS account — or you don’t want to use an existing account — you can create a new account on the fly, for free. The final setup options and features are self-explanatory; again, they’ll look familiar to Win8/8.1 users (more on this at the end of this article).
When you’re done, Win10 will be up and running, ready for your test drive. If you selected a mouse-based pointing device, you’ll be taken directly to the Win10 Desktop, shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15. If all goes well, you'll have Win10 Technical Preview up and running in a virtual PC.
Note: Win10 Technical Preview has already had several updates. One of your first tasks should be to launch Windows Update. (Right-click the Windows-flag Start button and click Control Panel from the popup menu, click System and Security/Windows Update, and then click the Check for Updates link.)
A bit of housecleaning for smoother boots
At this point, your VPC is still set up to boot from the ISO-based installation file. If you leave things as is, you’ll get a “Press any key to boot from the CD/DVD” prompt every time your VPC starts up.
To avoid this, you need to disconnect the ISO file from the virtual DVD drive. Doing so takes only a few simple steps.
Shut down Win10 normally — i.e., right-click the Win10 Start button and select Shut down or sign out, then Shut down. When Win10 closes, you’ll be back at VirtualBox Manager. (Note: Most settings for a virtual PC can’t be changed while a virtual machine session is running.)
With the Win10 VPC selected, click the VirtualBox Settings icon and navigate to the Storage section. (You’ve been there before; see Figure 11.) On the right-hand side of the Storage window, click the disc icon next to the IDE Secondary Master item.
In the popup list of options, select Remove disk from virtual drive, as shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16. Once Win10 is running properly, select Remove disk from virtual drive in VirtualBox's Storage menu.
Click OK to close the Settings/Storage window. You’re done!
Taking Windows 10 Technical Preview for a spin
If you’re familiar with Windows 8, you’ll feel mostly at home with Win10 Technical Preview. The overall design is much the same but with many welcome improvements. For more information, see the “Highlights of the Windows 10 Technical Preview” subsection in the Oct. 9 Top Story, “Why you should join Win10′s tech-preview process.”
If you’ve never used Win8, the new OS might be a bit baffling. Windows Secrets’ previous Win8/8.1 articles should help you find your way.
Three good ones to start with:
Enjoy your Win10 Technical Preview test drive!
