How do I maximize the Ubuntu screen when it is a Virtualbox guest?

Question

I am VirtualBox on windows 7.

The VM has Ubuntu32bit (latest version) running.

I am unable to maximimze the Ubuntu window.

Here's a screen shot of what I see:

enter image description here

Please, please go easy on me! I'm a microsoft guy, and JUST started with linux.

Possible duplicate? http://askubuntu.com/questions/22743/how-do-i-install-guest-additions-in-virtualbox — fossfreedom, Oct 25 '12 at 20:25
I think this question is not a duplicate, because I would never have thought of fossfreedom's solution when asking the question. The link is not evident at first. — Agmenor, Oct 25 '12 at 20:31
@fossfreedom i did as stated in the link you provided and no change, i will now take the suggestion below thanks! — Alex Gordon, Oct 25 '12 at 20:42

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

4

As fossfreedom indicates in a comment, it is better to install the Virtualox Guest Additions first. See this question to do so: How do I install Guest Additions in a VirtualBox VM?.

After that, if you still have your problem, try changing the resolution of Ubuntu inside Ubuntu:

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

Community

answered Oct 25 '12 at 20:26

Agmenor

thank you ! the max display has already been set at 1024x768! what else shoudl i try? i did get the guest additions. do i need to restart windows? – Alex Gordon Oct 25 '12 at 20:44
It should be sufficient to restart your Ubuntu guest for additions to take effect. Then turn fullscreen with + F or scale mode with + A (hostkey is key in your case). – Takkat Oct 25 '12 at 21:20
thank you very much, that did SOMETHING, it made the background of virtualbox instead of grey, it made it black, but the linux is still th esame size – Alex Gordon Oct 25 '12 at 21:25

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 25 '12 at 22:30

3

here's what worked!!

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-guest-utils virtualbox-ose-guest-x11 virtualbox-ose-guest-dkms

answered Oct 25 '12 at 22:30

Alex Gordon

2

funny how hard you need to dig to find a solution to a problem that is very widely encountered. i guess google's algorithm isnt perfect – Alex Gordon Jun 27 '13 at 20:20
2

It's no longer "ose" now, just sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-utils. It pulls in dkms. – Dan Dascalescu Dec 01 '14 at 08:54

2 Answers2