How to Re-Add Virtual Machines in VirtualBox

By Tolga Bagci January 15, 2020 Oracle VM VirtualBox 0 Comments

In this article, we will examine the steps to re-add the virtual machines used on the old version of Oracle VM VirtualBox to the new version.

How to Import an Existing Virtual Machine into VirtualBox

When you update the Oracle VM Software, or when you setup VBox after installing a new system, the virtual machines you installed will not be automatically added to the program.

To add VirtualBox to previously installed VMs, you need to export the machines. Once you have exported the machines, you can easily add your previous configuration to VBox with Import.

However, if you have not exported the VMs and want to re-add the machines, you can resolve this problem once you have completed the stages in this article.

To re-add the VMs you installed previously to VBox, you have to add them as if you were installing a new virtual machine with Oracle software.

How to Reinstall Virtual Machines to VirtualBox

Follow the stages below in order to add the virtual computers that you have previously installed on your Hard Disk or an external disk.

Step 1

When you update your Oracle VBox program or setup it on a new computer, you may see the following image that the machines are not added automatically.

The VMs installed with VBox are listed in the left panel as follows.

Step 2

Open the location of the VMs previously installed with VBox. For example, you can double-click on the Windows 7 VM and see that it is not automatically added to the Oracle VBox program.

Step 3

If we try to add the VM by dragging and dropping it, the operation will not be successful.

Step 4

Therefore, you can add VMs installed by creating a new VM. From the menu, click on the New button and select the VM name and version.

Then click on the Next button to continue.

Step 5

You can set the RAM size for the VM you added in the following window. For Windows 7 VM, 2 GB of RAM value will suffice. After specifying the RAM size, click on the Next button.

Step 6

This action is the most important. You can select the Use an existing virtual hard disk file option as shown below and click the Browse button.

Step 7

In the window that opens, select the Windows 7.vdi VM hard disk file and click the Open button.

Step 8

After adding an existing VM to Oracle VBox, click the Create button.

Step 9

After the VM is added to the panel, click the Start button to run the VM. As you can see in the following image, the Windows 7 VM is functioning properly.