Installing Windows 7 in Ubuntu 11.10 using VirtualBox

Alright, so no matter what you do, you will more than likely have to deal with Windows even if you have switched everything over to Ubuntu because, well, many people use Windows.  I needed an install since I have a few older filed I need to work with in Windows.  I mean Windows isn't terrible, I just prefer Ubuntu and all the options it gives me.

Anyways, I chose to go with a VirtualBox installation as I do not prefer multi-boot since I am on;y occasionally going to be using it.  I have messed around a bit with VirtualBox and have installed a Fedora 15 OS and Linux Mint 11 OS.

I began the installation like the others and kept everything default.  However, after I saw the Windows boot screen it never went to the installation screen but instead gave me a black screen with the "Windows failed to start" error message.

I googled "installing windows 7 on virtualbox get an error windows failed to start" and found this helpful site which solved the problem.  http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~zhug/error-0xc0000225-when-installing-windows-on-virtualbox/

The issue is with

The cause of this problem is the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller), on which Windows depends. You must enable this feature in the virtual machine settings. 

Right click on the virtual machine in VirtualBox console window.

Select "Settings..." Click "System" tab on the left and check "Enable IO APIC" item.

YouTube video for installing Windows 7 on VirtualBox.  Sorry haven't watched it, but I assume it is good.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoSebbqBQQo

A couple of sites on the installation of Windows 7 in VirtualBox.

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7-on-virtualbox/

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/installing-windows-7-on-a-virtual-machine/