Proper way to install newer VirtualBox version?

If currently my Win7 PC has VirtualBox 3.12 and I want to update it to 3.18 what is the proper way to install the new version?

1) Should I just install the new version over the previous version?

OR

2) Should I go to the control panel, uninstall the old 3.12 version first, then install the new 3.18 version?

Solution 1:

VirtualBox will automatically uninstall the old version in the background when you install the new version. (I know this because uninstall failed for me once and it did not continue with the installation.)

Only if the installer of the new version complains it cannot uninstall the old version, you should uninstall it manually and see why it did not work.

Solution 2:

The most recent version of Virtualbox is 3.2.4 and the beta for 3.2.6 is out http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

I have always just installed over the top of the previous versions, without problem. The only consideration are the guest additions, for which you will receive a prompt to upgrade, assuming you use these.