Ubuntu under VirtualBox in Windows 7 - how to set bigger screen resolution?

I have a Windows 7 with VirtualBox. I did install a fresh downloaded Ubuntu 14.04 (64bit). I did install the guest additions. I wanted to set the screen resolution to a higher value than 640x480. I did go over on/off (top right)--system settings--hardware--viewing devices.

I get only "eingebaute Anzeige" (German, Wnglish would probably be "builtin display") and only one screen resolution. I have found a howto for Ubuntu 9 and did try to edit/create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf. But this too didn't work.

Solution 1:

Sometimes the packaged version of the Guest additions gives better results.

So I'd suggest to update the Guest additions with the VM package manager. So login first into your VM and open a Terminal to type:

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

Finally restart the Ubuntu VM to complete the installation.

You should get access to higher resolutions now.

Solution 2:

Original screen size was 640 x 480.

In Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager go to:

File --> Preferences

Click on Display

On the Maximum Guest Screen Size dropdown change Automatic to None

Click on OK

On my Dell Precision M6500A laptop system running Windows 7 after restarting Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager and then starting the Ubuntu 14.0.4 VM my default screen settings (1024 x 768) were taken with (800 x 600) as a second choice