Reading HFS+ filesystem on Windows 7 (Read Only)

Here is a simple and free solution to read the HFS+ file system (used on a Mac) on a Windows 7 64 bit OS. This is particularly useful for people, who regularly use Mac OS, but need the ability to easily see their files (mostly on external drives), on a Windows computer.

This method uses Apple’s HFS driver, that comes with Boot Camp 4.0.1.

How to Install Apple HFS+ Driver:

- Uninstall MacDrive/Paragon/Tuxera [if you have any of these]
- Copy AppleHFS.sys & AppleMNT.sys to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\
- Merge Add_AppleHFS.reg
- Restart

How to Remove Apple HFS+ Driver:

- Browse to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\
- Rename AppleHFS.sys & AppleMNT.sys to AppleHFS.sy_ & AppleMNT.sy_
- Restart
- Browse to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\
- Delete AppleHFS.sy_ & AppleMNT.sy_
- Merge Remove_AppleHFS.reg

The driver can be downloaded here.

Original author for this solution: Quad5Ny on MacRumor forum.
Link to original discussion.

Installation of Solaris 10 on Virtual box

In this article, I will show, how I managed to install Oracle Solaris on my Virtual Box setup. I will include as many screenshots here, as I can.

There are two different ways to install Solaris:

• Download the DVDfrom Oracle website and install on Virtual Box.
• Download the VB Image and import in Virtual Box

I will use the second method to install Solaris. As Virtual Box and Solaris are provided by Oracle, the Solaris VB image has already been optimized for the latest version of virtual box.

My installation settings are:

• Host: Windows 7, 64 bit Enterprise
• Virtual Box: 4.1.18
• Solaris: Solaris 10_8-11 64bit
• Virtual Box extension pack

Preparation

1. Unzip the downloaded zip file to any place on your computer. You may delete the extracted files as well as the zip file later, after the installation is over.
2. Open Virtual Box and import the ovf file present in the extracted folder [Solaris10_8-11.ovf]. Virtual Box –> File –> Import Appliance
3. After import, the default values should look something like this:
4. You may modify the settings by double clicking on the text on the right.
   

   -I changed the RAM to 512 MB, as I will modify the installation later for text mode only.

   – I also changed the Virtual disk image location. Please make sure, you have enough disk space (around 6-8GB for default installation) on the disk selected here.

5. After you click import, it will take around 10-15 minutes (time may vary depending on your computer speed) to create the virtual disk.

After the import is complete, we will boot the virtual machine, which will start the configuration process. There is no actual installation involved. You need to configure the virtual machine setting before it is ready for use.

Configuration

After import, the virtual box will look similar to this:

• Click the Start button on the Virtual Box, selecting the Solaris OS, you will see something like:

NoteIf you do not have Virtual Box extensions pack installed, you may encounter errors after you click the Start button, saying something like: Virtual Box extension pack does not come with Virtual Box and can be downloaded from here. If you are using Virtual Box 4.0.16, then the pack can be downloaded from here. All the information can be found on the downloadsection of Virtual Box website. After you download the extension pack, it can be installed by selecting File –> Preferences –> Extensions. After installation it should look something like:

• On the startup screen (boot menu on section 2 above), press enter to start configuring your Solaris installation.
• Configure Keyboard and confirm using F2.

• Configure network connectivity. Select No, if you do not want to connect to any network. Generally Yes is selected, so that you can access the virtual machine from (at least) your host.

• Configure DHCP. I have turned DHCP on.

• Configure IPv6. It is better to keep this on. This enables both IPv6 and IPv4 on your VM.

Press F2 to confirm all your network settings on the next screen.

• Configure security on the next screen. I have selected “No”, so that it will use normal Unix security. This is enough for me, as I am planning to use it for personal use. You may select Kerberos security, if you like. What the heck is Kerberos? Read it here.

• Select Name Service. I have used “None” (for personal use). You may configure LDAP on NIS, depending on your requirement. Some organizations prefer one over the other.

• On the next screen, select NFSv4 domain derived by the system. As I have configured the name service as None, the default Domain Name is set to blank during this installation. I will update it to something else later on. On a personal computer, I am not much concerned about the NFS. You may also configure the NFS later too. I may write another post describing, how to configure Kerberos and NFSv4 later.
• Select your time zone, in the next configuration screen and setup your clock.

• Select a root password, on the next configuration screen.
• After the root password is set, the virtual machine will reboot and you will be presented with a login dialogue. As my domain or hostnames are not set, it says Welcome to unknown. You may set the hostname after logging in, by using a hostname <NewHostName> command in a terminal, as super user.

• Enter your root credentials and login. You will be presented with the default Solaris desktop and the Registration dialogue will popup. You may register your Solaris OS using your Oracle ID at this phase (optional).

• This Solaris VM comes with a Virtual Box guest add-on installed on it. If you are using some older Virtual Box software, you may have to install the Virtual Box guest add-on manually.
• To do that, click the devices menu and select Install Virtual Box guest add-on. This will mount a virtual CDROM in the /cdrom directory.
• For installation, open a terminal. Go to the /cdrom/vbox* directory and run autorun.sh.

Virtual Box guest add-on enables various features, including improved graphics, full-screen mode of the guest OS. I am yet to configure my sound card on the guest OS. The driver does not seem to be compatible. However, I am not much concerned about sound on this OS.

Congratulations!! You have installed Solaris on your computer.