Friday, April 2, 2010

Solution: Mouse disappears when using Skype Share Desktop in Windows VirtualBox VM on Ubuntu Linux Host

That’s a mouthful. But I have an easy solution to this annoying problem. It happens when I run Skype in a Windows VM, and then opt to share desktop. The mouse will disappear, which makes for a tough time navigating around.

This is my configuration:

  • Host OS: Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (with all updates)
  • Guest OS: Windows XP SP3 (with all updates)
    • Guest additions have been installed
  • Hypervisor: VirtualBox 3.1.4
  • Skype: Windows version 4.2.0.155
  • Hardware: Dell Latitude E6400

Solution

Is simple. When I installed

guest additions, it enabled a feature called “Mouse Integration”. It is enabled by default. However, with Skype it causes this mouse problem.

For the duration of your Skype call, simply disable Mouse Integration and this problem goes away. Do this from the VirtualBox menu bar for your VM:

  • Machine –> Disable Mouse Integration
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