I am running Oracle Virtualbox on a Toshiba laptop running Microsoft Vista. I have used the Debian LiveCD iso file, which contains Python 2.6.6 as the source for the guest machine. When I run the guest machine some installation takes place and I have Debian and python available and working. Also there is a Debian installer available. Do I need to complete the installation as i cannot find any usb libraries?

I'm not quite sure what you have done, but a full Debian install set contains eight DVDs or I forget how many CDs.

If you are booting the VM to the Live CD, then yes, you will need to run the installer to complete the creation of your VM.

If you have an internet connection, the best option is to use the "web install," which installs a small bit from the disc, then downloads the bulk of the install over the web. I've used it several times, each time with success.

I downloaded debian as an iso file from the internet on the windows machine and mounted it on the disc for the VM system.
Tried using the installer, as suggested, with limited success so want to look more closely at the disc allocation on vm

Thanks for the help

You are confusing me also.

What does this debian vm have to do with python?

Live cd's are OK to use for installs but remember they also are suggested to run in live state.

A vm for your in this case ought to be treated just like it was a real computer. Anything that you want to do with a real computer ought to be available with this vm for the most part.

You can use almost any boot source to load and install an OS.

I am running Oracle Virtualbox on a Toshiba laptop running Microsoft Vista. I have used the Debian LiveCD iso file, which contains Python 2.6.6 as the source for the guest machine. When I run the guest machine some installation takes place and I have Debian and python available and working. Also there is a Debian installer available. Do I need to complete the installation as i cannot find any usb libraries?

Which version of VirtualBox do you have?

VirtualBox OSE does not offer access to USB. You need VirtualBox PUEL edition.

This article should help.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/virtualbox-usb.html

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I have just upgraded since your post but i went back to check and i do have the PUEL edition.

Link is very useful, thanks.

I am going to stop on this project as I seem to have a cd drive that is malfunctioning and preventing Virtualbox reading in code

Thanks to all

VirtualBox can boot from and ISO image so you don't need to burn a CD and use that.
The "some install takes place" you saw is, I think, Debian booting up from the live CD. When you see the desktop and there is an icon for installing Debian that means you are running from the live CD. To continue on and install Debian in VirtualBox, so that you have a normal installation, you would use the install option and when it comes to partitioning the hard drive just choose the default. That will give you a virtual Debian system that you can use as if it were running on real hardware.

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The VM that you made ought to support a usb in windows without any issue. To attach a real usb device you go to the vm manager and attach a usb device to the client.

If the USB libraries you are referring to are these:
http://packages.debian.org/search?se...rds=python+usb
Then, yes, it is likely that they will not be available on the Live CD and you will need to install to the virtual hard drive. Once you have done that you can get the required libraries using Synaptic or apt-get.