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Victor Kamau — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:03:29 +0000

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My Journey at LuxDevHQ: MS Excel For Analytics

Victor Kamau — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 16:56:08 +0000

Microsoft Excel running in Windows OS

TLDR;

This post seeks to provide an beginner-friendly introduction into using Microsoft Excel for basic data analysis.

Click here to Get Started, particularly if Excel is fully functional on your machine.

Introduction

Microsoft Excel is a proprietary spreadsheet editing software developed by Microsoft as part of its Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office suites of software. ¹

First released in September 1985, it has evolved to support macOS, Android, iOS and the cloud. Some of it's key features, which make it invaluable for data analysis, (and which we shall utilize later) include:

Spreadsheets and Data Organization
Formulas and Functions
Data Visualization
PivotTables and PivotCharts
Data Validation
Conditional Formatting
Data Sorting and Filtering and so much more. ²

There exist alternative spreadsheet programs such as LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets which are free and have the additional benefit of being able to process Excel's proprietary file format (XLS / XLSX).

However, for the course of this article, and for suggested optimal performance, we shall use Excel running on Windows OS. Follow this video as a guide on how to download and install MS Excel on Windows.

Overview

MS Excel is designed to work with spreadsheets. It enables performance of various functions such as data storage and organization, arithmetic calculation and report creation. Its basic window is a workbook consisting of user-created worksheets with a default sheet typically named Sheet1. This enables easy organization and categorization of data.

Typically, a sheet primarily consists of a workspace, which is a grid-based structure arranged in numbered rows and letter-named columns. This structure allows for efficient data entry and organization of manipulations like arithmetic operations. An individual intersection of a column and row forms a cell, which can be referenced by a value based on its intersection. For example, A1 references the cell composed from the intersection of row A and column 1. Each cell can hold data which can be of different types, including Number (default), Text, Date and Currency, among others.

At the top of the window is the command bar (Ribbon), organized into tabs (e.g. Home, Insert, View, etc.) that contain related groups, which in turn hold commands (e.g. buttons, menus, dialog launchers etc.) to perform tasks, offering quick access to features such as formatting, data analysis and charts. ³ Between the ribbon and work area is a row containing the Name Box, where the active cell is referenced, and Formula Bar, which shows either the active cell's content or formula.

Excel Workbook

Getting Started

We shall be working with this workbook containing a sample HR dataset for this article. Once your Excel is activated, download the file (File -> Download -> Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)) and open the workbook. You should have a window with the workbook in view mode as shown below.

Sample HR Dataset in MS Excel

We shall then rename the default worksheet (Sheet1) using the following steps:

Right click on the sheet tab.
Select Rename from the menu that appears.
Change the name of the original worksheet from Sheet1 to, say, OriginalData.

Renaming Original Worksheet

Data Cleanup

When working with Excel workbooks, particularly those populated by multiple people, data is likely to:
a) have discrepancies, such as duplicates and invalid data, and
b) be unpresentable, e.g. due to poor formatting.
Thus, when carrying out data analysis, the first task will most likely be cleaning up the data.

Creating Cleanup Worksheet

Starting off, we shall begin with duplicating the existing worksheet in preparation for cleanup. This is particularly important in preserving data integrity by ensuring the original data is intact, particularly if, for example, an issue occurs while working on the workbook.

To achieve this, while pressing on the Ctrl (or Command on macOS) key, drag and release the OriginalData sheet tab to duplicate. Rename this new sheet to CleanupData.

Cleanup Data Worksheet

Fitting Data

Primarily, we shall change the column widths to ensure that all the data is fully visible. Click on the top left corner of the work area (between A and 1 - there's an arrow pointing down) to select the entire work area. Then, in the Ribbon, click on Home tab then, in the Cells group, click on the Format button to reveal various formatting options. Select AutoFit Column Width to have Excel adjust all the columns based on the width of the largest content in each respective column.

Adjusting Column Widths

This process may need to be repeated continuously as the data is added or updated.

Setting Data Types

By default, all cell data in Excel is stored as Number and assigned General data type. However, this may not be appropriate for different data such as names, dates and prices. As such, it is important to have appropriate types assigned to the different data.

First, we shall convert Employee ID to Text. Why would we do this, particularly since the IDs are numeric? Well, unique identifier information, such as IDs, email addresses, phone numbers etc., are not involved in arithmetic operations outside of counting rows and as such should be saved as Text.

Click on the column label (A) to highlight and select the whole column. Then, in the Ribbon, click on Home tab then, in the Number group, click on the small "arrow down" icon in the bottom right corner.

Changing Data Type of Column

This will open a Format Cells dialog. Under Number tab, in the Category list, select Text then click OK.

Format Cells Dialog

The Employee ID will be formatted as Text, which is illustrated by the shifting of the column cell contents from right to left.

Employee ID formatted as Text

For practice, convert the other columns to the following data types.

Column Name	Data Type	Details
First Name	Text	-
Last Name	Text	-
Department	Text	-
Salary	Currency	Decimal places: 2 Symbol: $
Hire Date	Date	Type: 2012-03-14 Locale (location): English (United States)
Age	Number	Decimal places: 0 Use 1000 Separator (,)
Gender	Text	-
Performance Score	Number	Decimal places: 0 Use 1000 Separator (,)
Full-Time	Text	-
Bonus	Currency	Decimal places: 2 Symbol: $
Marital Status	Text	-
Education Level	Text	-
Work Experience (Years)	Number	Decimal places: 0 Use 1000 Separator (,)
Employee Type	Text	-
Office Location	Text	-
Project Count	Number	Decimal places: 0 Use 1000 Separator (,)
Last Promotion Year	Text	-
Remote Work Status	Text	-
Annual Training Hours	Number	Decimal places: 0 Use 1000 Separator (,)
Manager Feedback Score	Number	Decimal places: 1

The formatted worksheet should look similar to the below. What did you get? Comment below 👇

Data Type Formatted Worksheet

Wikipedia. (2026, Jan 24). Microsoft Excel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel ↩
AlmaBetter. (2025, Aug 25). Top 12 Advanced Features of MS Excel in 2025 https://www.almabetter.com/bytes/articles/features-of-ms-excel ↩
Ablebits. (2023, Nov 02). Excel ribbon: quick guide for beginners https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/excel-ribbon-guide ↩

My Journey at LuxDevHQ: Version Control (The Basics)

Victor Kamau — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 09:57:40 +0000

Version Control with Git

TLDR;

This post provides an in-depth guide into version control in software development and collaborative project.

You can click here to install and configure a version control system (VCS) or here to connect with an online VCS repository service.

Introduction

In a previous post, we were able to successfully set up a Windows virtual machine using VirtualBox. This left us ready to begin working on data science projects.

But, data science, like most tech fields, boils down to code and files. And thus, we must consider a number of questions around these, including:

How do we store them?
How do we track changes made?
How can we access them across different machines?
How can we share them with collaborators?

This is where version control comes to save the day.

Version Control / Source Control

Version Control is defined as "the practice of tracking and managing changes to software code". ¹ Essentially, it is a mechanism of keeping track of changes made to computer files, particularly source code files, with the ability to view old versions and optionally revert a file to a preferred previous version.

It has been around in some form for as along as humans have worked with computers, with early attempts having collaborators managing sharing of computer files and projects, through means such as pendrives, emails and shared folders. Most approaches were clunky, with no built-in way of detecting who made what changes to what files and folders when. This resulted in teams coming up with strange conventions e.g. folders being named project, project1, project-latest etc. Also, errors such as accidental overwrites were quite common with users commonly having their work lost when others working on the same files and folders posted their work to the common storage area after them.

Ultimately, all these problems led to the rise of Version Control Systems (VCS). These are software tools used mostly in, but not limited to, software development and collaborative projects to automatically track and manage changes to source code files.

Benefits of such systems include:

Automated functionality to record and track every update to code base.
Enhanced collaboration without fear of accidental permanent overwrites.
Easy reversion to previous versions of specific files and folders (or the project as a whole).
Ingrained, structured history which simplifies auditing of the project's progression.

There exist a number of popular VCS tools used by individuals, teams and enterprises globally, including Mercurial, Subversion, Fossil and CVS. The most popular one, however, and also the focus of this article and VCS in use at LuxDevHQ, is Git.

Git

Git is a lightning-fast, free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. ²

It was originally developed by Linus Torvalds - the creator of Linux - as version control for the development of the Linux Kernel. It has since grown to become used by over 93% of developers worldwide. It is compatible with and installable on most conventional operating systems as well as on technologies such as Docker.

Installation

To install on one's machine, head on over to the Install for guidance on the specific OS.

For Windows Users

Visit here and download the latest version of Git for Windows which includes a command line interface (CLI) within which one can run Git commands (known as Git Bash).

Git Install for Windows

Upon completion of the download, double click on the file to trigger installation. Click Yes when prompted for User Account Control (UAC) permission. This will open the Git Setup Wizard.

Most of the default configurations should suffice so you can consistently click "Next" throughout the process. (Should you encounter a configuration that you wish to change, kindly feel free to change it.) Once done, the installation will run for a few seconds. Upon completion, check the Launch Git Bash option, uncheck View Release Notes then click Finish. It should open a window similar to the one below.

Git Bash

For macOS Users

The easiest way to install Git on macOS is using Homebrew, a tool that simplifies installation of software tools on macOS and Linux. If you don't yet have Homebrew on your computer, download and install it first.

Once Homebrew is ready, run brew install git in Terminal (macOS' CLI). This will install Git on macOS and have it ready for use.

For Linux Users

A number of Linux distributions have Git bundled and installed within the OS. However, if your OS doesn't have it (run git --version in the Terminal to confirm), then visit here and follow the instructions for the particular distribution.

Setup

Before continuing, confirm that Git is properly installed and functional by running
git --version

If output is similar to the following, then you are begin setting up Git.

Git Version Output

First off, there needs to be a global user configured to use Git (this can be overridden within individual repositories). To do this, run the following commands:

User's name git config --global user.name "<Your Name>"
User's email address git config --global user.email "<your.email@emaildomain>"

NB: Replace <Your Name> and <your.email@emaildomain> with actual name and email address, respectively.

Once done, run git config --list to confirm the configurations have applied correctly.

Repository Setup

Now, let's cross over to creating and configuring a Git repository. A repository is a central location in which data is stored and managed. Within the context of a software project, it can be thought of as the root folder containing the source file and code.

First, we shall a create our project folder

Create a folder within the CLI
mkdir -p test-project

NB: -p instructs the CLI to create any intermediate parent folder that may be missing.
Navigate into the new folder
cd test-project
Create a sample README
touch README.md
Populate the README with some informative message
echo "This is a test project showing how to set up a Git repository" >> README.md

NB: You can confirm that the content has been written into the README file using the following command
cat README.md
Being a data science project, let's create a test a sample Python that simply prints greetings to the CLI
touch test.py && echo "print('Hello, World')" >> test.py

NB: You can combine multiple commands using the && operator.
Let's now list the content of the current folder (i.e test-project) to confirm that all our files are in place
ls .

If you see both of our newly created files (i.e README.md and test.py), then you are good to continue.

NB: . in the command ls . represents our current working folder.

NB: You can find a cheat sheet of common Linux commands that can run in the CLI here.

Now, let's configure our folder into a git repository

Initialize the repository git init
Stage the created files in preparation for committing git add .
Commit the new files with an optional message git commit -m "Initial Commit"

Your CLI with the commands executed should appear as in the screenshot below

Git Repository Setup on CLI

We can now create its corresponding repository on an online Git repository service.

GitHub

Git, while being a distributed VCS, is largely a tool running on user's local machine. As such, particularly in collaborative projects, there needs to be a mechanism in which a Git repository can be accessed and utilized by different team members remotely.

Fortunately, there exist a number of services that provide such functionality. They are typically web-based platforms that host Git repositories, providing a centralized location for storing code, tracking changes, and enabling collaboration among developers. Furthermore, these platforms offer additional functionality including:

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) automation
Access Control and Security on repositories
Collaboration Tools such as issue tracking, pull requests etc.
Integrations with third-party apps and services among others.

A number of them are free to create an account in and use, although there typically exists incurred charges for specified features. Examples include GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket.

Of these services, the most widely used is GitHub. It was released in February 2008 and acquired by Microsoft in October 2018. ³ It has over a billion published repositories and is what will be used for both this article and the entirety of the course.

Account Creation

To get started with GitHub, one needs to have a registered account, which can be achieved by following the steps below:

Visit GitHub's website and clicking the Sign up button in the top left corner. This will redirect to Account Creation page.

GitHub Account Creation Page

Fill in the form with your details to proceed. Pick a strong password or use a tool like LastPass to help generate (and even store) a secure password for you. Choose a distinctive user name that you can remember. Alternatively, create an account using Google or Apple for simplified but secure signing up.

Afterward, GitHub will determine if you are human (and may require you to complete a captcha to verify). Once verified, GitHub will send a verification code for you to enter. Once inputted, this will complete your registration and GitHub will redirect to the Sign In page.

GitHub Account Sign In Page

Input a Username / Email address and Password (or continue will Google / Apple if you used either of those options to create your account) then click Sign in. This is log you in and redirect you to your dashboard.

GitHub Account Dashboard Page

Repository Creation

In the dashboard, click on the "Create repository" button so as to have a new centralized storage for our project codebase. This will redirect to the repository creation page.

GitHub Repository Creation page

Provide a Repository name (we can reuse our project's root folder name - test-project), Description (this is optional), then leave all the other fields as is and click Create repository. (Public visibility means that the new repository will be accessible by anyone on the internet.) Successful creation will redirect to the new repository's page.

New GitHub Repository Page

It's now time to connect the online GitHub repository with the local Git repository.

Connect local repository to remote repository

Atlassian. (2026, Jan 16). What is version control: Atlassian Git Tutorial https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/what-is-version-control ↩
Git. (2026, Jan 18). Git https://git-scm.com ↩
Git and GitHub Use, Collaboration, and Workflow. (2026, Jan 18). History of GitHub https://pslmodels.github.io/Git-Tutorial/content/background/GitHubHistory.html ↩

My Journey at LuxDevHQ: Windows Setup (VirtualBox)

Victor Kamau — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 07:35:16 +0000

Windows OS running in a Virtual Machine

TLDR;

This post provides an in-depth guide into the process of setting up a Windows OS virtual machine running on Oracle VirtualBox.

You can click here to navigate to VM installation & configuration or here for Windows setup.

Introduction

To get started with data science, one needs access to a machine with an installed graphical operating system (OS) upon which operations and requisite tools will run. Common OS of this type include Windows, macOS and Ubuntu Desktop, among others.

At LuxDevHQ, one is advised to have a laptop with, at minimum:

Processor (CPU): Core I5
Base Memory (RAM): 8 GB
Disk Size (Storage): 500 GB
Access to stable internet connection.

Most tools in use are compatible with multiple OS but some, such as Microsoft Excel and Power BI, are exclusive to, or work best on, Windows. As such, it is most prudent to use Windows.

Virtual Machine

In my case, I mostly use either Ubuntu or Mac. Subsequently, I had to setup Windows afresh on my machine. To achieve this, rather than purchase a new machine or mess with my current one, I chose instead to install Windows on a virtual machine and set it up there.

A virtual machine (VM) is a "compute resource that uses software instead of a physical computer to run programs and deploy apps" ¹. Essentially, one can have multiple operating systems ("guests") running on one physical machine ("host"), possibly on top of another OS.

Benefits of virtual machines include, but not limited to:

Machine Limitations
- Situations arise where one needs to work with software that are incompatible either with the host OS or the underlying physical machine.
- Instead of buying a new machine, or resetting an existing one, and setting it up afresh, one can install a VM and configure it to meet the conditions required for running the software.
- This can include setting up a wholly different OS (e.g. Windows) on top of an existing OS (e.g. macOS).
- Such an approach winds up saving on cost, physical space and time, among others.
Testing
- Every once in a while, a new software, - or an entirely new OS - comes along with the promise of improving (or even revolutionising) productivity.
- As such, to evaluate said software and ascertain its value, instead of installing on the physical machine - possibly negatively impacting normal operations or the machine itself, one can spin up a VM and run it in an isolated environment.
- This improves security and protects sensitive operations from possible harm.
Legacy Support
- Some organisations have legacy systems and applications that run on and require outdated, or quickly fading, technologies.
- In the event that said legacy software is crucial for core operations and the business is unable to migrate to newer / updated software, dedicated virtual environments can be set up with the specifications required.
- This protects from unexpected disruptions, e.g. from unwanted updates, and enables proper planning and resource allocation for when migration will need to occur.

Virtual Machines are not without drawbacks, which include:

Performance Retardation
- Running multiple VMs on a single host can degrade performance, particularly on machines with below-par specifications (e.g. RAM, storage, e.t.c.).
Cost
- Spinning up a cloud-based VM, or running proprietary virtualisation software, can incur charges for usage.

A virtual machine can be set up locally on a user's machine or deployed globally on a public cloud.

For this post, I will be setting up a Windows VM locally on my machine. In a later post, I will replicate the process in a cloud VM.

Hypervisor / Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM)

Before getting started with a virtual machine, one has to install a hypervisor, which is a software that creates and runs multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine through allocation of underlying physical computing resources to individual VMs as required ².

Depending on architecture and desired performance, hypervisors are broadly classified into 2 categories ² ³:

Type 1 (bare-metal) Hypervisors
- These do not require a host OS and, instead, are installed and run directly on the physical machine ("bare metal").
- Host machine typically does not have any installed OS and the hypervisor itself doubles as a lightweight OS.
- Due to this, such hypervisors have direct access to hardware resources and tend to be scalable, efficient, highly performant and independent of risks inherent to host OS, improving security and stability.
- Conversely, however, such software tend to be proprietary and expensive (though some are free and open source), requiring dedicated hardware and skilled staff to handle setup and management.
- As such, they typically are used in enterprise data centres and by cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Examples: VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), and Xen.
Type 2 (embedded / hosted) Hypervisors
- These run on top of an operating system installed on the physical machines and typically run as applications within the host OS.
- Presence of the host OS means such hypervisors do not have direct access to and control over hardware resources.
- Instead, resources are allocated by an system administrator, with the hypervisor in turn distributing them to the VMs.
- Because of this, they are less efficient & performant and are prone to risks inherent to the host OS, affecting security and stability.
- On the other hand, they are easy to install, configure and operate, thus not requiring any specialised knowledge. Additionally, a number of them are free with at least one being open source.
- Such factors make them ideal for personal, non-enterprise or non-mission critical usage.
- Examples: Oracle VM VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, Parallels Desktop and QEMU.

Ultimately, choice of hypervisor to use boils down to the needs and resources of the user / organisation and the intended usage.

For me, since I just wanted to install Windows on my personal macOS for usage in learning, I went ahead to use VirtualBox since it is free and compatible with most conventional OS. Thus, this guide should be replicable, at least for any OS upon which VirtualBox can run.

VirtualBox

It is defined as "general-purpose full virtualisation software for x86_64 hardware...targeted at laptop, desktop, server and embedded use." ⁴ It has cross-platform compatibility and is available for personal and enterprise usage.

To get started, head on over to the Downloads page and select the platform package for your particular OS. I am installing on a macOS (Intel) host computer so I selected macOS / Intel hosts.

Oracle VM VirtualBox Downloads Page

Upon clicking on the package, you will be prompted to confirm saving of the installer file with a positive response initiating the download. Wait for completion. The duration will depend on the size of the chosen file and the stability & speed of your internet connection.

On completion of download, navigate to the destination folder ("~/Downloads" in my case) and double-click the file to run the installer.

Downloaded VirtualBox macOS (Intel) Installer

If on a Windows host computer, you will be prompted for User Account Control (UAC) permission. Click Yes to accept. On macOS, double-click on the "pkg" icon to start the installer.

VirtualBox macOS (Intel) Installer

Click Continue from the introduction and Install so as to install the software for all users of the computer (Change Install Location if you wish to install either only for current user or to install to specific disk / directory). On macOS, I was prompted to input my password to validate confirmation.

VirtualBox macOS (Intel) Installation Confirmation Window

Installation will run for a short duration then complete successfully if no issue arises. On Windows, click Finish to open up VirtualBox. On Mac, click Close, accept moving of installer to trash if prompted then open VirtualBox from Launchpad or Applications folder in Finder.

When opened, the VirtualBox window will appear as below (Specific appearance might vary based on VirtualBox version and the particular host OS).

VirtualBox macOS (Intel) Application

Regardless of specific appearance, as long as the application opened without failure, then the VirtualBox installation was successful and you are now ready to install and setup Windows OS.

PS: If you experienced an issue with VirtualBox up until this point, kindly reach out to Oracle Support for assistance.

Windows

Microsoft Windows is a proprietary closed source graphical operating system developed and marketed by Microsoft with the term "Windows" collectively describing several generations of Microsoft OS products ⁵. The first major version, Windows 1.0, was released in November 1985 and Windows as a whole has grown to become the most used desktop OS globally with Windows 11, the current major release now ranking as the most used Windows desktop OS version as at January 2026.

To install Windows 11 in VirtualBox, one needs a copy of the OS as an ISO file which is the format VirtualBox uses to boot up and install the OS on a virtual machine. We can download the Windows 11 ISO file here. On this page, scroll down to the "Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices" section and select the "Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO for x64 devices)" option then select preferred language (I chose "English (United States)" then click "Confirm".

Windows 11 ISO Download Page

On confirming, Microsoft will validate your request (should take a few seconds) then reveal the download button which, on clicking, will initiate the actual download.

Windows 11 ISO Download Button

NB: The ISO file is a relatively large file (~7GB in my case) so ensure you have access to a stable internet connection and adequate space on your machine.

Upon download completion, go back to the VirtualBox window and click on "New". You should see a pop-up modal with a form for creation of a new VM as below.

VirtualBox VM Creation pop-up

Name your VM (e.g., Windows 11 (64-bit)). Specify the folder that will store the VM’s files. Choose the downloaded Windows ISO as the installation image. Check "Proceed with Unattended Installation". Click "Next".

This will lead to a pop-up to set up Unattended Guest Installation. Unattended Installation enables a user to configure the installation before starting the VM, and VirtualBox takes care of everything — even creating the default user.

VirtualBox VM Unattended Installation pop-up

Provide your User Name, Password, Host Name (can only contain alphanumeric characters and hyphens) and Domain Name (default can suffice).

Once filled out, click "Next". This will lead to a pop-up to configure virtual hardware resource dedicated to the VM (minimum of 4GB RAM, 2 CPUs and 40 GB Storage). I would recommend 8GB RAM, 4 CPUs and 80 GB Storage). Once done, click "Next".

VirtualBox VM Hardware Configuration pop-up

Finally, review the set configurations then click "Finish". This will create the new VM and start it up.

Newly Created Running Windows VM

Windows will begin installation in the virtual machine. This process took at least an hour to complete and restarted the VM a number of times. As such, I would advise closing any prior running processes and ensure the machine is plugged in so as to prevent premature shutdown while the installation is running.

Windows OS Installation

Upon completion, one will now have a ready to use Windows OS fully setup with default configurations and logged in using the default user defined during the unattended installation setup.

Windows Desktop OS

But how then can one start the OS at a later time post-installation? Simply start the VirtualBox application, select the Windows VM from the list of installed virtual machine and click Start in the toolbar at the top to power up the OS.

Powered Off Windows VM

And with that, you have a fully running Windows OS ready to use for your specific needs.

Guest Additions

With the Windows VM now up and running, one can now optionally install Guest Additions. This is an addon feature within every VirtualBox version that seeks to improve working with installed virtual machines by providing closer integration between host and guest and improving the interactive performance of guest systems.

Some of its features and benefits include:

Seamless mouse integration.
Folder and clipboard sharing between a host and VM OS.
Time synchronisation.
Automated Guest Logins.
Improved video support and display capabilities.
Seamless Windows.

To install the Guest Additions inside of your Windows VM:

Click on Devices in the toolbar of the running VM and select Insert Guest Additions CD image from the drop down menu.
Inside the VM, open File Explorer and locate the CD Drive for the VirtualBox Guest Additions on the left hand menu

VirtualBox Guest Additions in File Explorer

Click on it and right click on VBoxWindowsAdditions-amd64 to Run as administrator. Click Yes on the UAC prompt that pops up to start installation.

Running VBoxWindowsAdditions-amd64 as Administrator

Click Next on the Guest Addition Setup wizard that appears.

Guest Additions Setup wizard

Provide the location in which Guest Additions will be installed (the suggested location should be sufficient) then click Next.

Guest Additions Installation Location

Then check the preferred components to install and click Install to begin installation.

Guest Additions Components Installation

Installation will take a few seconds then you will be prompted to reboot the VM so that the installation can take hold. Check Reboot now then Finish to complete the process.

Guest Additions Installation Completion

After restart, on the Toolbar, select:

View -> Auto-resize Guest Display to enable dynamic resolution
Devices -> Shared Clipboard -> Bidirectional to enable clipboard sharing.
Devices -> Drag and Drop -> Bidirectional to enable file transfer.
Devices -> Shared Folders -> Shared Folders Settings to define folders that will be shared with the host OS.

And with that, you will have successfully installed and configured Guest Additions for your Windows VM.

Conclusion

This has been a long article but by the end, we now have a successfully set up Windows OS running in an Oracle VirtualBox virtual machine that can now be configured and used for data science purposes.

I thank you for your patience and resilience for getting to this point and now invite you to share the results of your installations, together with questions you may have, in the comments.

If this article has been beneficial to you, or you know someone who may benefit from it, feel free to share it widely to your friends, colleagues, local communities and social media platforms.

See you in the next one!

VMware. (2026, Jan 15). What is a Virtual Machine? https://www.vmware.com/topics/virtual-machine. ↩
AWS. (2026, Jan 12). What is a Hypervisor? - Hypervisor Explained https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/hypervisor. ↩
GeeksforGeeks. (2025, Dec 08). Hypervisor https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/system-design/hypervisor. ↩
Oracle VirtualBox. (2026, Jan 16). Welcome to VirtualBox.org! https://www.virtualbox.org. ↩
Wikipedia. (2026, Jan 16). Microsoft Windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows. ↩

My Journey at LuxDevHQ: Overview

Victor Kamau — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 18:29:27 +0000

Entrance to LuxDevHQ premises

Introduction

LuxDevHQ is a premium training institution located in Nairobi, Kenya.
It specializes in the education and mastering of Analytics, Data Science, Artificial Engineering and Data Engineering.

About

Started in 2019, by Harun Mbaabu, it was born out of a vision to democratize tech education. In a country where education, particularly tech education, can be quite costly and hence out of reach for majority of the population, LuxDevHQ seeks to make such information accessible to everyone, regardless of background or location ¹

Where I come in

Prior to data science, I had been a software developer professionally some time but was becoming disillusioned with development and was thus on the lookout for alternative tech fields. That is when I met Lux.
I first came across Lux via a post published on their X account highlighting students grinding hard at night. This intrigued me as I was amazed to observe the dedication and passion embodied by the students at such unusual hours.

Benefits

Further investigation into Lux revealed much more information that hooked me from the start. With a wide variety of benefits to members, including, but not limited to:

Co-working space available to members for use for their daily needs (with the space being free for students for up to a year after graduation),
Variety of courses, classes and programs designed to equip learners with the knowledge required to navigate the ever-evolving world of data science and AI,
Launchpad for careers while providing a community of innovators, particularly in the data space,

it is safe to say that I was fully bought on what they were selling. As such, I decided to enroll for their Data Analytics, Data Science and AI program on a full-time basis.

Enrollment

Enrollment was very streamlined with a fairly seamless payment mechanism and constant support from the staff throughout the entire process. I ultimately joined Cohort 6 and had my first session on January 12 2026.

With all this in focus, I have decided to document my journey as a student in LuxDevHQ. My goal is to highlight the ups and downs I may encounter along the way and the lessons learnt (be they positive or negative, both in and out of class) with the hope of ultimately inspiring someone else out here to take a plunge into the world of data science, possibly at LuxDevHQ.

Conclusion

Join me on this ride and feel free to ask any questions if, and as, they arise. Should you wish to know more about Lux, you can visit their website or on their socials. Additionally, you can schedule a call or visit their premises, if you are within or around Nairobi.

DISCLAIMER: Neither this article nor the series as a whole has been sponsored by, nor serves as a blanket endorsement of LuxDevHQ. Kindly carry out your research and come to a decision that best suits your particular needs.

LuxDevHQ. (2025, Mar 02). LuxDevHQ - AI and Data Science Training https://www.luxdevhq.ai/about.
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