I have installed several versions of Kubuntu including several 18.04 installs over the past year. Never had a single issue. My experience does not match your conclusion. Since the primary difference between your failed attempt and my successes is that my host is Linux and yours is Windows maybe the problem lies with your host OS and you would be better served to look to a Windows forum for help. I'm curious as to why you conclude Linux folks would be best able to help you with what seems to be a Windows problem.
Based on your description it seems you overscaled or enlarged the screen beyond usability or there was some disconnect between the host and client. It seems more logical that the issue is with VirtualBox handling scaling and/or 4K not the client OS you're installing. It's also obvious that most Linux distros don't yet handle 4k very well at boot time and especially installation (I have two 4K computers running Linux) so maybe Mint does a better job initially so you didn't run into that issue.
As far as the failed attempt to use the Extensions install script, I've never had any trouble with that either. If you execute the correct script using sudo to begin with there's no need for a pop-up window to help you. Also obvious, if you weren't able to install the extension you're not going to be successful
When you add-in your networking issues to all it seems you need a wholly different solution. Personally, it seems counter intuitive to use Windows as your host OS when even you realize it needs to be sand-boxed to keep you safe.
My best suggestion is to find a VirtualBox forum or some experts to help you if you want to try to install Kubuntu again that way. It seems like most of your above problems are VBox related not Linux related.
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Experiences installing in a VM
VBox 6.0.12
Host: Win10-1803
Guest: kubuntu-18.04.3-desktop-amd64
VBox defaults to 800x600. Since I have a 4K display, I changed scale to 200% in order to read the text that the Kubuntu installer was putting up, but aspact cannot be changed in VBox until the Guest Additions are run in the Guest (in Kubuntu). As a result of the installer having a display aspect wider than 4:3, the button to continue each install step was offscreen. To continue the install, I had to tab around and guess at what tab the Continue button (or Next or whatever it's called) was highlighted and then hit 'Enter'. I succeeded, but the install really shouldn't be designed for displays with an aspect ratio other than 4:3 -- afterall, it's just an installer.
Following installation, when I rebooted, the display was still too wide (wider than 4:3). I ran the 'Display and Monitor' setup and was given no choices. I knew that I needed to run the VBox Guest Additions to get a better display.
When I tried to install the Guest Additions via the VBox menu's 'Devices' 'Insert Guest Additions CD Image...', the GA was mounted but I was not given the opportunity to run them and was not prompted for a password. Instead, I had to open the (virtual) CD in a file browser. When I double-clicked on the GA install script and ran it in Konsole, I got this: "This program must be run with administrator privileges. Aborting". Yes, I know what that means and I know to use 'sudo', but I was not given the opportunity to do that, and there was no context choice to run the script via 'sudo'. The same operation goes flawlessly in Linux Mint ...just saying.
I managed to run the VBox GA, but it wasn't easy and it required several swipe-copy operations to construct a /path/file string (which I then pasted into Konsole prefixed by 'sudo'). The display immediately fleshed out, not to what I expected: 3840x1986, but to only 1920x993. When I changed scale in 'Display and Monitor' the mouse position report to the system and the mouse cursor became disconnected/uncoordinated and I wasn't able to successfully click on anything.
I rebooted (which again was not easy since the mouse cursor and the actual mouse position report to the system were uncoordinated).
When Kubuntu rebooted, I attempted to fix the display size. No matter what I set 'Display and Monitor' 'Displays' 'Resolution' to, when I clicked 'Apply' it went back to 1920x993 and the utility appeared to crash.
While I was doing all this, the network spontaneously disconnected and reconnected. That has also started happening in Mint since I upgraded from 18 to 19.2 -- the reason I must abandon Mint -- and the fact that it's also happening in Kubuntu is not good. The VM is configured as a bridge connection (to bypass the Windows Host firewall) and it appears that the problem must be with the Linux kernel that both Mint 19 & Kubuntu 18 are using. The network spontaneously disconnecting/reconnecting many times has gotten me banned on several vital IRC channels though no fault of mine, and I simply can't afford to use a computer OS that exhibits such behavior. I hope you understand. The Mint folks weren't able to help, and you probably won't be able to help, either. I'm in deep dispair.
My programmer's editor, my heavy duty file manager, and my video software all run in Windows. I protect those mission critical programs by not allowing Windows on the Internet -- that's why I run VMs (as a super sandbox). If Linux fails me, I don't know of any alternatives ...well, maybe BSD (ugh!).
I'm going to have to go back to Mint 18 and wait out an answer. I hope that what I've written here regarding my installation experience will prompt somone to show compassion and maybe help me. I assume you see that I'm not a complete newbie.
Regards,
Mark.
PS: As I attempt to shut down Kubuntu via the menu (via 'Leave'), I see that the mouse cursor position and the mouse coordinate report to the system are still uncoordinated. I will shut down via VBox's 'ACPI Shutdown' menu choice.
Note: I wrote the above while actually running Kubuntu (using Notepad in the Windows Host), however, I'm pasting it into this forum while running my Mint 18 VM. Kubuntu seems a bust.
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