Boot from a VHD using Windows 7

How to Boot VHD`s using Windows 7

Information
Windows 7 PDC build 6801 includes support for creating, mounting and booting from VHD images but not many seem to know how to use this functionality to boot VHDs at boot time... I will detail the steps required to have another OS bootable using Windows 7...



WARNING
This only works with Vista and Windows 7 VHD images!

If you do not have a good knowledge of how to reset your VirtualOS configuration like HAL type and driver configuration then your VHD will fail to boot, It must be cleaned of VirtualOS configuration correctly before windows 7 can boot your VHD!!


Step 1: Begin by following this Tutorial to create a VHD: Virtual Hard Disk - Create and Attach VHD



Step 2: Open a elevated command prompt.



Step 3: type this command: bcdedit /copy {current} /d "VHD_Boot"


If the command succeeds, BCDEdit displays a message similar to the following:



The entry was successfully copied to {CLSID_Number}



Take note of the CLSID number as you will need this during the next step


Step 4: Then type this command bcdedit /set {CLSID_Number} osdevice vhd=[C:]\disk1.vhd




Step 5: Thats it, You can now boot VHDs using Windows 7
To confirm the settings simply type bcdedit



If your VHD is configured correctly You can reboot and select the extra boot-option to boot from your VHD

WARNING
VirtualPC VHDs can not be used for booting with Windows 7 because VirtualPC uses a Pentium 3 HAL and this prevents them from being used as boot media, You can however use this Tutorial: Virtual Hard Disk - Create and Attach VHD and create then mount a VHD for use with VMWare Workstation....

You simply set VMWare workstation to use a Physical Disk, you can then Install a separate OS onto this mounted VHD for use with Windows 7.


Tip
You Must reset your VHD VirtualOS configuration like HAL type and driver configuration or your VHD will fail to boot!!! It must be cleaned of VirtualOS configuration correctly before windows 7 can boot your VHD!!


NOTE
There are still many bugs associated with VHD booting with Windows 7 at this time, I suspect Microsoft will be releasing a new Version of VirtualPC that's able to manage this entire process of creating, installing and booting separate VHDs at boot-time easily and without so many problems


Other Article:
- How to Change the Windows 7 Default Control Panel View
- How to Customize the View in the Services Window in Windows 7
- Free Windows 7 Transformation Pack Download
- Free Windows 7 Themes For Vista and XP
- 20 New Features of Windows 7
- Free Download UxTheme Patch for Windows 7

by : steve

source : sevenforums.com