Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

从VHD文件启动计算机

喻勇(Frank Yu)的技术博客 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:01:09 GMT

/*以下内容根据 Aviraj Ajgekar 的博客文章编译和修改。*/ 之前的文章提到了Windows 7对VHD文件的内建支持，从此以后VHD文件的地位得到了提升:-) 它可以被操作系统认为是一块物理的硬盘进行管理和读写。

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Memnoch — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:13:10 GMT

I follow yours instructions on your blog and i would know how you can directly attach the created vhd to Hyper-v

I tried it and the boot manager is missing

Maybe have i missed one step ?

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

aviraj — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:02:22 GMT

Make sure you are attaching the VHD, which was already created with Hyper-V and not the the one that was created using imagex method.

VHD created in hyper-v already contains primary 200 mb system active partition containing bootmgr. In case of VHD created with imagex, we are just extracting files onto the single partition.

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

rkmuralikrishnan — Sun, 10 May 2009 10:51:52 GMT

Thanks a useful post and i have some problem regarding that.

I am using Windows 7 as base os and i am try to install the Windows server 2008.

First i created a vhd using diskmgmt.msc and then using imagex it applied the same as mentioned in the above.

I found the boot entry while booting but it go for repair console.

Aviraj previous blogger explained it i understood that.

But is there is any way to do this i.e. without hyperv ?

Less Virtual, More Machine - Windows 7 and the magic of Boot to VHD

ASPInsiders — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:20:09 GMT

NOTE: This is some advanced stuff and you may lose a finger. No warranty express or implied. There's

Utilizing Virtualization and boot-from-vhd for making a dual-boot laptop

Virtual Machine Management — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:37:57 GMT

I received my brand new Dell Latitude E4300 laptop today and I wanted to make sure i could boot both

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Pugalenthi — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:13:46 GMT

I guess you need to change the guid brackets to flower brackets in these 2 lines...

C:\>bcdedit /set <guid> device vhd=[driveletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>

C:\>bcdedit /set <guid> osdevice vhd=[driverletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>

So this should be edited as...

C:\>bcdedit /set {guid} device vhd=[driveletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>

C:\>bcdedit /set {guid} osdevice vhd=[driverletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Gopi — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:29:12 GMT

Could we have the VHD's on an External HDD..

Coz'.. There was blue dump error when tried with external hdd on Windwos Server 2008 R2..

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Mark Wilson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:06:19 GMT

Thanks for this information - but hae you any idea how I can make this boot from a USB stick? I have it working with the bootloader on C: and my VHD on the USB drive but can't seem to get the BCD configured correctly for the USB drive to be the only disk in the system.

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

aviraj — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:37:32 GMT

Not yet supported on USB drive

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Undying — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:57:44 GMT

Do I get in trouble if I use this stuff on a SSD (is TRIM-Command trough a VHD "Container" supported?)

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

David Broussard — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:44:10 GMT

Having a bit of trouble with the last step. After configuring everything, I reboot my Windows 7 box and it tells me that there is an error in the Boot Loader and it has to be fixed by an adminsitrator. If I select the VHD, it instead just boots to Windows 7.

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Terry — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:28:12 GMT

This entire process can be made way way more simple:

* You need to download the following 3 files and run the script:

* YOU WILL FIRST NEED the program ImageX.exe Here is a shortcut to get the 32 or

64 bit versions (WITHOUT the need to download the 1 GB Developer's kit iso from

Microsoft and burn it to cd to extract it.)

http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/imagex-600118000-x86-and-x64-for-windows-server-2008-and-vista-sp1-standalone-download/

* Second, You'll need to download "Wim2vhd.scr"

http://thelazyadmin.com/blogs/thelazyadmin/archive/2009/02/10/create-a-bootable-windows-7-vhd.aspx

* I STRONGLY recommend that you create a folder name VHD and put ImagX.exe,

Wim2Vhd.scr and COPY BcdBoot.exe and BcdEdit.exe (from your \windows\system32

folder) into it - then go to the command prompt in the VHD folder, verify you

have those 4 files and THEN run the script.

As you will find (on that web page) the command line ( you run from the command prompt) is:

cscript wim2vhd.wsf /wim:X:\sources\install.wim /sku:ULTIMATE /vhd:C:\Win7Ultimate.vhd /size:40960 /disktype:Fixed

This command won't work until you change the X to C because install.wim is on

your C: drive by default. Make sure the path to install.wim is correct before

you run the script. Install.wim also on the Windows 7 cd.

NOTE the VHD file size is 40 gb in the example. Windows VHD only needs 7 gb for

Win 7 BUT you need space for installing programs and downloading files, so I

changed mine to 20 gb. The file size can be set to dynamic, rather than fixed...

and it will expand if/when needed HOWEVER, you system will be VERY SLOW when/if

it has to expand the file size. This is not recommended - but keep in mind that

you can not increase the size of a fixed VHD once it has been created.

* Here is the exact command I copied and pasted to the command prompt in my VHD folder:

cscript wim2vhd.wsf /wim:C:\sources\install.wim /sku:ULTIMATE /vhd:C:\vhd\Win7Ultimate.vhd /size:20960 /disktype:Fixed

Note I also put the Win7ultamate.vhd file in the VHD folder rather than the root

drive in the example. This makes it easier to find, backup, and increment.

* When your VHD file is ceated you can finish the process with this handy tool:

VHD Mount for Windows 7 -- adds all VHD related action like Mount, Un-mount,

Boot from VHD images right in your Right Click Context menu. After you run it,

just right click on any VHD image and select "add to boot menu."

https://brentf.com/blog/software/misc/VHDMount.exe

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Michael Connell — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:00:40 GMT

I have Win7 Ultimate as a host OS and am trying to boot a WinServer 2008 Enterpize VHD. I followed all of the instructions outlined in the blog. Everything goes smooth up until I attempt my first boot into the Win 2008 VHD. I am then greeting with a dialog telling me that my Boot Configuration is Corrupted (Error 0x490).

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

realtebo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:36:08 GMT

what are the locate=custom parameters into VHD config?

Are they needed? How to locate this value for my VHDs ?

And ... why don't you explain this ?

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

aviraj — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:46:09 GMT

Boot From VHD is only supported by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. No downlevel OS support. That means you cannot boot Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 using Boot From VHD option

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

8675309 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:40:11 GMT

i tried using boot 7 from vhd but it fragments to quickly so both it & vista are slow to boot

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Daren — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:11:43 GMT

Portlock Leap Frog, makes it very easy to setup a VHD for booting or an existing VHD, even if you only have Vista or XP. Portlock Leap Frog will upgrade the boot manager to support VHD boot.

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

Raymond — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:19:00 GMT

In your demonstration , in the middle of it .... you say

If you have Windows Server 2008 running Hyper-V, launch the virtual machine running Windows 7 or Windows Server 7 aka Windows Server 2008 R2 and the run the following command

c:\windows\system32\sysprep>sysprep /generalize /shutdown

--------------------------

and then you say

Once the image is applied to particular drive in our case X:\. Detach the X: Drive from the Disk Management. Now your VHD file is ready to boot.

--------------------------

My confuse is if I shutdown my windows 7 by sysprep , then how can I detach the X: ?

--------------------------

In the above

"launch the virtual machine running Windows 7"

I don't understand what is "the virtual machine" mean. I'm using an DVD installed Windows 7 , how can I sysprep it ?

If you won't mind , make this clear for me, thanks

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

sam — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:49:49 GMT

This is very nice post. I followed steps and was able to boot into the VHD properly.

I am having trouble with Graphics. Detected adaptor is shown as Standard VGA adaptor. Why this is happening and how to solve this?

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

aviraj — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:34:45 GMT

@Raymond

You are confusing with the process.

Preparing VHD file using Windows 7 or Windows Server 7 Media

-In this we are manually creating VHD, applying OS files using ImageX and then detach.

Preparing the VHD file using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

-In this we are actually working on the VM, then installing Windows 7 and syspreppint the OS. They copying that VHD frm the Hyper-V based VM to boot from VHD scenario.

re: Windows 7: Boot from VHD First Impression: Part 2

aviraj — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:36:22 GMT

@sam

You need to download and install display drivers in order to get the graphics.

In the Boot from VHD scenario we are accessing the hardware directly from the computer. So we need to install the appropriate drivers.

I suggest you can use Windows Update for display drivers.