Network Administrator Knowledgebase » Booting from a .VHD http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/network-administrator Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:55:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Windows 7 – Booting from a .VHD file http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/network-administrator/windows-7-booting-from-a-vhd-file/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/network-administrator/windows-7-booting-from-a-vhd-file/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:26:03 +0000 Michael Khanin http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/network-administrator/?p=217 If you want to boot from a Windows 7 (Windows Server 2008 R2) installed on a new .VHD do the following steps:

A.-  Creating the .VHD file and Windows 7 installation on that .VHD file

  1. Boot the machine using the Windows 7 DVD
  2. Choose Windows Repair
  3. Start CMD
  4. Run Diskpart
  5. Type: Create vdisk file=c:\Windows7Build7000.vhd maximum=40000
  6. Type: select vdisk file=c:\Windows7Build7000.vhd
  7. Type: attach vdisk (in previous Betas, it was ‘surface’ instead of ‘attach’)
  8. Type: ‘exit’ (you exit Windows Repair, but Do Not Reboot)
  9. Install Windows 7 to this attached .VHD (From Win7 installation, you now have to ‘see’ another Hard Drive, you’ll need to create a partition & format it, first. You might get an error/warning saying that your computer hardware might not support this disk, just ignore it..).
  10. Reboot, and you ready to go!
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