When you begin experimenting with Microsoft Windows 7, chances are good that you’ll want to have several installations of the new operating system on which to test various configurations, settings, and applications. While you could install Windows 7 on several machines for your test environment, wouldn’t it be great if you could quickly and easily create several installations on the same system?
I recently learned that Microsoft has made available several techniques that you can use to create bootable Windows 7 virtual hard disks (VHDs) that run like a dual boot setup. For example, you can convert a Windows 7 Windows Image Format (WIM) file to a VHD, you can Sysprep an existing Windows 7 VHD, or you can create a VHD using the Windows 7 DVD and the DiskPart command.
In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you how to create a VHD using the Windows 7 DVD and the DiskPart command. (I’ll cover the other techniques in future editions.)
