Native VHD Boot is available in all versions of Windows 7

In an article published last week titled Upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate with Anytime Upgrade and in a previous article titled Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 using a VHD, I told you that the ability to boot from VHD, a feature called Native VHD Boot, was only available in Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise. I was mistaken and I apologize for any inconvenience caused by this error. It turns out that the ability to boot from a VHD is actually available in all versions of Windows 7 and that only Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise can boot off of a VHD. Read more

Remove Windows 8 from a dual-boot configuration

In the last couple of blog posts, I’ve shown you how to set up Windows 7 and Windows 8 Release Preview in a dual-boot configuration. In Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8, I showed you how to set up a dual-boot configuration by repartitioning your hard disk. In Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 using a VHD, I showed you how to set up a dual-boot configuration by using a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk).

At some point in time before October 26, 2012, you’ll need to stop using the Windows 8 Release Preview as it will stop working. Not exactly sure what will happen, but if it is like most of Microsoft’s free evaluations, one or all of the following will occur: the desktop background will turn black and you will see a notification indicating that the system is not genuine, or the PC will automatically shut down every hour without allowing you to save any work in progress. As such, you’re going to want to remove Windows 8 Release Preview from your system. Read more

Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 using a VHD

In my last blog post, Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8, I showed you how to configure your Windows 7 system to dual-boot Windows 8 from a partition on your existing Windows 7 hard disk. You can use that technique in all versions of Windows 7. However, you can take advantage of the Boot from VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) and install Windows 8 on a VHD. Read more

How do I use a Windows 7 Virtual Hard Disk as a backup device?

As you know, using external hard disks as backup devices has become very popular recently due to the fact that they are now relatively inexpensive to purchase or build. I use several of them for backups on my home and test systems.

The other day I was experimenting with Windows XP Mode on my Microsoft Windows 7 test system and was backing up my Windows XP Mode virtual machine and the accompanying virtual hard disk (VHD), when it occurred to me that I could use a VHD as a backup device.

Once I began experimenting with this technique, I knew that it would be perfect complement to my overall backup strategy. I don’t trust a single backup device and like to have multiple backups just in case. Using VHDs, I can easily back up my data and then just copy the VHD file to another external device. Read more.

Expand the number of Windows 7 installs with bootable VHDs

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.)