How to enable VHD multi-windows system coexistence with Windowns's VHD boot feature

Recently, due to a number of needs, the need to run 3 Windows systems, specifically how to omit here, the implementation is now shared as follows.

Test environment:

HP 820 G2, 4G memory, 500G SSD HDD

Windows 7 Enterprise Edition

Windows7 Flagship edition

Windows 10 Professional Edition

1. Preparing the VHD file

Get the VHD file that contains the Widnows operating system, and here are 2 ways to do it. (Of course, you can also now share the VHD file from the network, not here screwdrivers number of)

• Method One, backup the running system to a VHD image file by using the Windows Backup utility.

Click "Start" menu > All Programs > Maintenance (Maintenance) > Backup and Restore

Click on "Create System Image" (Creating a Imange)

Select Backup to the local hard drive, it is recommended to select a USB hard drive for backup, then click "Next" to continue

After verifying, click "Start Backup" to start creating the system image.

You can see the backed up VHD files in the backup directory after the backup is complete

Finding the largest VHD file is the image file for the operating system.

• Method Two, use the Disk Management tools of the Windows operating system to create a new VHD, and use the Imangex tool to deploy to the VHD on an existing installation disc or ISO.

Open Windows Disk Manager, right-click on Disk Management, select Create VHD

Select the appropriate storage location, specify the size, select the format and click OK to start creating a new VHD.

Initialize the newly created VHD disk

Click OK to start initializing , right-click on disk to start creating new Simple Volume Wizard after initialization is complete

Click Next to continue

Click Next to continue

Click Next to continue

Click Next to continue

Click Finish to complete.

Once the VHD is ready, you need to deploy the operating system to the VHD using Imangex. (If you are using an OS that does not have this tool, please use Baidu Search to obtain)

Open a command Prompt window with Administrator privileges

Use command first:imagex/info H:\sources\install.wim to get the index number of the installation instance

Since the OS media contains 2 versions, 1 Pro, and 2 for home, here we choose to use the Pro version, using the command to start mirroring the deployment

imagex/apply H:\sources\install.wim 1 e:\(drive letter for CD-ROM or virtual optical drive, E-drive is the drive letter of the VHD you just created, replace it according to the actual situation)

The VHD we need has been generated after this step is completed.

All the quasi-work is done, so how do we use this VHD, and then do a detailed introduction. Here are 2 scenarios.

Scenario One: on a host that already has a Windows operating system, increase the VHD boot to enable multi-windows coexistence.

This is a simple scenario and can be done with just one command.

First, run a command-line window as an administrator, and then execute the following command:

winboot e:\windows (the VHD obtained by the backup needs to be appended and assigned a drive letter before doing this)

Once the command is successfully completed, the system can be successfully added to the boot options in Windows and will be booted from the VHD by default.

Note: If the original operating system of the machine has separately separated the boot partition, you can delete the original widnows partition and implement the pure VHD system after starting the VHD system.

Scenario Two: on a host without an operating system, multi-windows coexistence is guided only through VHDs.

1. Preparing the disk partition

For system security, it is recommended that you create at least 2 disk partitions

Partition one: boot partition, size 500MB

Partition two: Data partition, size 465GB

The two partitions can be used with the Windows CD's DiskPart, or under PE, via Widnows's Disk Management. (use of third-party tools is not recommended)

Note: Formatting of partition one needs to be done with DiskPart or Windows Disk Manager, otherwise it may not boot.

2. Prepare the boot file

Once the partition is activated and the format is complete, you need to deploy the necessary files for window guidance to that partition, as follows:

Use the Imange tool under PE to release the Boot.wim under the system installation disk to the boot partition

imagex/apply G:\sources\boot.wim 1 c \

This step can also be done using the Wimtools under PE.

3. Configuring the VHD Boot

Using the BCD Editing Tool under PE, add the Windows directory under the expanded VHD to the BCD to implement the boot of the VHD.

Note: The VHD file cannot be placed on a USB drive or on a removable hard disk, or it will cause system boot failure.

How to enable VHD multi-windows system coexistence with Windowns's VHD boot feature