How to install Windows 7 on a virtual hard disk - VHD

If you want to test Windows 7, without impacting your current installation of Windows XP or Vista on your desktop? A possible solution is: Boot from VHD.

Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) Image Format trained to deploy in the real and virtual environments without the need to install the system on a real disk partition HDD. The convenience of such virtual VHD images is the rapid deployment of virtual environments as well as isolated systems, with possible direct download from Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) images. Installing fro VHD is always a pain but still you can review this excellent post originally written by MasterMind from TechArena.

1. Before getting started back up your data to avoid any risk
2. Free up space on your physical disk to be at least 6 GB of free space (to allow more applications to be installed / tested later)
3. Restart your system from the installation DVD of Windows 7
4. Instead of proceeding with the installation, choose “Repair”
5. The setup program offers to repair the system, this has no impact because we do not really fix the current system. Select the version of Windows currently installed.
6. Among the options, select Command Prompt
7. We will then create a virtual disk (*. vhd) and then install Windows 7, using the utility Diskpart.exe, monitoring of the following commands to create a virtual disk.
   create vdisk file = c: \ vhd \ \ win7beta.vhd max = 32000
   select vdisk file = c: \ vhd \ win7beta.vhd
   attach vdisk
   exit
   
   Vdisk create command file = “xxx” maximum = yyy can set the size of your virtual disk. Allow enough space for your applications. In the example, I chose to create a virtual disk represented by c: \ win7beta.vhd size of 32 GB. The command attach vdisk, preceded by select vdisk file = xxx is used to mount your virtual disk to physical disk.
8. Then the Windows Setup program by typing setup.exe 7.
9. Take the home screen, select language and keyboard and user license (EULA). Then proceed to installation mode Custom (Advanced).
10. Windows will then display a selection screen of the destination disk for the new facility. Select the newly created virtual drive (you find in relation to the size set with the command create vdisk file = “xxx” yyy = maximum, 32 GB in the example), then click Next.

The setup continues as normal, and you managed your installation of Windows 7 VHD on a disc!

Enjoy!