Adding an existing VHD to the Windows 7 boot loader
In my last post I wrote about how to install Windows Server 2008 R2 into a VHD for dual-booting purposes. Well, recently I broke my laptop and had to rebuild my boot loader. Anyways, adding an existing VHD to the Windows 7 boot loader is a doddle.
First, copy your current boot loader:
bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Boot Description"
This will generate a new boot entry and print out the GUID. You’ll need this! Next, you’ll set the VHD path for the OS to use.
bcdedit /set {GUID from last step} osdevice vhd=[DriveLetter:]\PathToVHD\VHD_File
bcdedit /set {GUID from last step} device vhd=[DriveLetter:]\PathToVHD\VHD_File
That’s it! Reboot your PC and your VHDs should be bootable. Remember though, you can only boot Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 VHDs like this.
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Windows 7. Find similar posts by selecting any of the following tags: dual boot, vhd, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on Friday, May 15, 2009 at 10:57 pm Kent wrote:
This is awesome, Rob.
Is this also doable to dual boot a primary Vista installed computer with Windows 7 on VHD?
Thanks in advance, Kent
on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 8:16 am Rob wrote:
It is possible… I’m just not 100% certain on how to do it though I’m afraid. Something to do with copying the bootmgr file and the boot folder from a Windows 7 installation. In fact thinking about it, that should be all that’s required; and even if you’ve got Vista installed, installing Windows 7 (even to a VHD) should replace the boot loader anyway.
on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 6:57 am Windows 7 in eine VHD installieren wrote:
[...] Adding a existent VHD to the Windows 7 Boot Loader [...]
on Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 5:58 am Gv wrote:
I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I go step by step per you instructions but I get and error when I set the osdevice.
I get this message: “The element data type specified is not recognized, or does not apply to the specified entry.”
Can you help.
Gv
on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 11:05 am Jogai wrote:
@Gv: You’re forgetting the {}.