Use the available disk space on the computer to create a VHD, and then save it.

1. Open Disk Management (click Start, type Disk Management in the Search box, and then press ENTER).

2. Select Create from the Action menu. This launches a dialog box that you can use to specify the parameters for a new VHD.

   

3. Specify the following:

   • Location: This is the location and file name where the new VHD will be saved when it is created. For example: E:\test.vhd.
     
     
   • Virtual hard disk size: This is the size of the VHD. Note that if you select Dynamically expanding, the virtual hard disk size is the maximum size the VHD will expand to.
     
     
   • Virtual hard disk format: This is the format of the VHD. You can select either of the following:
     
     
     • Fixed size: The size of a fixed VHD is allocated based on the maximum size and it does not change. Fixed size VHDs are recommended for production environments.
       
       
     • Dynamically expanding: A dynamic VHD is as large as the data that is written to it at any given time.
       
       

       Note
       When you create a dynamic VHD, Windows does not test for free space on the physical computer based on the maximum size requested. Therefore it is possible to create a dynamic VHD with a maximum size that is larger than the available free space on the hard disk drive on the physical computer. The maximum size of a dynamic VHD is 2,040 GB.

   For example, the following screenshot will create a 1 GB, dynamically expanding VHD, and save it to the drive E.

     

   

     

4. Click OK to create the VHD. After it is created, the VHD is attached and it appears as an uninitialized disk.

5. To initialize the disk, right-click it in the Disk Management pane (in the example below, right-click the area that says Disk 3), and then click Initialize Disk.

     

   

     

After the VHD is initialized, you can treat the VHD as any other disk. For example, you can create new volumes, format volumes, and assign drive letters to volumes within the VHD. The following screenshot shows the user interface when you format a VHD.

If you have an existing VHD, you can attach it and the VHD shows up as a disk.

1. Select Attach VHD from the Action menu.

2. Enter the path to the VHD and specify whether it should be attached as a read-only disk.

     

   

     

3. Click OK. After the VHD is attached, you can treat it as any other disk. For example, you can create new volumes, format volumes, and assign drive letters to volumes within the VHD. Additionally you can browse existing volumes within the VHD.

4. Optionally, you can detach the VHD so that it no longer shows up as a disk. To do this, right-click the disk, and then click Detach VHD.

You can use the DiskPart command-line tool to create a new VHD. You must specify the maximum size of the VHD. Optionally, you can specify the following:

• To create a dynamically expanding VHD (the default is fixed).
  
  
• A source VHD. When you specify a source VHD, Windows populates the new VHD with the contents of the source VHD.
  
  
• A parent VHD. When you specify a parent VHD, Windows creates a new differencing VHD that is a child of the parent.
  
  

Create a dynamic disk

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that perform the following tasks:

• Create a new 2 GB dynamically expanding VHD (called test.vhd)
  
  
• Create a 1 GB primary partition inside the new VHD
  
  
• Format the new 1 GB partition
  
  
• Assign a drive letter (M:) to the new partition
  
  

  

  

Create a differencing disk

A differencing disk is similar to a dynamic VHD, but it contains only the modified disk blocks of the associated parent VHD. The parent VHD is read-only, so you must modify the differencing disk. A differencing disk is sometimes referred to as a “child” VHD. To create a differencing disk, you must have a parent VHD.

The following screenshot shows a command that creates a new, dynamically expanding differencing VHD (called child.vhd), which is the child of another VHD called 7105.serverenterprise.vhd.

  

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that perform the following tasks:

• Attach the VHD. This task mounts the VHD so that it shows up as a disk and assigns it a drive letter.
  
  
• Detach the VHD. This task unmounts the VHD and unassigns a drive letter.
  
  

Before you continue, do the following:

• Ensure that you have the following prerequisites:
  
  
  • A computer with Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 installed and running.
    
    
  • Access to media that contains Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
    
    
• Download and install the Windows AIK or Windows PowerShell. You can create and attach a VHD file and configure it for native boot by using features in Windows 7 (Steps 1 and 2 below). However, to create a bootable Windows 7 VHD (Step 3), you need to use the Windows AIK or Windows PowerShell to apply a .wim to the VHD. Specifically, you can use the Windows PowerShell script, Install-WindowsImage.ps1, or the Imagex.exe deployment tools.
  
  
• Consider using WIM2VHD. You can use the Windows Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) command-line tool to automate many of the steps in this section. To download WIM2VHD, see the MSDN Code Gallery (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155155). Documentation for WIM2VHD is available on the MSDN site. WIM2VHD must be run from a system running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V enabled. WIM2VHD also requires that the Windows AIK for Windows 7 be installed to use ImageX.
  
  Specifically, WIM2VHD automates the following tasks:
  
  
  • Creates a new VHD of a specified type and size
    
    
  • Applies a WIM to a VHD
    
    
  • Uses an Unattend file to automate the OOBE portion of Windows setup the first time a generalized VHD is booted (optional)
    
    
  • Applies updates to VHDs (optional)
    
    
  • Enables a kernel debugger (optional)
    
    

Before you begin, note the following:

• The default VHD type created when you use DiskPart is a fixed VHD. Therefore, to create another type of file, you must specify TYPE=EXPANDABLE as shown below. Note that creating a fixed VHD takes quite a bit longer because the entire file is allocated at the time it is created.
  
  
• You can also use the Disk Management console to perform the above steps if you prefer. For instructions, see the Creating, attaching, and detaching VHDs by using Disk Management section earlier in this document.
  
  

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window (click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and click Run as administrator).

2. Run the following commands to create and attach the VHD. This example creates a dynamic VHD that has 25 GB maximum size and saves the VHD file in a folder, c:\vhd.

   diskpart
        create vdisk file=C:\VHD\<filename>.vhd maximum=25000 type=expandable
        select vdisk file=C:\VHD\<filename>.vhd
        attach vdisk
        create partition primary
        assign letter=v
        format quick FS=NTFS label=VHD
   exit

For more information about these commands, run diskpart help create vdisk in the command line. The complete output for this example is shown in the following screenshot.

The next step is to locate a Windows 7 installation image (.wim) to apply to the volume in the VHD. Before you begin, ensure that you have a .wim image from one of the following locations:

• The product DVD. The installation image is located at \sources\install.wim. Note that the DVD also contains a Boot.wim file, which is the Windows PE image that you can use to network boot to run Windows Setup.
  
  
• A Windows installation that you have captured to a .wim by using Imagex.exe or the Image Capture Wizard for Windows Deployment Services.
  
  
• A product DVD .iso image. These images are available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, and they are also available from the Windows Products Home page (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155370). You must mount .iso images or burn them to physical media to access the .wim files within the .iso file.
  
  

  Note
  The Windows PE image in Boot.wim does not support native VHD boot

There are two ways that you can apply a .wim image to a VHD.

• Use the Install-WindowsImage.ps1 Windows PowerShell script. The Windows PowerShell script has fewer options than Imagex.exe and does not require you to download the Windows AIK. The script can perform two tasks: display a list of images in a .wim and apply a .wim to a partition in a VHD. You should use the script if you are not familiar with the Windows AIK and Imagex.exe, or if the Windows AIK is unavailable.
  
  
• Use the Imagex.exe command-line tool.
  
  

Using the Install-WindowsImage.ps1 Windows PowerShell script

Before you begin, note that the first time you run Windows PowerShell, you may get an error that unsigned scripts cannot be executed.

  

  

If you receive this error, you need to set the Windows PowerShell execution policy to allow unsigned local scripts, but still require signed scripts from remote locations. To configure this, run set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned at the Windows PowerShell command prompt.

To use the Install-WindowsImage.ps1 script

1. Click Start, and type PowerShell in the Start text box.

2. In the results, right-click Windows PowerShell, and click Run as Administrator.

   • To list the images and index numbers in a .wim, use the following syntax:
     
     C:\Vhd\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM <path to .wim>
     
     
   • To view the help for this script, run help .\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 –detailed or see the Appendix in this guide.
     
     

3. To apply an image from a .wim to a VHD, use the following syntax:

   C:\Vhd\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 –WIM <String> -Apply –Index <Int32> -Destination <Drive>

In the following example, volume D: is the DVD drive with Windows product DVD, and volume V: is the VHD created in Step 1:

C:\vhd> PowerShell

PS C:\vhd> .\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM D:\sources\install.wim


Index   Image Name
[1]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (Full Installation) 
[2]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (Server Core Installation) 
[3]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (Full Installation) 
[4]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (Server Core Installation) 
[5]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (Full Installation) 
[6]     Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (Server Core Installation) 
[7]     Windows Web Server 2008 R2 (Full Installation) 
[8]     Windows Web Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Installation) 


Done. 

PS C:\vhd> .\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM D:\sources\install.wim -Apply -Index 5 -Destination V:  

Applying "Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter" to V:... 
WARNING: This may take up to 15 minutes... 

Elapsed Time: 00:10:57.6302827
Done.

Apply image by using the ImageX deployment tool

Use the procedure in this section to prepare a VHD for native boot. For more information about BCDBoot parameters, see BCDBoot Command-Line Options (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155166).

Note

If you are an advanced user and familiar with BCDEdit, you can update the BCD manually instead of using the following procedure (using BCDBoot). To do this, run the following syntax at an elevated command prompt and note the GUID in the output: bcdedit /copy {default} /d “<your boot menu description>”. Next, using the GUID from the previous command, run the following two commands: bcdedit /set {GUID} device vhd=[C:]\VHD\<yournewvhd>.vhd and bcdedit /set {GUID} device vhd=[C:]\VHD\<yournewvhd>.vhd

1. This procedure assumes you have Windows 7 installed and you want to add a second boot option to boot from the VHD. For this example, the VHD file is located in C:\VHD\<yournewvhd>.vhd, and the VHD is attached and assigned the volume letter, V. The following command creates a new BCD entry for native VHD boot of the Windows image in your VHD file:

   V:\Windows\System32\bcdboot V:\Windows

   BCDBoot creates the boot configuration entry so that Windows Boot Loader can boot from the VHD image. It also sets the default boot option for the computer to boot Windows from the VHD, which is currently assigned volume letter V.

   Optionally, you can use steps 2-4 if you want to modify the default boot entry.

2. Run bcdedit (with no parameters) to display the system boot configuration entries.

   The following screenshot shows an example of the BCDEdit output with two Windows Boot Loader entries. The default boot option, {default}, is for the VHD boot from volume V, the other boot option is for the Windows 7 image that is installed on volume C.

     

   

     

3. If you have Windows 7 installed on the hard disk drive, and you configure native VHD boot of Windows 7, there will be two entries in the list with the description text string Windows 7. To change the text in the boot menu (from Windows 7), use the following syntax where the GUID is the identifier of the VHD boot entry:

   bcdedit /set {GUID} description=”Windows 7 RC VHD”

   Note
   Some boot entries have aliases instead of GUIDs (such as {default} for the default boot entry or {current} for the boot entry of the current system). To find the associated GUID, view the verbose output for all the boot entries by running bcdedit -v.

4. To change the default system boot option to be the installed Windows 7 image, instead of the native VHD boot image (or an additional VHD image on the same system), run the following syntax where the GUID is the Windows Boot Loader entry that you want to be the default:

   bcdedit /default {GUID}

   When the system restarts, the Windows Boot Manager displays a menu with a list of available images to boot.

If you still have the VHD attached after running the Install-WindowsImage.ps1 script or the Imagex/apply command, you can use BCDBoot to prepare the VHD image to boot inside a virtual machine.

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window.

2. Use the BCDBoot /s<volume> command to specify which volume you want to use as the System volume for the Windows Boot Manager and boot configuration data. For example, if the VHD is attached and assigned volume V:, run the following command:

   V:\windows\system32\bcdboot V:\windows /s V:
   

   This command creates the boot configuration data on the partition inside the VHD that is used to boot Windows 7 in a virtual machine. You do not need to perform any other steps to prepare the image to boot in a virtual machine. Optionally, you can prepare the same VHD file to boot inside a virtual machine or for native VHD boot.

3. To view the BCD entry that was created by BCDBoot inside the VHD, run the bcdedit /store <path> option to specify the BCD file inside the VHD. For example:

   bcdedit /store v:\boot\BCD
   

     

   

     

   Note
   You can specify the /store<path> option with a BCDEdit command to update a BCD store other than the current store. Note that when you are running Windows in a virtual machine, you do not need to specify the BCDEdit /store option to update a configuration store for the running virtual machine.

1. Boot the VHD image.

2. Double-click Sysprep to prepare and generalize the operating system.

3. In System Cleanup Action, select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE).

4. Select the Generalize check box.

5. In Shutdown Options, click Shutdown.

     

   Now you are ready to configure the VHD for native boot or to boot in a virtual machine by following the instructions in the Preparing a VHD image for boot section.

   

     

6. To deploy the image, follow the instructions in the Deploying a bootable VHD by using Xcopy section earlier in this document.

1. Boot into the VHD on the computer.

2. Double-click Sysprep to prepare and generalize the operating system.

3. In System Cleanup Action, select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE).

4. Select the Generalize check box.

5. In Shutdown Options, click Shutdown.

     

   

     

6. Boot Windows PE (or another instance of Windows) on the computer.

7. Copy the image that you prepared using Sysprep to the server running Hyper-V.

8. On the Hyper-V server, launch Hyper-V Manager.

9. Click Action, click New, and then click Virtual Machine.

10. Specify a Name and Location for the new virtual machine.

      

    

      

11. Assign resources to the virtual machine.

      

    

      

12. Configure the new virtual machine to boot from the VHD that you prepared with Sysprep.

      

    

      

13. Now you are ready to configure the VHD for native boot or to boot in a virtual machine by following the instructions in the Preparing a VHD image for boot section.

1. Attach the VHD. For instructions, see Creating, attaching, and detaching VHDs by using DiskPart earlier in this document.

2. To add a single driver, run the following command. In this example, the VHD is assigned drive letter Z::

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Add-Driver /driver:C:\drivers\OEM.INF
   

   Alternatively, to add multiple drivers to the VHD image, run:

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Add-Driver /driver:C:\drivers\OEM.INF
    /driver:c:\drivers\OEM1.inf /driver:c:\drivers\OEM2.inf
   

3. To confirm that the drivers were added to the image, view the output of the following command:

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Get-Drivers
   

1. Attach the VHD. For instructions, see Creating, attaching, and detaching VHDs by using DiskPart earlier in this document.

2. Run the following command to list all the features in the VHD. The following example assumes that the VHD is assigned drive letter Z::

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Get-Features
   

3. To display information about the state of a specific Windows role or feature, run:

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Get-FeatureInfo /FeatureName:DHCPServer

4. To enable a specific Windows role or feature, run the following command (this example installs the DHCP Server role):

   Dism /image:Z:\ /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:DHCPServer

For additional information about using DISM for servicing VHDs, see the following references:

• Deployment Image Servicing and Management Command-Line Options
  
  (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155182)
  
  
• Windows 7 Walkthrough: Deployment Image Servicing and Management
  
  (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155183)
  
  

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that expand a VHD from 2 GB to 3 GB.

In the following example, the VHD contains a 1 GB partition (M:) and the entire VHD is 3 GB in size. The screenshot shows a series of commands that increases the size of M: from 1 GB to 2 GB.

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that perform the following tasks:

• Display information about the virtual and physical size of a VHD. For dynamic VHDs, the virtual size is the maximum size of the VHD (specified when you create the VHD), and the physical size is the actual size. For fixed VHDs, these values are the same.
  
  
• Attach the VHD as a read-only file.
  
  
• Reduce the size of (that is, compact) the VHD.
  
  
• Display information about the new physical size of a VHD.
  
  

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that perform the following tasks:

• Attach the selected differencing VHD.
  
  
• Display the parent VHD (this is optional).
  
  Detach the selected differencing VHD.
  
  
• Merge the differencing disk with the parent. In this step, note that Depth=1 is indicates that 1 level of the differencing chain will be merged. If you specify a number larger than 1, the VHD must have a differencing chain that is more than 2.
  
  

The following screenshot shows a series of commands that perform the following tasks:

• Attach the VHD.
  
  
• Display information about the VHD.