Getting Started with Virtual Hard Disks

Windows® 7 and Windows Server® 2008 R2 provide native support for virtual hard disks (VHDs) including the ability to create, deploy, and maintain VHDs. This guide describes the scenarios that guided the development of this feature, detailed steps about how to employ the functionality, and the associated tools and APIs.

Note
For a downloadable version of this document, see Virtual Hard Disk Getting Started Guide in the Microsoft Download Center (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=159058).

This guide includes the following sections:

• Introduction to Virtual Hard Disks
  
  
• How to Perform Common Tasks for Virtual Hard Disks
  
  
• Appendix: Tools and APIs for Virtual Hard Disks