Virtualization :: Create VHDX In Win 8.1 Environment And Install Win7 On It
Feb 12, 2014
Goal: run both windows 7 and windows 8.1 native from VHDX (currently only success with Windows 8.1 on vhdx and win7 vhd)
I have a windows 8.1 installed in the system and rebooted into a command prompt, created a vhdx image, converted to GPT, and then install windows 7 on this vhdx (both with and without KB982018 integrated). The install went through (copying files etc) and it then rebooted itself and finish off the reset of the installation. After it rebooted it the boot menu is the old style black and white (which is fine), and choose win7 vhdx to finish off the installation. However an error comes up - An unexpected error has occurred.
Having no luck therefore instead of installing to a VHDX I now boot up with the win7SP1 USB and install onto a VHD instead. Everything went well and booted into windows 7 (expected). I then install KB980218 and then it rebooted itself, again everything is ok. I then booted back into windows 8, converted the windows 7 from VHD to VHDX and set the sector size to 4096 as per How to Convert a VHD File into VHDX. Boot entry has also been updated to vhdx instead of vhd.
I now try to boot to this new win7 vhdx, and instead of getting an unexpected error, it booted into a graphical screen and ask for repairing the window. (which means it's unsuccessful).
I got Hyper V setup (I think). The GUI client starts and I can go to the server. I could not get the continuous page after page setup to work unless I first set up a virtual hard drive. I think there was an option to install the OS if I set up the Vm and the VHd at the same time. I am now starting the VM and connecting to it and trying to install the OS using my original OS disk in the CD/DVD drive. It went to drive/DVD and I got the usual promtp: what do you want to do, including "run setup" which is what I selected.
When I do that it takes a long time to setup/copy files and when it gets tot he screen as to what partition to install to, it only shows the system reserved, my boot partition, my data partition (which has the VHDX) and my MBR (BootIt Bare Metal main boot record) partitions. At this point I stopped the OS installation by powering down as while I had these all imaged/backed up I did not want to overwrite any of them. it did not show the VHDX as an option to which to install.
as for other options like install over a network, my network adapter doesn't show and even if I made an ISO image of my OS disk, i don't know how I would get access to it.
In setting up Hyper V I ran the following in a supershell: enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All
I tried to run the following in a command prompt: Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Hyper-V All but got an error that it did not recognize " -all " I then ran it without the dash or maybe with a slash in front of it (I can't remember). I don't even know what this command does and whether it could have an effect on installing an OS to a VHD.
I am running Win 8.1 Pro on an x220 with 8Gb RAM and a 500Gb SSD. I am trying to install Win 7 Ultimate on the VHD. How to install the OS to a virtual hard drive.
Can I (correctly) convert my current 8.1 (retail) into VHDX and boot from it using the same 8.1 boot loader or not?
I honestly don't know if I would be running two instances. Would it work if I deleted the C:/ partition and booted the VHD from another disk or partition? Would that be OK? Seems to me it would be two instances but I don't know.
I'm not interested in VMware or VirtualBox - just Hyper-V or some similar bare metal solution. Hyper-V server I could not make work really - it is not what it is designed for - I want wifi, bluetooth etc. Windows server would work but I can not afford it.
Upgraded my win 7 pro that had virtual XP mode to win 8.1 pro. Everything from Win 7 came with it including my install programs. Noticed the virtual xp file .vmcx is there but can't access it. So I installed Hyper-V and got to the point of connecting to Virtual Hard Disk. Noticed it creats a .vhdx file. I assume this would be a new file with nothing I had on my old .vmcx file. How do I get my old virtual files over to the new one?
If I can't would I be able to install the virtual file that I got from Microsoft's website, WinXpVirtual6.1KB958559x64RefreshPkg.msu (it included a license key), or I need to have another installation disk that has Windows XP with a license key?
I've been using Win7 Ultimate 64x for sometime now and i have all my software Installed on it. I recently bought a copy of Windows 8 and I've been trying not to install it now because i haven't studied a lot of things about it it yet and i need to keep my PC in its current state because of work, but i cant wait anymore..
So here are the FAQs if i may.. 1- Can I install Windows 8 and keep my old copy of Win7? 2- Will software such as Adobe Photoshop be installed on Windows 8? 3- Is it as good of a System as Win7?
I have just upgraded to 8 using my 7 settings on a couple of my machines. Is it possible to put back the original 7 SSD drive - clone it to a spare drive and then create the VM set up on that cloned drive using the upgraded drive? I would of course remove the original 7 drive and just use the clone.
I'll just get an OEM 8 to install if what I have cannot be done.
I had Hyper-V and Ubuntu running on Windows 8 no problem. I've since done a fresh install to 8.1, and I can no longer create an External Virtual Switch. The button for "Create Virtual Switch" is grayed out when I select "External". I can create Internal and Private switches, but not External. There's no error or message so I'm having difficulty troubleshooting. All of the tutorials I've seen don't talk about any configuration I would need to do before creating an external switch. I have the default Windows 8.1 firewall and antivirus stuff.
Update: I tried creating the Virtual Switch in PowerShell with the following commands
Code: PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-NetAdapterName InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status MacAddress LinkSpeed Ethernet Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller 3 Up B8-97-5A-13-7C-E6 1 Gbps
[Code] ....
I'm not really sure why it couldn't find my physical network adapter, since it shows up with the Get-NetAdapter command.
I am dual booting Windows 8 and Win7, using one 500gb hard drive. Win7 has been my main OS, so all of my music, photos, etc. are stored there.
How can I access the user data from my Win7 install , from my Windows 8 install?
Everytime I try to go to it from Windows 8 ---- > My computer it says that I don't have permission to access the files for that user,then attempts to do so for some random period of time, and in the end nothing happens.
For XP users who want to keep using their XP system why not run VMWARE VMPLAYER -- FREE in UNITY MODE.
You don't need even to run Windows as your Host --how to create a Portable system that runs Windows Virtual machines and totally boots from an external HDD / USB stick (even if there's no HDD in the main computer !!).
Using Unity mode simply gives you access to all your Windows XP programs (and runs them) directly from the Host without you needing to enter the VM at all -- Power up your VM and simply click the Unity mode on the vm menu.
If you use Linux as a host it saves you having to purchase a new version of windows (Linux is FREE). Simply convert your XP system to a VM and then you can keep running XP for as long as you like without worrying about having to upgrade Windows.
I have a Hyper-V VM, and during the setup wizard I chose to install OS later.
I added DVD drive to it's hardware, and added the DVD drive to the boot order.
I put the retail Windows XP disc in the drive and start the VM, but it doesn't see the disk and eventually I get the error "Boot failed" for every boot device, and then finally "No operating system was Loaded. Press a key to retry the boot sequence...".
In setup for the VM, I see that I can "Specify the media to use with your virtual CD/DVD drive", which is an "image file". Does that mean it has to be an ISO, not a physical disk?
If so, any good way to make an ISO from my retail Windows XP Pro disk? It looks to me like Windows 8.1 File Explorer doesn't do it.
I am looking into setting up a type 1, native hypervisor on my desktop (Xen, specifically). Would it be possible for me to load my current install into a VM? The hypervisor can be run from a live disk.
Host OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on SSD system disk. PC Specs: Intel Core i7 3770K on ASRock Z77 OC Formula with 16GB DDR3, GTX470 VirtualBox version: 4.3.12 r93733 with Extension Pack 4.3.12 r93733.
I've had a Windows 8.1 Pro x64 VM running on VBox 4.3 for a few days now with no issues at all.
However, this morning, the VM refused to boot saying VT-x was not enabled.
I checked via the VM settings but the whole "Acceleration" pane was disabled and not accessible. I was not able to resolve the issue even after rebooting my PC and explicitly enabling Intel Virtualization in the PC BIOS (it was on AUTO before - I set it to ENABLE).
I have since several times removed the VM completely and attempted to reinstall.
Every time, the VM hangs on the Windows 8 logo screen on install and then crashes with the Error 0x000000C4.
As found on VirtualBox community forums and on other sites, I have tried the SETEXTRADATA command via command prompt running as administrator, and have confirmed that the .vbox file has been changed and the string ExtraDataItem name="VBoxInternal/CPUM/CMPXCHG16B" value="1" appended in the <ExtraData> section.
However the VM still refuses to boot or reinstall. I have Ubuntu, Fedora and ZorinOS VM's all working perfectly.
The only change to my system that took place in the interim was that I installed Comodo Free Firewall last night. Seeing the problems I have been having with the VM since this morning, I uninstalled Comodo and rebooted thinking it might have something to do with my problems, but still no joy.
I am also uploading my .VBOX files before and after to show the changes that have been made by the SETEXTRADATA command.
How to install Hyper-V Manager on Windows 8.1? I can't find anything to say it isn't possible, but I also can't find any way to install it. Anything I have been able to find refers only to installing it in Windows 8.1 Pro, but says the host software requires Pro or Enterprise. However, since I am not installing the host, it looks like it is possible, if you can find the source.
The reason I need to do this is that I have a Windows 8.1 machine and a Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Core machine, and I would like to be able to access the GUI tools for Hyper-V Manager. This is so I can directly access and see the machines I am running. Right now, I have a machine, but I have no way of accessing it.
I am running Windows 8.1 Pro with Hyper-V enabled. When I had Windows 8 I could install a Virtual switch with out any problems, since upgrading I can not install a Virtual Switch with External or Internal settings.
Not sure if this is relevant or not but when I look at the Ethernet properties never "Hyper-V Extensible Virtual Switch" or "Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor Protocol" are ticked. I have tried ticking them but get the error message "Could not add the requested feature. The error is: The data is invalid". I have checked that I am using the latest and correct driver for the card.
I have a VHDX which I sometimes boot from and sometimes use as a VM in Hyper V. It has Windows installed on the default C: drive.
This is somewhat confusing as the C: may be the original C: drive or the VHDX C: drive (with the original C: drive renamed to H: in my case). I want C: to always be the native boot and T: (for example) to always be the boot for the VHDX.
Can I change the VHDX to have Windows installed to say T:? I was thinking of renaming all instances of C: to T: in the registry and updating BCDEDIT. It is not possible to change system disk in disk management.
If this is not possible can I re-install windows on the VHDX and specify a different letter and C:?
This is how it looks when booting from VHDX:
Code: DISKPART> list disk Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- --- Disk 0 Online 465 GB 1024 KB Disk 1 Online 931 GB 31 GB * Disk 2 Online 483 MB 0 B Disk 3 Online 65 GB 381 MB
I can't open the mounted image in the disk management console. This is my backup image from my previous win 8.1 pro x64 system. Its stored on a external hdd w/ bit locker protection. My problem is I want to recover some files from the previous image but when I mount the vdhx image, the "Open", when i right click on the partition on the disk mgt console, is greyed out. I also noticed that no drive letter is assigned after i mounted it. I have tried converting it to vhd using Hyper-V, then opening it in win 7 but the same thing happens. It gets mounted, but no letter assigned and still can not be opened in the explorer. Are there 3rd-party tools to open & mount vhdx files?
I already have a Windows 8 Pro USB installer setup but I don't think it can be used to do a repair install for my Windows 8.1 Pro upgrade. So I'm trying to create a new USB installer setup specifically for Win 8.1 Pro. However, the Windows 8.1 setup window is not accepting the 8.1 Product Key that I extracted from Belarc, ProduKey and WPkey. Is there a way to get around that issue so that I can create the Win 8.1 USB installer?
Last week, I purchased an Acer Aspire v5-473g Windows 8.1 pre-installed laptop. The first thing I did is to partitioning the hard drive with EaseUS Partition Master. After that, I want to create a USB recovery drive but I found out that I was unable to do so.
When I launch the recovery drive program build in in Windows, I found out that the "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive" option has been grey out. If I continue the program, it would shows "We can't create a recovery drive on this PC. Some required files are missing".
In addition, I also found out that I was unable to reset nor refresh Windows 8.1.
One thing I am sure is that I did not mess up with the all those system reserved OEM partitions( including the one push reset partition) when I partition the drive. Those partitions should be present and intact.
After doing some research on the internet, some say that I need to mount the system recovery image (the "Push Button Reset RecoveryImage install.wim") using the "reagentc.exe". But I notice that I was not able to use reagentc.exe.
When I input reagentc.exe /info, reagentc.exe /disable, or reagentc.exe /enable, or all other commands using "reagentc.exe", it gives error: operation failed 3.
So how can I now create a USB recovery drive, or how can i perform reset now?
I'm trying to get my existing installation of windows to boot as an external hard drive. I had it installed on an internal drive, then removed the hard drive and put it in an external enclosure. Then trying to boot off the drive results in windows loading the recovery screen and giving me a bunch of options. The only thing I can do is restart the computer with all the other options (refresh, reinstall) saying that the drive is locked. Putting the drive back into the computer will allow me to boot normally from it, but I want to be able to boot from it via USB 3.
What can I do to either create a fresh install of windows on this drive that can be booted by usb or migrate/modify my existing installation to work.
My PC wont proceed to desktop environment, after I turned it on, its all black screen and you will only see the cursor. . Anyway my PC is ACER Aspire E1 471 - 32344G50Mnks, core i3, 500gb HD,Win 8. .
I am trying to install Thunderbird on a brand-new HP Envy laptop with Win 8.1. It gets to the "Create Shortcut [folder destination]" stage and hangs. I have rebooted my laptop and re-downloaded the Thunderbird install file, in case the first download contained some errors.
After running win 8.1 upgrade I occasionally get msg. that system is updating PE but it never completes as far as I can tell. Shows as running for about 15 minutes with 20 minutes remaining. Update box disappears but then I notice TOO QUICKLY that there is an error msg. when I shutdown.
Is there a way to verify that PE ran properly?
Is there a way to view error msg's on shutdown? They flash too quickly to read them.
I was doing a clean-up and accidentally deleted all the environment variable paths. How I can fix this issue without having to restore or enter them 1-by-1.
best configuration for a home network if I am using a mixture of different computers, including Win 7, 8, and a new-ish Mac? The Mac has Lion.
If Macs are compatible with Homegroups or Workgroups or Domains? I am a little rusty on my understanding of their differences exactly.
I also have a router that I am planning on using with a network drive option for an external HDD. I have a couple mobile devices as well but I'm not very worried about their compatibility.
In my laptop i had windows 8..i need windows 7 32 bit for my project.how can i install win 7 in my lap using virtualbox..By doing so whether it will affect windows 8 host os.
I have a problem which started recently. The problem is that everything closes unexpectedly. I am using the classic desktop environment to use this system and all the 'apps' I use a classing Windows programs.
Randomly all of the programs that are running on the machine close down without warning (And I mean ALL of them, even explorer.exe). I know that this has not been caused by a recent installation of a program as I have not installed anything recently. I also checked the computer with an Anti-Virus software as that could have been a cause but there wasn't anything.
I want to swap the OS's, putting 8 on the SSD, and 7 on the HDD.
So far, I've made Ghost images of both drives, and the system reserved partitions.
I have a boot-able thumbdrive, and multiple ways to make the ghost images available [External HD, Server, large Thumbdrives] so restoring them will not be an issue.
The largest OS uese 89 Gigs, so that is not an issue, and I will redo several installs of software, but that's not important right now.
Are there ANY concerns with doing such a swap?
I'd rather not, but I can change the connections of the SATA cables if I HAD to! The BIOS is pretty advanced, so I don't expect that to be an issue.
