Has someone already managed Vista direkt boot from a VHD file? So how is it possible with Windows 7?
Hintergrund:
Windows 7 can be installed directly from DVD into a VHD file. And Windows 7 can be booted directly from this VHD file. Without any additional virtualization software. See here (Link removed-This is getting too much third-party advertising for me-*Blue*)
This is very useful if you want to test several Windows 7 builds side by side; e.g. Build 7000 (German) and Build 7057 (English).
But: Can you also boot Vista directly from such a VHD file?
Why?
That would be interesting if you later switched completely to Windows 7 and still want to start Vista quickly for occasional purposes. For example, to test hardware drivers that do not (yet) run under Windows 7 - but under Vista. Or just to help friends and acquaintances who are still using Vista by phone - then it would be useful if you still had a Vista available that you could quickly boot.
It is possible to start Vista from a virtualization software. But that's not the same as real booting. With the virtualization software, Vista is led to believe that it has special hardware that rarely corresponds to its own real hardware. You can hardly test hardware drivers there. Or it would be possible to install Vista in parallel in a separate partition. But if you want to have several different Vista versions ready for occasional purposes (Home Premium, Home Basic, Ultimate, etc.), it is quite a waste of space if you had to create a partition for each version. A small 5 or 10 Gb VHD file is quickly restored from a backup hard drive.
What I have tried so far:
On a PC with Vista and Windows 7 installed, I have a "Image backupThe Vista and Windows 7 partitions are each saved in separate VHD files. I can then boot from the Windows 7 VHD file, but not from the Vista VHD file.
Some places on the Internet claim that Vista in principle cannot be booted directly from a VHD file.
An elsewhere it says it is possible when the Vista VHD file had previously been created with the virtualization software "Windows Server 2008" and "Hyper-V".
Does anyone have experience with it and can confirm that?
(I don't have "Windows Server 2008" and "Hyper-V")