Solved Install W7 Pro to VHD

MilesAhead

Eclectician
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Pro User
Messages
2,130
I can't seem to find a full step by step how to install W7 Pro on a VHD file made in W8.0.

I followed Brink's tutorial how to make a VHD in Disk Management. It is formatted NTFS with disk type GPT. I have W7 Pro on a bootable USB. What now? If I just run setup without booting the USB it won't let me install to the VHD. If I boot the USB how do I get it to see the VHD and copy the files on?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
Thanks :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
For some reason I cannot get the W7 iso to boot from USB. I used the iso to create a VM that installed and is still running. So I have to assume the disk image is fine. If I try to boot via selecting USB on startup I get a flash where it says "checking media" then something flickers and it goes to W8 sign in screen. I tried other USB sticks that boot when Macrium creates a restore USB using WinPE. Also I created a utility boot with command line tools from W8 and that boots.

I have secure boot disabled. So something is weird.
I have tried both Rufus and ISOtoUSB. Same thing happens on startup.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
are you trying to boot an ISO or VHD??

once you create the VHD you apply the windows install.wim to the VHD with imagex or dism
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
For some reason I cannot get the W7 iso to boot from USB. I used the iso to create a VM that installed and is still running
You cannot boot an ISO file from the USB stick. You have to either extract the content of the ISO file to the USB stick or use: Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way to create a bootable USB stick.
With VM is different, the software will read the ISO file then install Windows.

EDIT: The easiest way is:
  1. Create a VHD with MBR style
  2. Right click on Disk Management->Attach the VHD Disk. Create simple Volume and format
  3. Mount the ISO file or extract it to a USB
  4. From Admin command. Using Imagex and type: imagex /apply x:\sources\install.wim 1 y:\
    x: is where you extract the ISO file to and y: is your VHD drive letter
    NOTE: Google and search for imagex then download it if it is not available.
  5. From Admin command, type: bcdboot y:\Windows
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
are you trying to boot an ISO or VHD??

once you create the VHD you apply the windows install.wim to the VHD with imagex or dism

I did that using imagex. Then the tutorial I used says "now reboot and complete the install" and of course it booted to an image of Loading W7 which hung.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
For some reason I cannot get the W7 iso to boot from USB. I used the iso to create a VM that installed and is still running
You cannot boot an ISO file from the USB stick. You have to either extract the content of the ISO file to the USB stick or use: Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way to create a bootable USB stick.
With VM is different, the software will read the ISO file then install Windows.

In my post I noted I tried both Rufus and ISOtoUSB. I got the reactions noted.
Brink's tutorial shows using Rufus, but Rufus has changed since then. It doesn't have the bullet for "simple Windows install." What it has is a bunch of options for GPT or MBR and it doesn't like it when I select FAT32 for format.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
For some reason I cannot get the W7 iso to boot from USB. I used the iso to create a VM that installed and is still running
You cannot boot an ISO file from the USB stick. You have to either extract the content of the ISO file to the USB stick or use: Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way to create a bootable USB stick.
With VM is different, the software will read the ISO file then install Windows.

I just meant the ISO I used created a VM using WMWare Player and I installed W7 in the VM. I'm not using the VM to do anything. It just shows the iso image is good. I did md5 when I downloaded also.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
have you tried booting the window7.iso ?

easyBCD will allow you to add the *.ISO to your current Host boot menu

Also since it is a vhd you are trying to boot - the system will appear to hang as it mounts the VHD and then the installation will continue through the sysprep OOBE phases.. it will take a little time at first..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Please read my post #6 above. I edited and added some more info to it. In addition, you can also use Winrar/Winzip to extract the content of the ISO file to a USB stick
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Please read my post #6 above. I edited and added some more info to it. In addition, you can also use Winrar/Winzip to extract the content of the ISO file to a USB stick

There must be a problem with my Laptop. I got the same thing as the original tutorial. When I rebooted I had a menu with Windows 7 and Windows 8. I select Windows 7. I get Starting Windows. The logo changes for a few seconds. Then it hangs.

For some reason it doesn't want to boot from USB either. I'm liking this W8 more and more all the time. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
when you say the logo changes - from what logo to what logo

from OEM logo to a Windows logo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
when you say the logo changes - from what logo to what logo

from OEM logo to a Windows logo

No. After the Win 7 Logo animation, it changes in intensity for a few seconds. That it just stays like that. I waited 10 minutes. Something should happen by then.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
I just tried it again using Disk Management creating a vhd explicitly as MBR type. Same deal. Just hangs. The other peculiarity is that System Restore shows my max is set to zero and all Restore Points are erased. Pretty weird.

I reset it to 10% and after playing around with trying to boot vhds it's back to zero with restore points gone. I've never run into this one before.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
I tried it one last time with the vhd file on a different partition. Same deal. Boot hung. When I reboot to W8 system restore allocation set to 0 and restore points erased. I think I give up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
I've been messing with win7 ultimate VHD on an external HDD - win 8 vhds boot not problem - win 7 vhd BOSD
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
It is a weird thing. I've done VMs with virtual box and wmware player. But I've never tried this direct boot thing before. Plus something is going on with my System Restore. Even when the Laptop was new, like first day, I needed to do a restore and it hung for about 20 minutes before it finally kicked in. Now when I run a restore point it comes back with an error saying the restore was not done and the restore point got deleted. But the restore points were there. Also I cannot launch ComSysApp service. I don't know if all these things are related. I'm starting to wonder if I got an "open box" Laptop without knowing it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
The System Volume Information folder under C:\ where it stores all the restore points might be corrupted. Try to delete this folder and reboot, Windows will create a new folder and if you are unable to delete it then download: Slacko Puppy Linux release and put it in a USB stick to boot from it then delete the folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
The System Volume Information folder under C:\ where it stores all the restore points might be corrupted. Try to delete this folder and reboot, Windows will create a new folder and if you are unable to delete it then download: Slacko Puppy Linux release and put it in a USB stick to boot from it then delete the folder.

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try once I'm done formatting this USB stick. I'm doing the slow format just to be sure.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
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