Can I dual boot from an existing virtual machine using Easy BCD

[area 66]

When I say first you can't use a Virtual Machine on a bare metal I was right, now we are talking about the VHD only, I still believe it's not a good idea, it will be if you take the VHD for a PC to bring it to the exact same model of PC, Moving a VHD from a PC to another one is like moving a Hard Drive, The OS as to readjust all the drivers and other thing.

In Windoes 7 you can boot from a VHD. But you need the Ultimate or Enterprise editions for that. Virtual Hard Drive VHD File - Create and Start with at Boot - Windows 7 Forums

This is the equivalent to Install Windows in another partition, you install it on a VHD instead. Of course the VHD will be more portable ( in some extend)

As I said in my earlier post, it is possible to boot from a VHD under Vista. See:

Boot From VHD – Replacing Vista or Windows 2008 Bootloader ...

Although this is booting to a Windows 7 VHD, it should also work for Windows 8. Or you can partition and Dual boot conventionally.

If you do so, the Windows 8 will have to reinstall the drivers of the Vista laptop hardware and you will need to reactrivate. Unless you have software you don't want to reinstall, it's better to make a fresh install. Aside we know that in many case we can move a Windows 7 HD to another PC, and Windows 7 will adjust, but in some case it does not work and this is Windows 8, someone know it react the same when you move the HD to another PC ?.

 

[ovg]

calico
ok i have done the method you suggested before on win7 laptop and it worked so ill do it again

just one last question, my computer has two partitions, local and hp recovery, i want to get rid of recovery and use its space as well as some from c drive. i will then back up onto an external hd
.
1. is there any difference in having the recovery in internal or external i.e. for if i need it
.
2. what are all the different types of back ups available i.e. system, user, etc

 

[ovg]

area 66
i have decided against a vhd and also my computer is VISTA not win 7 so im not messin with bootloaders. ill partition instead

 

[whs]

calico
ok i have done the method you suggested before on win7 laptop and it worked so ill do it again

just one last question, my computer has two partitions, local and hp recovery, i want to get rid of recovery and use its space as well as some from c drive. i will then back up onto an external hd
.
1. is there any difference in having the recovery in internal or external i.e. for if i need it
.
2. what are all the different types of back ups available i.e. system, user, etc

If you move the recovery partition to an external drive, it will not work any more. But that is not a big problem.

I assume you have burnt the recovery DVDs from the recovery partition - if not, do it now. That will give you the option to recover to the factory state.

Then you make images of your C: partition which allows you to go back to the image state at any time. Here is a tutorial on how to do that. It works the same in Vista (although the tut is in the Win7 section) Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Forums

So with the recovery DVDs and the images, you would be well covered and can delete the recovery partition.

 

[ovg]

oh ok i thought it was user data back ups,like on some other laptops, in that recovery drive but wasnt sure as it wouldnt alow me to entre it. so the recovery is like a repair disk?
thanks so much everyone for the help, much appreciated Will do this asap

 

[ovg]

hey are any of you on vista fourms, my brother has a big problem with his laptop

 

[whs]

hey are any of you on vista fourms, my brother has a big problem with his laptop

I sometimes visit our Vista forum. And Dave is there all the time helping everybody. Have your bro post his problem.

 

[ovg]

ok thanks a lot

 

[ovg]

i tried to burn the recovery on dvds using recovery manager and it keeps prompting me, the disk you inserted is not blank. insert a blank disk and close the drive.
What do i do? the disks are brand new and the pack was sealed
It also said earlier that i can only do this once? if i cancel will i be able to make these dvds another time?

 

[ovg]

Sorry, tried non rewritables and it worked

 

[whs]

Right, best is to use DVD-R. But if I were you, I would immediately start making images and make new ones e.g. once per week. Then you can recover in 20 minutes and lose non of your stuff. Here is what I suggest to use : Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Forums

 

[ovg]

ok I have made the recovery disks, a backup, about to make images
.
.
can i back up programs?
also can i transfer/migrate a few to win8

 

[whs]

Programs cannot be transferred. They have to be reinstalled. But they will be part of your images and will reinstall when you dump the image back in.

 

[ovg]

wow 1.7GB download! Ill have to wait till end of the month to do that
30GB usage..... for five people not very much is it?

 

[whs]

wow 1.7GB download! Ill have to wait till end of the month to do that
30GB usage..... for five people not very much is it?

I always store all my program downloads on an external 2.5" disk. Then I have them handy for reinstallation or an installation on another system. For a 1.7GB download I would need 2 hours. Would not want to do that multiple times.

 

[ovg]

That will take me about 4hrs. Is it possible to download the file without the program i.e. on my android phone in a wifi hotspot?

 

[whs]

I guess you can download via the phone hotspot. But that will only be faster if you have 4G - 3G would be slower than an average DSL connection.

But I do not understand what you mean by "download the file without the program ". If you mean that you download the program installation file (.exe) without immediately installing it, that is possible. Just save it somewhere on the PC or an external drive attached to the PC. Then if you double click on the .exe file, it will install.

 

[ovg]

sorry, i have the program installed but to make the rescue media it wants to download 1.7GB, this is very big so i was wondering if it can be downloaded onto my phone in a hotspot in a cafe or somewhere like that, as i have limited speed and usage aswell as a good chance of being disconnected at home

 

[whs]

I guess you are talking about producing the WinPE rescue disc. For that you want to download the WAIK which is 1.7GB.

I would think you can download it to your phone if you have enough storage space on the phone and know how to later transfer it to the PC.

You may have to drink a lot of coffees at Starbucks or eat a lot of hamburgers at McDo. Even on G4 it will take a while. If there is only a G3 hotspot, you better bring a sleeping bag - LOL.

 

[ovg]

alot of the hotspots are about 5mbps or i could do it on my schools wifi, 100mbps actual speed, and mabey it can be paused like the win8 download? where can i download it?