Windows 7: GRUB4DOS Installing Windows 7 ISO, NEED HELP PLEASE.

So I have Grub4Dos running pretty well after I used the diskpart, Grub4dos, Acronis TI ISO root to re-image vmdk files. What I want to do is boot directly from a Windows 7 ISO I have created from MagicISO. Grub4Dos is working for Acronis but I want to be able to put on the OS ISO's so that I don't need to carry around disks.

Anyone know how I go about getting this setup?

Currently I have a 500gb drive with my Windows 7 iso and I have tried tampering with the Menu.lst file to get it to find the ISO on my NTFS partition but I am getting all sorts of error codes the more I mess with the scripts. I have seen some howto's listed on this website but they don't work (for me that is)



Sorry if I have posted this to the wrong forum.

Thanks,

Cantdance

I don't think it's possible to boot the Windows DVD .iso image in its .iso file form.

You would need an existing partition with a formatted filesystem (either NTFS, ext3, or whatever else Grub supports). Then you'd have the problem of mounting the .iso as a virtual drive in some manner, and then booting from that virtual drive. And then Windows Setup might have problems running from that virtual drive instead of a real one once it does start up.

You're far better off preparing and formatting a small 4GB NTFS partition, making it bootable and copying the complete file/folder structure from the .iso to that partition. Then you'll have something you can boot just like an installed operating system - all it takes from here is adding a boot entry for the partition to Grub.

Thanks Corazon,

I figured that might be the best way to get around the problem I am having. I was hoping there was an easier way

Just so I am clear - If I just create a folder on my NTFS partition (I have grub4dos on a 10gb FAT32 partition on the same drive) and call it,say, Windows 7 and drop the installation folders in there you think that's my best bet?

Cantdance

No, you'll have to copy the files and directories from the .iso into the root of the NTFS partition. It won't boot if everything is nested within an extra folder.

Ok, so I got it working

The setup was as follows:

• 500gb HD
• Partitioned with 10gb (FAT32) and the rest of the drive is NTFS
• Grub4Dos installed using diskpart and Grub4dos
• My Acronis ISO for True Image is on the FAT32 Partition as that was the initial plan. The rest of the ISO's and the VMDK files are on the NTFS partition

I edited the menu.lst to look like the below and it found the Windows 7 ISO and booted perfectly.



timeout 10
default 0

title Boot To Windows
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bootmgr
chainloader /bootmgr

title Acronis True Image
find --set-root /trueimage.iso
map --mem /trueimage.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
chainloader (0xff)

title Windows 7 ISO
find --set-root /Windows7SP1.iso
map /Windows7SP1.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
chainloader (0xff)



Hope this helps other people who want a streamlined and non disk world for re-imaging