clean install FROM vhd

[thibault]

i was wondering this:

if you extract a Windows 7 iso to a vhd and then boot from that vhd, can you install Windows 7 from it?

 

[Tews]

What is the purpose of extracting to a VHD, rather than extracting the ISO to a spare drive/partition and installing from there??

 

[thibault]

i have four partitions on my disk which is the maximum
one has Windows 7 x64, another one x86, another one Vista x86 and one is a recover partition
i want to remove the Windows 7 x86 and clean install a newer build on it

 

[sup3rsprt]

Try it.

I have never done it but it may be possible since extracting the contents of the DVD to a partition makes that partition bootable so long as it's set "active" and the bootsector is bootmgr compatible.

Report back with your results

 

[chuckr]

i was wondering this:

if you extract a Windows 7 iso to a vhd and then boot from that vhd, can you install Windows 7 from it?

I doubt that you'll be able to boot the vhd...

Since you're not 'installing' to vhd, simply extracting files into it, there won't be any bootmgr entry to 'boot from vhd'.

Why not burn the iso to DVD, boot the DVD, and install over the 'old' w7 x86 ?

 

[sup3rsprt]

he can add a boot manager entry for the vhd with bcdedit. The real question is whether or not he can install Windows from it.

I think in order to do it he will have to create a ramdisk device using bcdedit. At least that is what I had to do when creating a boot manager entry for Windows 7 Setup (for example when setup files exist on d: partition).

 

[chuckr]

he can add a boot manager entry for the vhd with bcdedit.

Ah, so...

Doubts diminished.

Seems entirely possible, then.