Re: Installing Windows 7 on a VHD on a Running WinXP system

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OP,

Also what Big Al failed to mention is that not all Os' will work. Seems that 32 Bit's are fine in a virtual environment on Virtual PC but some 64 bit versions aren't. 2008 Server 64 bit will come up with a load error in Windows Setup, just as an example. So, if you see a similar message when you go to install it then forget it. Also, you need a licence for the OS you are installing, too

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SPAMCOP User



"Big_Al" <BigAl@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23u6C8%23WQKHA.4004@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
~~Alan~~ said this on 9/29/2009 8:12 PM:
I have my Windows XP system running very nicely, thank you very much, and I want to set up as a test, Windows 7 on the same system. I want to keep my XP system in tact for the time being.

I just learned about VHDs (virtual hard disks) and was hoping I could create a VHD on my WinXP system and install Windows 7 on that VHD.

abridged procedure:
1) create a folder c:\win7vhd
2) boot Windows 7 DVD
3 ) at the appropriate time, press Shift+F10 and enter Diskpart from CMD
4) issue the following from Diskpart:
create vdisk file="c:\win7vhd\win7.vhd" type=expandable maximum 32767
select vdisk file="c:\win7vhd\win7.vhd"
attach vdisk
5) Continue with the Windows 7 installation

Can I do this and what will happen if anything to my Windows XP installation especially to my boot and system partitions?

~alan


If you get Microsoft Virtual PC software from MS (its free) it will load on the XP machine. When you run the VPC console, it will allow you to create a virtual machine and then a virtual drive and boot off the CD and load Win 7. You can even mount an ISO file and install from the ISO rather than a physical CD.

You can make as many machines as space allows on your HD(s). I had win98, Vista and win7. Its harder to load Linux but I've read articles that it can be done.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=28C97D22-6EB8-4A09-A7F7-F6C7A1F000B5&displaylang=en
This is not the SP1 for VPC, its VPC with SP1.

.

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