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I have an existing Windows 7 VHD that I run in HyperV. Can I take that same .vhd and boot to it using Win7's boot from VHD feature?

If so do I need to take any special steps to prep it? I won't be running the existing vhd and this boot from vhd at the same time (so I don't think I need to sysprep it).

Thanks, Jon

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You're supposed to sysprep the installation anyway because you're changing the "hardware" on which the OS is running (from the virtualized hardware in Hyper-V to the real hardware on which you'd like to do a "native" VHD boot); doing so will also take care of generating unique account domain SID for the OS. (I know you mentioned that you don't intend to run both at the same time, but it would be safer this way.) You can always take a snapshot before running sysprep in the VM and then revert back to that after you've copied off / exported the VHD.

Additionally, you'll need to make sure that the physical system you're booting the VHD on has a copy of the Windows Boot Manager (and a boot entry for the OS in the VHD) outside the VHD.

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You MAY be able to get it to START to boot, but don't expect a successful boot, at least without some major issues. In Hyper-V the VHD has emulated hardware and that's what boots. When you boot from a VHD, it's ONLY emulating the hard disk, not the rest of the hardware. So while you may be able to get it to work, it would be a mess and certainly not "portable", if that's what you're going for.

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