Talk:VHD (file format)

Feedback[edit]

I'm semi-geeky and from the article I can't quite work out how this works, nor what exactly the purpose is. I saw a link saying VHD is green, so I looked it up, but I'm not much clearer than I was. The average person would have little chance of making sense of this. --Chriswaterguy talk 23:00, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Disadvantages of VHD[edit]

I think, there should be also a disadvantages section below the advantages to keep the neutrality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.178.108.38 (talk) 09:44, 28 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Advantages or dis, as compared to what? Jim.henderson (talk) 03:05, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Windows 7 support for Native VHD Boot[edit]

This section is not clear from my POV. Physical computers do not "boot a VHD", they find an active partition, which has a boot sector pointing to the new BCD boot manager (instead of the old NTLDR for XP, or other schemes). The BCD boot manager can then boot operating systems on the same or another partition, or chain to a NTLDR boot manager, or start a "boot sector" image (chaining to, e.g., a DOS boot partition), or attach and boot a VHD existing on a specified partition. All that's required for this magic is the "bootable" VHD and the BCD boot manager. If that description is in essence correct I don't see any technical requirement for Windows 7 ultimate (or similar). Well, I should test it... –82.113.99.129 (talk) 08:23, 14 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That is completely right. Only you have forgotten that not every BCD boot manager can do that. Only the bootloader that comes with Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 can do that. Fleet Command (talk) 13:09, 14 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That is incorrect. Not the bootloader, old tech. NT 6.2 (win7 and 2008R2 is itself loaded as a virtual machine image. I'll get flack for noting that most Linux live distros initially boot to vmlinuz or some equivalent VM, before the OS proper engages.

If you read the Microsoft Native Boot requirements an EFI (or UEFI) Firmware and boot code (e.g. Linux elilo) called from EFI Shell, or BIOS that supports Native Boot. See Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.

We take for granted since forever that we can boot an OS from CD/DVD (.iso image file file), yet skepticism about booting OS from virtual disk or disk image.Shjacks45 (talk) 08:02, 30 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

VHDX[edit]

The article should be updated to include mention of the VHDX format included in Windows Server 2012. -- Dave Braunschweig (talk) 18:59, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

VirtualBox workaround solution[edit]

There is no documentation regarding the useful use of linking a Windows-attached .vhd to a .vmdk direct access rawdisk to be used through VirtualBox with success — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.163.209.74 (talk) 12:59, 13 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]