Windows 10: Can you boot a windows 0 vhd from Linux

I have seen loads of webpages on how to run Windows on a VM in Linux, and how to run Linux in a VHD from Windows, but does anybody know how to do it (if possible) the other way round i.e. have linux as the main OS, but install Windows in a VHD (not a VM) in Linux?

:)

 

Windows 10 VHD Native Boot Installation--Officially Supported?

I apologize for not seeing your reference and leaving an incomplete solution ;

Not sure where you are at in this so I am providing a breakdown with an overview.

It appears they do not mention Windows 10, however the mention Windows 8 to using the .vhdx file format.
Hope this helps:

I am just now getting to exploring the use of VHDs for booting some Virtual machines.

I have included a more complete background on VHDs for you and others that maybe exploring this topic.

• 
  The local disk must have at least two partitions: a system partition that contains the Windows 8 boot-environment files and Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store, and a partition to store the VHD file. The .vhd file format is supported for native boot on a
  computer with a Windows® 7 boot environment, but you will have to update the system partition to a Windows 8 environment to use the .vhdx file format. For more information about how to add a Windows 8 boot environment for native VHD boot, see
  
  Download and install Windows PE (WinPE) so you can boot from a USB flash drive or an external USB hard drive.
  
• 
  The local disk partition that contains the VHD file must have enough free disk space for expanding a dynamic VHD to its maximum size and for the page file created when booting the VHD. The page file is created outside the VHD file, unlike with a virtual
  machine where the page file is contained inside the VHD.
  

This was from a recent Article :

Understanding Virtual Hard Disks with Native Boot
Last Updated: 5/4/2016;

VHDs with native boot are frequently used in the following scenarios:

• 
  Using disk-management tools to create and attach a VHD for offline image management. You can attach a VHD by using the
  Attach vdisk command which activates the VHD so that it appears on the host as a disk drive instead of as a .vhd file.
  
• 
  Mounting reference VHD images on remote shares for image servicing.
  
• 
  Maintaining and deploying a common reference VHD image to execute in either virtual or physical computers.
  
• 
  Configuring VHD files for native boot without requiring a full parent installation.
  
• 
  Configuring a computer to boot multiple local VHD files that contain different application workloads, without requiring separate disk partitions.
  
• 
  Using Windows Deployment Services (WDS) for network deployment of VHD images to target computers for native boot.
  
• 
  Managing desktop image deployment.
  

Deploy Windows on a VHD (Native Boot)

Last Updated: 7/20/2016

Create and deploy virtual hard disks (VHDs) with native-boot capabilities to test devices or to manage multiple operating systems on a device without re-partitioning the drive.

Creating VHDs
You can create virtual hard disks (.vhd or .vhdx files) using the DiskPart tool or the Disk Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC). You can create .vhdx files from PowerShell when you have the Hyper-V Manager Role installed.

You can attach the VHD so that it appears as a system drive that you can partition, format, and apply your operating system to.

Deploying VHDs
You can deploy a supported Windows image to an attached VHD using disk-imaging software such as the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool. The VHD can then be copied to one or more systems either to run in a virtual machine or for native
boot.

For more information, see
Download and install Windows PE (WinPE) so you can boot from a USB flash drive or an external USB hard drive.

On first native boot, the specialize configuration pass runs and computer-specific information is applied to the Windows operating system on the VHD. The instance of the VHD cannot be copied onto another system or run in a virtual machine after
the specialize configuration pass is completed. The original VHD that has a Windows image can continue to be copied and deployed to multiple computers, if the image has already been prepared for installation using the Sysprep tool with the
/specialize option. You can also use an answer file to prepare the image for installation by using the Microsoft-Windows-Deployment | Generalize setting. For more information about the
specialize and generalize configuration passes, see

Windows Setup Configuration Passes. For more information about how to use the Generalize setting in an answer file, see the Windows® Unattended Setup Reference.

The Windows Deployment Server role supports deployment of VHD image files in addition to .wim files. Windows Deployment Server automates the network deployment of VHD images for native-boot usage. Windows Deployment Server can be used to copy the VHD image
to a local partition, and to configure the local Boot Configuration Data (BCD) for native boot from the VHD.

 

Windows 10 Pro is it legit to run it from a VHD

Hi,

I used to use Windows 7 booting to VHD, and I was using the Enterprise version.

Now, I have seen that Windows 8 was able to boot to VHD.

But I cannot find anywhere if we can use Windows 10 PRO boot to VHD,

Is the Pro license allows us to use the VHD Native boot? (Aka booting from a VHD file?)

If so,

I have seen a post regarding a feature that we cannot know if it will be or not available in that post

Windows 10 VHD Native Boot Installation--Officially Supported?

more precisely "I have a clean install of Windows 10 Pro booting from VHDX. I received the Windows Update notice to Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, version 1511, 10586. This update then fails with a pop-up message "You
can't install Windows on a virtual drive.""

If we install Windows 10 Pro to VHD boot , are we gonna be able to continue upgrades?

Is there a list of features that are not available?

Mny Tx!

 

Are you talking about native boot ?
Windows can not access a VHD in a Linux Ext3/Ext4 partition

 

Yeah native boot but surely vhd can be in ntfs?

 

You would need the system partition (FAT32 or NTFS depending if you have UEFI or not) and VHD on NTFS. You don't need Windows installed.

Boot to VHD (Native Boot): Add a Virtual Hard Disk to the Boot Menu

 

Thanks for this - I know how to do this when using a Windows bootloader, with a separate partition. What i have not worked out is how to do it if there was a linux install with grub first. Am I over complicating things - do I isntall windows in a vhd first and the install linux secondly?

 

You need some way of installing windows in the VHD. If you aren't using Windows I guess you'd have to boot into PE and then you could install it using DSIM.

I don't know about grub I'm afraid. I use rEFInd as bootloader and it finds any bootable Windows (i.e. system partition) automatically.

 

Is your windows Installation UEFI or not ?

On my system (UEFI), I have
* Normal Windows 10 (ntfs)
* Windows 10 on VHDX (ntfs)
* Ubuntu on a dedicated partition (ext4)
on the same physical hard disk

I am able to boot either with grub or Windows to get use Linux or Windows *Smile