Windows 10: How to install vhdx image onto win 10 new computer

Can I install a vhdx image backup file from an old computer (win 10) onto a new one?
I no longer have access to the old computer.

From my internet reading it would appear that virtualization might be invovled and I've managed to install a virtual machine on the new computer, however, I've now hit a brick wall *Confused

If its doable I'd really appreciate being pointed in the right direction. *Wink

The vhdx image file is on an external HD together with bu's of my data files (just to be on the safe side)

:)

 

Install Windows 10 backup (.VHDX) on Windows 8.1

Hi everyone.

1.5 years back i bought a small laptop which had pre-installed Windows 10 on it (with office,apps,etc).

At the time i needed Windows 8.1 ,so i made Win 10 backup on external HDD,and installed Windows 8.1 over it.

Right now i want to recover that backup by installing it over Windows 8.1.

My question is how to do it? The recovery itself has 3 separate .VHDX files and few XML files





As you see 1st .VHDX is ~13GB, 2ns .VHDX is 290MB and 3rd .VHDX is 38MB.

Do i need to somehow convert to bootable file or merge all 3 VHDX images in one?

I did see an article in one place that showed a possibility to mount and boot .VHDX backup using Powershell,however in my case i have 3 separate files.

Any help will be highly appreciated.

 

Free Windows 10 upgrade. re install problem

Currently I have re install Win 7 and recovered the major files I needed from the Win !0 image backup using VHDX files.

 

Hi, this may be of interest:
Solved How do I open a VHDX file? - Windows 10 Forums
VHD or VHDX File - Mount and Attach in Windows 8

 

Easiest way is just to mount it through disk management.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying ...( too crook to look at a computer *Sick )
Thanks for the suggestions but I had already arrived at that point (mounted disk), how do I overwrite the existing oem with the back-up from the old computer with the mounted disk? I have win10 home.

 

Can you be clearer about what sort of data in the image file you want to restore? You said
"The vhdx image file is on an external HD together with bu's of my data files" implying its content is other than data..

 

The image is a complete copy of the old computer's content: os, progs, data etc, I did an additional copy of the data as a precaution as I had never done an image restore before. I also thought it would save time (no doubt it will when done properly) but as its turned out I could have manually re-installed the progs mant times over but I would not have learn anything! *Wink

 

To convert VHDX to WIM ( i'll assume your ext HDD is D:\ )

create a MOUNT folder on D:\
create a CAPTURE folder on D:\
Open a powershell cmd window

Mount-WindowsImage -ImagePath “D:\FOLDER\NAME.vhdx” -Path D:\Mount -Index 1

New-WindowsImage -CapturePath D:\Mount -Name Win10Backup -ImagePath D:\Capture\Backup.wim -Description “Windows 10 Backup” -Verify

Dismount-WindowsImage -Path D:\Mount -Discard

-------------------

Then you would need to partition the new PC HDD using the windows 10 setup media (run setup)

then you would again use the setup media (or my bootable Recovery tools ISO) to get to a command prompt and then use

Dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:\Capture\Backup.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:C:\

this will convert the vhdx to wim - and Apply the backup

 

Thanks for the reply Kyhi but its way above my head, can you point to some more basic reading so I can get my head around it?

 

What OS is on the New PC ???

What is the location and file name of your .vhdx you would like to restore to the New PC ??

OR you could just BOOT the vhdx file, from your external HDD (although faster data rate if internal drive) but doable..

Windows 8.1 / 10 support booting vhdx files - internal and external..

 

Hi Kyhi

New user here, reviving an old thread.
I'm about to try out your guide two steps above using powershell etc, overwriting a default install with a win10 imagebackup (default comes as a vhdx-file since 8.1 it appears. Only worked with the, now legacy, vhd-format previously).

I was aware you can boot into the image but how is that done? Google wasn't my friend today, and all the methods i found was overly complex. Maybe there is no easier way to do it than: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ces...-a-vhdx-image/ (applies to Win10 as well) but if someone have opinions on how to do this easier it would be appreciated. Thanx

Edit: The link is for creating a full untouched boot-enabled image, this is in some instances very useful but only the bottom part applies to this question. I was wondering if there is some easier way than to boot into a full win10 install and edit the Windows Boot Loader. /edit

Isn't that true. I'm at a factor of 10 to 1 presently but I refuse to resort to doing things from scratch every time something fails (especially when you have a well configured snapshot) *Nerd

 

Attach the drive with the VHD file to any windows 8/10 PC

I assume the .VHD(X) file is on an external USB drive.... we'll example it as drive letter USB:\

Mount the .VHD(X) file ... we'll example it as drive letter VHD:\

Then from that PC, open command prompt (admin)

if mounted x86 VHD - use cmd > bcdboot VHD:\Windows /s USB: /f BIOS
if mounted x64 VHD - use cmd > bcdboot VHD:\Windows /s USB: /f ALL

The above will write the files required to boot the VHD to the external drive...
then just set the external drive as your Boot device, to boot the windows vhd..

 

Exactly what i was looking for. Brilliant, thank you.
And your procedure for converting and deploying the image described earlier worked as a charm. *Cool

This will help me a lot in the future. (If your'e not allready getting paychecks from Microsoft they should start sending them *Wink)

 

Just glad I could help..