The D-Spot (The Deployment Spot)

I’ve downloaded a VHD file from Microsoft and wanted to boot from it. Just to experiment with the new feature. Here are the surprisingly simple steps to take:

1. Create an extra boot entry (copy from current entry) and give a description, BCDEdit will echo the created identifier:

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Windows 7 Foundation Suite 3 VHD" 

"The entry was successfully copied to {a20180a3-a426-11de-96df-a3075ebd94a1}.

2. Set VHD to the newly created bootloader entry, with this two commands:

   1: bcdedit /set {a20180a3-a426-11de-96df-a3075ebd94a1} device vhd=[D:]\Images\WDTFS-x64.VHD\WDTFS-x64.VHD 

   2: bcdedit /set {a20180a3-a426-11de-96df-a3075ebd94a1} osdevice vhd=[D:]\Images\WDTFS-x64.VHD\WDTFS-x64.VHD 

3. Force auto detect the Hardware Abstraction Layer (if you’re using a syspreped VHD)

bcdedit /set {a20180a3-a426-11de-96df-a3075ebd94a1} detecthal on

Replace identifier (don’t forget curly braces) and .VHD path (yes, with square brackets round the drive letter) with your own.

4. We’re done! Reboot your machine and you will be presented with a new boot menu.