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VHD_W7_Compact - Make Mini 7 -

win7 vhd usb mini7

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#51 gbrao

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Posted 14 January 2014 - 09:24 AM

Thanks. So reg tweaks are the only changes made, right ?

 

I was booting Portable 7 in AHCI mode. It works OK when the default (MS) AHCI drivers are used. If I update the AHCI drivers with the latest Intel AHCI driver, I get a blue screen on boot ( IRQL_LESS_THAN ... ).

This does not happen with the source Win 7. I assumed it was because of some change made by VHD_W7_Compact.

I made Portable 7 (in AHCI mode) from a source without Intel AHCI drivers & from a source with Intel AHCI drivers. Same prob.

 

Not really important. I'm going to use IDE mode only from now on.



#52 wimb

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 04:16 AM

Indeed only makebt\registry_tweaks are used in making New VHD to modify the registry as copied from full Win 7

 

However, the DriverStore in Portable Win7 is limited.

May be it helps adding extra DriverStore rules in VHD_W7\copy_7vhd.txt for the Intel AHCI driver

Don't forget also to take the corresponding .inf_loc entry into account.



#53 kikos

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 01:16 PM

hi all

 

I'm trying to understand what does it mean portable?

I tried my best of creating a portable win7 vhd - and I'm able to boot it using grub4dos on my pc, but I see it is not persistent.

is it the whole point? then I don't get the mechanism of installing the drivers, I'm not very much familiar with supplied driver installation tools.

 

what is the mechanism of this drive "C:" being non persistent?

what is the mechanism of drivers installation being persistent?



#54 wimb

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 01:56 PM

If you use grub4dos menu to load your VHD into FiraDisk RAMDISK,

then all changes are not persistent.

 

If you boot your VHD from Boot Manager Menu or from Grub4dos Menu as FiraDisk FILEDISK 

then all changes are persistent.

 

Portable VHD means that you can boot such VHD on any hardware.

Before making your new VHD you can extract VHD_W7C_drivers.exe plugin 

so that drivers are added to makebt\drivers folder.

VHD_W7_Compact.exe will use Dism.exe to add these drivers to the VHD DriverStore 

needed for better portability e.g. when booting on hardware having Intel i5 processor.

Win7 has a lot of drivers built-in, but some are missing, which are added in this way.



#55 kikos

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 02:07 PM

wimb, let me tell some details about my install

 

I used virtual pc with two hard drives 15 and 25 gb (two vhd files on my real machine) and win7.iso (windows 7 installation disk) as cdrom

I made the simplest install of windows 7 on 15 gb hard disk

made some changes to it like disabling pagefile, hibernation, uac .... and installed winvblock using WinVBlock_install\WinVBlock_Install.cmd

turned off the virtual pc, copied 15gb.vhd into 25gb.vhd file

I also have grub4dos, win7pe.iso on 25gb drive

so I boot the same virtual pc using 25gb.vhd with win7pe.iso

 

here I've done what is described in your video in the first post

 

then I have output from your app - win7.vhd 2gb file and another 200mb boot vhd.

 

I am ignoring the boot vhd that you're creating

I am using only 2gb win7.vhd and my own boot with grub4dos and simple boot command

 

======

map /win7.vhd (hd0)

map --hook

chainloader (hd0,0)/bootmgr

======

 

it boots up - in virtual environment, in my two notebooks, but it is not persistent.

so what am I missing?



#56 wimb

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 05:28 PM

Can you give some examples e.g. screenshots to show what is not persistent for you.

 

Your procedure is quite different as compared to my description.

In my case there is never used a virtual pc.

 

:cheers:



#57 kikos

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 05:39 PM

for example I can add a folder in c:, add files to that folder, delete shortcuts from desktop (two shortcuts for some driver tools) and reboot

 

it always boots the same - just like the first time, installs some drivers for new hardware, and requires a reboot - and all again the same.

I also tried to copy some 300Mb files to c: it hung the system It seemed - forced to power off the system. this is weird.

 

since I'm not familiar with all your tools, it was hard for me to follow your path exactly - I guess I'll have to.

 

by the way, I was thinking that it is a must to use virtual environment in order to install winvblock to source vhd with windows, is there an alternative?

 

Thanks


Edited by kikos, 15 January 2014 - 05:40 PM.


#58 wimb

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 06:19 PM

There is no need to use virtual environment.

 

Try to start as described in first post:

 

Windows 7 Source VHD preparation

 

Install FiraDisk driver with R-mouse on firadisk.inf in makebt\firadisk-driver- folder

 

For Win7/8 VHD I prefer to use FiraDisk, whereas WinVBlock is preferred for Install of XP in VHD.

 
Reboot with Win7/8 OS and use VHD_W7_Compact.exe to make Portable Win7  VHD of 2 GB


#59 kikos

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Posted 15 January 2014 - 10:19 PM

I'll proceed as you suggest then.

I wonder, why do you prefer firadisk in w7 over winvblock?

I tried firadisk several months ago, and it had a bug of deleting the boot sector, and it was a surprise for me in this thread that it also supports filedisk apart from ramdisk. also firadisk boot commands are complex, I don't understand all 'write' things.

so until now winvblock was my obvious choice for filedisk.

Edited by kikos, 15 January 2014 - 10:20 PM.


#60 kikos

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Posted 16 January 2014 - 11:33 AM

wimb, since my win7 install iso has collection of two languages installations and WinNTSetup2 was chosing the wrong language for me - I sticked to my original method.

 

but instead of winvblock, now I'm using firadisk and it seems all right.

 

thank you very much



#61 wimb

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Posted 17 January 2014 - 07:57 AM

In the past there was a multilanguage issue.

Did you try latest WinNTSetup3 v3.1.0

I the issue is still there, then report it to JFX and it will probably been fixed soon.

Using WinNTSetup3 has many advantages and is preferred over conventional way of using Windows 7 Setup.

 

Good that FiraDisk is working OK for you. :)



#62 kikos

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Posted 17 January 2014 - 08:19 AM

it seems that msfn.org is blocked from my office network, so I downloaded it from the bottom link from your file XP-W7-Setup/WinNTSetup3.txt

 

Current Version: 3.0.0.0
 
so it seems older than you mention.


#63 gbrao

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Posted 19 January 2014 - 12:58 PM

I recently got a new PC with 8GB memory. I prefer to use 32 bit Windows - boot Portable 7 from memory. I realised that having more than 4GB memory did not help when using 32 bit Windows. I had to use a relatively small size VHD ( 1.6 GB ) so that when booting from memory, I had approx 1GB memory free after booting. I really wanted to use a larger VHD ( put some more stuff in C: ) and utilise all 8GB memory. I was finally able to do that :

 

Info : http://www.raymond.c...han-4gb-memory/

 

Download : http://wj32.org/wp/

 

Screenshot : https://sites.google...1-19_181510.jpg

 

Now I just have to create a new Portable 7 in a larger vhd.

 

But : Intel HD Graphics drivers cannot be used. 



#64 wimb

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Posted 19 January 2014 - 01:28 PM

I recently got a new PC with 8GB memory. I prefer to use 32 bit Windows - boot Portable 7 from memory. I realised that having more than 4GB memory did not help when using 32 bit Windows. I had to use a relatively small size VHD ( 1.6 GB ) so that when booting from memory, I had approx 1GB memory free after booting. I really wanted to use a larger VHD ( put some more stuff in C: ) and utilise all 8GB memory. I was finally able to do that :

 

Info : http://www.raymond.c...han-4gb-memory/

 

Download : http://wj32.org/wp/

 

Screenshot : https://sites.google...1-19_181510.jpg

 

Now I just have to create a new Portable 7 in a larger vhd.

 

But : Intel HD Graphics drivers cannot be used. 

 

Thanks for interesting Info :)



#65 wimb

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 08:44 AM

*** Update VHD_W7C_80 and VHD_W7C_drivers plugin ***
 
Download  - VHD_W7C_80
Download  - VHD_W7C_drivers
 
Run VHD_W7C_80.exe and VHD_W7C_drivers.exe plugin and Extract to the same simple path
Plugin gives Extra Win7 drivers in folder VHD_W7C\makebt\drivers\WIN7_x86 and WIN7_x64
 
Changes:
- Update USB_W78_Fix.exe to Fix Windows 7/8 VHD or Drive for booting from USB 3.0
- Update UsbBootWatcher used to protect Services that Enable booting from USB 3.0
- Update Booticex86.exe to version 1.3.2.1
- Added EasyBCD 2.1.2.exe
- Update VHD_W7C_drivers.exe plugin to enable booting from USB 3.0
 
Thanks to:
Pauly for making Bootice - http://bbs.ipauly.co...06e07ab6f3b01cb
NeoSmart for making EasyBCD - https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/
 
:cheers:


#66 darky

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 01:52 PM

 

*** Update VHD_W7C_80 and VHD_W7C_drivers plugin ***
 
Download  - VHD_W7C_80
Download  - VHD_W7C_drivers
 
Run VHD_W7C_80.exe and VHD_W7C_drivers.exe plugin and Extract to the same simple path
Plugin gives Extra Win7 drivers in folder VHD_W7C\makebt\drivers\WIN7_x86 and WIN7_x64
 
Changes:
- Update USB_W78_Fix.exe to Fix Windows 7/8 VHD or Drive for booting from USB 3.0
- Update UsbBootWatcher used to protect Services that Enable booting from USB 3.0
- Update Booticex86.exe to version 1.3.2.1
- Added EasyBCD 2.1.2.exe
- Update VHD_W7C_drivers.exe plugin to enable booting from USB 3.0
 
Thanks to:
Pauly for making Bootice - http://bbs.ipauly.co...06e07ab6f3b01cb
NeoSmart for making EasyBCD - https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/
 
:cheers:

 

Thank you for this and your other VHD progs, i was able to make xp, 7 & 8 full VHD's then after attaching each VHD in windows 7 ult i was able to shrink the space down to as much as i wanted then leaving the VHD attached using the VHD compact program again adding the user patch i was able to make the VHD smaller without using any other programs... :beer:  



#67 Zoso

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 09:10 PM

hi Wimb,

Im just getting back to this again, last time I used it was many moons and versions ago. I have a question about this part:

Add Drivers from makebt\drivers to system32\DriverStore\FileRepository is applied for Portable version by using Dism.exe


do I use Dism.exe directly or does your program do it automatically after the drivers add-on is ran? I have ran the drivers add-on and see the drivers it collected but what to do next?

thanks.

#68 wimb

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 07:44 AM

Dism.exe is used automatically to add the drivers as described.

 

:cheers:



#69 mazak000

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Posted 04 February 2015 - 01:48 PM

Hello!

 

i downloaded the tool and studying it. I don't really need its features, but i'm trying to understand better how windows 7 works under the hood.

 

My questions are:

 

- the txt contains the files kept, or the files removed (i'm guessing "kept")

- generally speaking, what things or kind of files are removed?

 

My curiosity arises from testing uninstalling features of win7 (ie, wmp, etc.), wich resulted in exact the same size occupied by the windows installation, so i'm guessing that it keeps a lot of cache and temp things that may not be so useful.

 

Thank you! :)



#70 wimb

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Posted 05 February 2015 - 05:30 AM

In folder VHD_W7 you find file copy_7vhd.txt with extra info to make Portable version:

 

; Needed Filelist for making Compact Win7 VHD of Size 2.0 GB - Adjust to your needs - Only rules with leading backslash are used
 
; Use Exc_port7_sys32.txt filelist to Exclude Unwanted system32 root files
 
; Reduced DriverStore as in 7 PE
 
; winsxs from optimized 7 PE
 
These are the big space savers.
 

Slimming down is based on files to keep that were known to be needed in 7 PE as made by Make_PE3

 

In Mini Version described by mini_7vhd.txt then Multimedia files are excluded as well by removing everything below next line

 

//////////////////////////////////////// extra for - Portable Windows 7 Version ////////////////////////////////////////
 

 

 



#71 mazak000

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Posted 05 February 2015 - 07:24 AM

Thank you very much for such precise information! ;)

This is what i needed to know to start studing deeper. :)


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#72 gbrao

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Posted 04 April 2015 - 09:49 AM

I've been using Win7 Portable from RAMdisk for some time now.

1) IE 11 would not display "http://www.google.com/"properly. I don't normally use IE, so it wasn't a problem.

2) Now Firefox 37.0 does not display properly too. I waited for 37.0.1, same problem.
(I tried Firefox Portable and also installed Firefox.)

Can someone please confirm the above problems.
And maybe share how to fix them.

I just tried creating a new Win7 Portable using VHD_W7C_80 and VHD_W7C_79 from a fully updated source. Same problems.

btw : the above problems do not occur in the source Windows 7.

EDIT :
The Firefox problem may be due to Intel graphics hardware/drivers. (But FF works OK in the source Win 7 even on a Intel system)
- FF worked OK on my AMD test system even from Win7 Portable.
- the release notes https://www.mozilla....1/releasenotes/mention "Start-up crash due to graphics hardware and third party software".

#73 gbrao

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Posted 05 April 2015 - 03:33 AM

Re : above post.

If I uninstall the Intel HD graphics driver from Win7 Portable, FF works OK.

It I then re-install the Intel graphics driver, FF does not work.

Looks like Win7 Portable is missing "something" when using FF 37.0 with Intel graphics.

#74 Camiel

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Posted 25 December 2015 - 09:28 AM

Although both firadisk or vblock are loading just fine to the WinNTSetup_x64.exe created vhd,

and after the appropriate bcdedit commands.

 

Either drivers fail to load after VHD_W7_Compact.exe final vhd,

windows just stop at boot time complaining about digital signatures



#75 agni

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Posted 09 June 2016 - 08:48 AM

Hi Wimb, Thanks for the wonderful tool. 

I've been away from Reboot.pro for a long time and now I just quit my job and I am going back to school.

 

In preparing the Windows 7 Source, I realised that installing to VHD would work only if I use Windows Ultimate. I noticed that you mentioned in your help file that for Windows Professional we would need to install to an actual harddisk and then install FIraDisk and use your tool.

 

Is there a way to install FiraDisk to a vhd containing Windows 7 Professional ? i.e, use WinNTSetup to create VHD and install Win 7 Pro and then I mount the vhd and install FiraDisk and boot it using grub4dos as filedisk and complete the installation. I know WinNTSetup has msstmake, but I am not sure that is useful in case of FiraDisk and Windows 7.

 

In a nutshell , I would like to Install Windows 7 Professional( and other versions which do not support native VHD boot) to a fixed size VHD( or IMG ) file and boot from it. ( Similar to how you did for Windows XP )







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