Saturday, October 1, 2011

Installing Windows Developer preview in Dual Boot mode without any external drive

I was playing around with the recent windows developer preview (which is of course awesome) and stumbled upon the question, what if I want just to play around and do not want my old OS(in my case win7) to be removed. So just some research and experiments I put down the steps which will successfully install WIN8 developer preview on the box in dual boot up mode.
Prerequisites:
1. download Win8 Dev preview ISO image from this link:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516
I downloaded the first option i.e Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64)
Save it to some drive say E:
2. Ensure that you have a free disk drive (separate for sanity) say F:
3. Download a ISO mounting tool. There are lots of freewares which do this. I used
PowerISO from this side : http://www.poweriso.com/download.htm
(installing powerISO will ask you for a restart)
Steps:
1. CREATE A VHD.
use windows diskpart tool for this
on windows cmd prompt from an elevated prompt (administrator access) type:
Diskpart
create vdisk file=F:\VHD\test.vhd maximum=35000 type=expandable
select vdisk file=F:\VHD\test.vhd
attach vdisk
create partition primary 
assign letter=v
format quick FS=NTFS label=VHD
exit
2. MOUNT THE ISO using the powerISO.
In the powerISO that you downloaded there is an option at the top that gives you option to mount the iso file. Point it to select the developer preview ISO file that you downloaded.
It will mount it a drive let us say G:
3. ATTACH ISO TO VHD.
You can not directly attach ISO to VHD. You will need to find the WIM file in the mounted drive. If the drive created after mounting was G:, you will find the wim file in G:\Sources\install.wim. In case this is not the case search for wim in that drive. Pick the one with maximum size (+4GB)
You may use Imagex to do this, but a very easy way is using the Install-WindowsImage.ps1 script readily available on internet.
You can download this from:
http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/InstallWindowsImage/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2662
(in case you can not drop me a comment)
To execute this Install-WindowsImage.ps1 you will need to do the following
a. Open powerShell window from the cmd/run prompt. Just type poweShell in run prompt, you will get the option. You can pin this to your task bar or the quick launch if you want. Run powershell with admin access.
b. type set-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted –force on the PowerShell console.
c. In PoweShell prompt cd to the directory where you had downloaded the Install-WindowsImage.ps1.
d. type
                  .\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM G:\sources\install.wim
This will give you an index attached to the Windows Developer Preview install.wim. Most probably it will be 1. Now type

                   .\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM G:\sources\install.wim -Apply -Index 1 -Destination V:
note: here Index 1 is the index returned by the first command and V: is the letter you assigned to the VHD in the step you created vhd.
This will tell you that the process will take about 15 minutes. Go grab an expresso Smile.
4 PROVIDE THE BOOT OPTION
Once the Windows Image has been installed (The PS script in last step will tell you when it is done.) You need to add the boot option. You can do this by typing this on the cmd prompt from an elevated administrator access.
bcdboot V:\Windows
5. RESTART
You are ready to roll. You will get a new boot option screen to pick OS. Pick the new one Smile. You will have to configure a few personalization items e.g. the name of machine, user/password, internet connection and of course agree to the terms.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF METRO.
If you want your normal win7 experience you can click the explorer tile on your screen and live in the past happily ever after Smile

1 comment:

  1. OK credits:
    1. http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8DeveloperPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx
    2. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg318049(WS.10).aspx

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