crashnburn4u

How much of Space does the WIMBoot option save? Can it be used with a Custom Install WIM? Can it be used on a VHD (Dynamic)?

This little tidbit about WinNTSetup from this link - http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/129 Can someone clarify/ elaborate on this? Its a bit confusing.

How stable/ buggy/ risky is it on Win 8.1? and 10? I remember reading earlier that it needed lot manual steps and hacks. And if it crashed, you lost shell and recovery was also a lot of effort.. Any easy scripting/ automated install/ uninstall?

Deploy & Compare VHDs of many portable Windows To Go WTG Creators Apps with your support A. What I'd like to do: 1. Deploy VHDs created by each of these tools. - I'll be doing many instances of this, so I'd like to make it as SIMPLE, EASY & AUTOMATED as possible. - Deploy with minimal interaction, configured & working devoid of pesky features, such as Windows update disabled - Open to other suggestions on these sample deployments - Whether I should VM or Native Boot them? I am wondering which of the following I should use as I am familiar with DISM - DISM (DISM++/ DISM GUI) + Silent/ UnattendedAnswerFile.Xml + MSDN ISO - Install.Wim {Would it better to extract it ahead of time} (Also, how do I add .xml on commandline when I am booting from DVD/ .ISO - via a USB Flashdisk?) Do I need any of the following? + Customized Install.wim - Customize using.. ?? + Some of the MDL Tools like MSMG Toolkit + I did read about MDT and I am wondering if it would be overkill to learn for this.. ?? 2. Compare how they are deployed - Understand the differences - File/ Directory Structure Comparison - I'm gonna use Beyond Compare for that - Registry Comparison - Any recommendations on apps that can do this well for entire Reg? - Any other comparisons I should perform to see differences B. WTG Creators under evaluation: (Open to try any more app suggestions as well) - WTG - Enterprise - DISM – Powershell Scripts - WTG Creator – extracted for use in – Pro Volume - WinNTSetup - MSFN - WinToUSB - AOMEI Partition Assistant - WiNToBootic - Easy2Boot/ RMPrepUSB - Rufus Maybe some more. deploy, compare, vhd, wtg, windows-to-go

Even with DISM I can & have applied non Enterprise editions.. i.e. Pro to my VHDs. .. with 8.1 Update 1 No worries, I'll take care of the licensing & activation. I dont care much for the SanPolicy and Recovery Console thing as well. So, does it do/ add any thing else? Any registry stuff.. apparently WinToUSB maybe does {some threads on their forums}. I ask because of this little gem - http://superuser.com/a/919119/183467 Is this something that Windows starts thinking automatically? I am curious. I dont intend to use an external Flash.. Just internal drives.. but everything contained in VHDs.

Everyone here raves about WinNTSetup. But, before I use it I’d like to know what it does internally. With Microsofts official way, on reading about MS WTG there are 2 ways to create WTG: 1 - Using WTG Creator 2 - The second way specifies a Powershell/ DISM/ BCDBoot way to build this with any custom .wim Windows Image, which is typically how I’ve been creating VHDs. It also adds another step, that adds policies {SAN} to hide the Host System’s OS & disable WinRE; which are things I don’t care much about. Before I use WinNTSetup, I'd like to know, what it does internally - steps? What does it do differently? as compared to above 2 methods.

Everyone here raves about WinNTSetup. But, before I use it I’d like to know what it does internally. With Microsofts official way, on reading about MS WTG there are 2 ways to create WTG: 1 - Using WTG Creator 2 - The second way specifies a Powershell/ DISM/ BCDBoot way to build this with any custom .wim Windows Image, which is typically how I’ve been creating VHDs. It also adds another step, that adds policies {SAN} to hide the Host System’s OS & disable WinRE; which are things I don’t care much about. Before I use WinNTSetup, I'd like to know, what it does internally - steps? What does it do differently? as compared to above 2 methods.

I guess maybe I dont need roaming profiles. Also, I understand Sysprep changes the SID by design. Now, would the SID change by itself, if/ when the VHD/ WTG moves from machine to machine? or not? Hardly "queer", it is actually one of the features of Sysprep. A few links: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897418.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2009/11/03/3291024.aspx http://www.stratesave.com/html/sidchg.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_experiment jaclaz

Thanks. Nice articles. Could you share some insights on the Local & Roaming thing that I asked about on previous post? [i'll mark it bold] Hardly "queer", it is actually one of the features of Sysprep. A few links: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897418.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2009/11/03/3291024.aspx http://www.stratesave.com/html/sidchg.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_experiment jaclaz

Hmmm. said by whom/where? I guess we must draw a line somewhere. Windows 7 "to go" does not exist (as a "product" by MS). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 8 "to go" does exist (as a "product" by MS) A number of tools/sites/whatever will mix together a "portable" Windows with the "to go". You won' t AFAIK find HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PortableOperatingSystem in a Windows 7 (or it will be ineffective). All your doubts/questions seem to me revolving around the same one "Will it work as intended?" The differences between WTG creator and "plain" commands can be derived from here, where the two methods are described : http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/6991.windows-to-go-step-by-step.aspx (this is "direct", no VHD involved) Create two of them, one with the WTG creator and one with given set of commands, then compare the result to see if you can find any difference between the two. jaclaz Will do the compare on a sample VHD instance. I typically use Beyond Compare for file/ folder structure comparisons, would suggest any other tools for such a compare? Something that does a Operating System/ Registry compare /diff beyond files? Just wanted to know if there were any issues that I should be aware of. PS: I will be going with W 8.1 on this, I just wanted to point out I have licenses for the list above and have read the variation of tutorials for each. Also I am keen on understanding one thing: Application Data - The Local v/s Roaming profiles of Apps.. i.e. the settings that Apps save into..\AppData\.. Local\ LocalLow\ Roaming\ LocalGoogle\ I did read a thread/ article about the differences between Local and Roaming, but I'd like to get some insights in the context of this Portable VHD version of Windows. Do the applications go cuckoo when a VHD moves? Can they be "tuned/ tweaked/ prepped" before, during, after installation? I know that when I did Sysprep on a Win 8.1 instance, the SID changed. I am guessing that the SID does not change when such a VHD moves between machines? - Which is what Apps sometime tie into.. Especially noticed some stuff like this with Google Chrome. Chrome disavowed up my User Profile Data {It apparently uses Windows Crypto API for some stuff} and Bluebeam PDF Revu hasnt worked at all - which I can live with and redo install etc. Do some Apps generally tie into Hardware? or typically just into the SIDs?

Primary OS as a Portable Windows / WindowsToGo on VHD – Doing it the right way? Background: For few months now, I’ve native booted sample .VHDs/.VHDX (s) with variations of BIOS/ UEFI & MBR/ GPT. Gotten comfortable with BCDBOOT variations, converting between MBR <> GPT and so on. Learnt partition variations that work well inside VHDs; EFI, SYS, \Windows partitions. Learnt how DISM can be used to Image & Apply standard & custom .WIMs on VHDs / HDDs/ Partitions. Product Licenses & keys: Before anyone shouts wolf, here are the license/ keys & ISOs that we have: Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8.1 Pro, and Windows 8.1 Enterprise MAK & Servers as well. I know some of this may not be ‘supported’ paths or how Microsoft says things should be done, so just like many such experimental pathways on forums, please help this one if you can. Objective: Portable Windows VHD: People are booting their primary OS from VHDs and that’s what I wish to do. I’d like to boot my Primary OS from VHD; It to be my single Container for [OS + Apps + Files/ Data] I intend to boot the VHD off Internal disk, not via USB. Then, changing hardware is a single .VHD file copy away. One caveat I noticed is that if you move the OS/ VHDs across hardware it needs to do work on Hardware/ Driver profiles (and typically it’s recommended to Sysprep + Generalize before moving them). On the other hand, W Enterprise based Windows To Go is said to handle this differently, with some secret sauce. Researching Microsoft’s Windows Enterprise based Windows To Go: I noticed, the typical & official Microsoft WTG scenario is a paired relationship: Mother {W Enterprise} – using WTG Creator - Daughter {WTG created on USB } system. I thought the only way to move forward was this paired way and wanted to avoid it. Then I noticed that MS specifies a Powershell/ DISM/ BCDBoot way to build this with any custom .wim Windows Image, which is typically how I’ve been creating VHDs. They just add policies to hide the Host System’s OS & disable WinRE; which are things I don’t care much about. I guess, my VHD should be good to go. But, I am wondering if there’s something missing? Or something special/ extra is being added/ changed by WTG Creator? If so, do share. Found additional Portable Windows/ Windows To Go Creators: I found the following variations of portable Windows creators/ applying Windows, official and unofficial: WTG - EnterpriseDISM – Powershell ScriptsWTG Creator – extracted for use in – Pro VolumeWinNTSetup - MSFNWinToUSBAOMEI Partition AssistantWiNToBooticEasy2BootRufusMaybe some more..My Portable Windows VHD Concerns: Is this VHD good to go automatically and Moveable across hardware? These are 3 areas of curiosity/ concern for me that I need to answer: Image Application & CreationIs there something else that WTG Creator based MS WTG has that’s missing?Licensing & ActivationI can activate it with the Windows Enterprise MAK license and/ or the Pro licenseAlso, the few times it moves it will be running on OEM Hardware with MS licenses in firmwareHardware/ Driver profilesDoes MS WTG handle hardware/ driver profiles differently when booting on machines?I found this little insight (quoted below) on a Windows Registry key. http://superuser.com/a/919119/183467Can/ should the opposite be done?Does WTG Creator do this? Or does the Windows instance do this by itself? Multiple operations fail if Windows 8 is improperly identified as a Windows To Go installation https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2778881

Thanks for those insights. I get that. We do have several Enterprise MAK licenses. The typical WTG scenario I read about is Mother{ W Enterprise} - Daughter {created on USB using WTG} system. What I wish to do is avoid this and move my primary OS to a .VHD/ VHDX {As I read people doing on several blogs - But no clarity on what/how} Could I do this with a DISM/ APPLY to VHD with a Win Enterprise ISO/ WIM? thereby avoiding the M&D and this VHD is good to go automatically? moveable across hardware. Do I have to create a Mother - Daughter thing and when mapping WTG Creator I map it to the mounted VHD drive? Yeah, very difficult to find: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go#Licensing In a nutshell you need an Enterprise license and Software Assurance. On technet (for Windows 8/5.1): https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj592680.aspx jaclaz

Multiple operations fail if Windows 8 is improperly identified as a Windows To Go installation https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2778881 Anyone face this in any of the following for a WTG that you have.. that was.. created using on of the 3 below.. For those who have created or use WTG Windows To Go using any of the following ones? - using WinNTSetup - using this WTG Creator: Windows to Go x64 x32 for Pro and Core RTM - using the Geniune WTG in Windows Enterprise... My question is for Win 8.1, but I think the same might apply to Win 10?

Yes, I used WinNTSetup to install 8.1 to a VHD (don't remember all the details (relearn when I do 10)). I keep a VHDa to use / update, and a VHDb to boot to for when I want to back up VHDa (both on my HDD). One issue is that VHDa keeps growing in size -- by GBs. I don't know the cause of these huge increases as recovery images have been disabled. And hard to imagine that normal MS updates are adding this data. Will hopefully figure this out when I do 10. That is my goal as well - To use VHDa - primary use and find some way to backup VHDa - maybe by booting into utility VHD - VHDb like yours) - Are you using VHDX or .VHD? So did you install to VHD using 8.1 Enterprise or Pro? What kind of license? Inbox PM Me if you want. Please do share your steps / experience. I seem to be reading about WTG Creator which on a genuine W8 Enterprise creates a separate W8 Disk (typically USB device/drive) (or if it can be mapped to a VHD). Is it possible to take an existing W8 Enterprise Installation and convert it to a WTG on a VHD? I am wondering what steps would apply?

I seem to be reading about WTG Creator which on a genuine W8 Enterprise creates a separate W8 Disk (typically USB device/drive) (or if it can be mapped to a VHD). Is it possible to take an existing W8 Enterprise Installation and convert it to a WTG on a VHD? I am wondering what steps would apply?

Anyone use this to run Windows 8.1 To Go / WTG 8.1 off a Native boot VHD?

Lets not get into the argument of 11 months later or not.. I want a "reservation" or "license" .. NOW. Its a TO DO for now.. I have other things that are gonna make me super busy in the coming year. Does that help? I'd rather take some steps now than try and do stuff when I am busier then. From what I read other places I cant do so without having a machine running. So, I am considering putting a Vanilla install in a VM and trying it out.. (unless you tell me I can do so without one?)

I can't say for certain. I doubt it is actually tied to the license and more or less just enabled on that current installation. So reinstalling Windows would make it so you didn't have the reservation anymore and you could prob get GWX to install and prompt for it again. Exactly why I want to only RESERVE it, not INSTALL and ACTIVATE it... YET!! PS: I just went from Win 7 to Win 8 (Gradual.. Careful with a Watcful eye)

Double Post Due to Internet/ Forum Delay/buffering - Please DELETE

Double Post Due to Internet/ Forum Delay/buffering - Please DELETE

Whoa! So, doesnt the link back to your Pre Win 10 ...OS License stand as a record somewhere? Or is a license once used BURNT UP and its Win 10 upgrade cant be obtained ever again? I ask only about RESERVATION as I DO NOT INTEND to upgrade or ACTIVATE to Win 10 anytime soon. Just the way I bought a $14.99 Windows 8 license, but am not using it YET. So, how can I reserve, without having an existing install on hardware? I'd like to reserve before July 29th. Is it possible using just the Windows 8 key that I have and a Gmail address? Or does it have to be installed and activated using that Win 8 key?

Since, we are trying to keep things Synced between Forums for the benefit of Members who may be only on One of the Forums. http://reboot.pro/topic/20595-what-is-significance-of-msr-sys-efi-partitions-for-win-81-native-boot-vhd-how/#entry193918 http://reboot.pro/topic/20595-what-is-significance-of-msr-sys-efi-partitions-for-win-81-native-boot-vhd-how/#entry193916 Referring to these 2 posts on the thread I created, please do share what would be suitable partitioning scheme for the .VHD? Should it be: Single Partition: [\WindowsOS] 2 Partition: [EFI Sys][\WindowsOS] Do have a look at those replies and share your thoughts. If needed I can post/ requote some info (little confusing/conflicting) from there here below. I wanted to create a Universal VHD that would also boot in all 3 environments listed below: (and move exclusively to VHDs) (http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/Moving-Exclusively-to-Boot-to-VHDs) Preferably: - Native Boot (with Host OS) - VM Boot (in Hyper V or VMWare) Optionally: - Native Boot without a Host OS e.g. Like the examples here http://www.nextofwindows.com/windows-7-vhd-native-boot-without-any-hosting-operation-system http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mikeormond/archive/2009/10/09/boot-windows-7-from-vhd-without-installing-a-native-os.aspx http://www.johnpapa.net/bootoffmetal/ http://www.roelvanlisdonk.nl/?p=2137 Can I do this with the Single partition? If you say thats a fact, I will try another experiment and try out some more BCDBoot experiments

Is there a way to reserve Win 10's without IDENTIFYING the machine? Lets say, I have a Win 8 Pro license from the $14.99 sale that I am not currently using on a machine, as yet? I figured Win 10 upgrades for OEM licenses would be tied to machine and non OEM licenses would be tied to previous License code?

Do share the magic PS: Is this more stable and error free than OP's method?

I have completed through these phases of the project. Using this context, please help me with this further at this location: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/174121-what-is-significance-of-msr-sys-efi-partitions-for-win-81-native-boot-vhd-how/