After reading Scotts excellent post: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8DeveloperPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx
…and subsequently noticing a smart chap saying something about an easier way in the comments:
I decided to go ahead and make this even easier since PowerShell is my new hammer I’m going to take advantage of it. The Creating a Bootable VHD guide does specify that there is a Microsoft PowerShell script which makes this easier, so there is method to my madness.
The relevant code has already been pushed to Github: https://github.com/naeemkhedarun/CreateWindows8VHD
A direct download of the zip is: https://github.com/naeemkhedarun/CreateWindows8VHD/zipball/master
Usage
You need to download and mount the ISO yourself. You can get it from here and I recommend Virtual Clone Drive as a free and lightweight mounting tool.
The script has three parameters:
- Full path and name of the VHD you would like to create.
- The maximum size of the image.
- The drive letter to assign the VDH to (must not be in use).
An example of using it is:
cd C:\projects\CreateWindows8VHD
C:\projects\CreateWindows8VHD> Import-Module .\Create-Windows8VHD.ps1
C:\projects\CreateWindows8VHD> Create-Windows8VHD "C:\vhd\windows8preview.vhd" "30000" "X"
Here’s an example of my output:
Following this to set up a dual boot record you can do (where driveletter is what you choose above).
C:\Windows\sysnative\bcdboot.exe driveletter:\Windows
You should now be able to restart into the Windows 8 Preview!
Feel free to submit pull requests and make suggestions.