Is it possible to use a VDI and make it bootable from a second HDD

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mahnac72
Posts: 4
Joined: 13. May 2021, 11:04

Is it possible to use a VDI and make it bootable from a second HDD

Post by mahnac72 »

I have read https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads ... hd.344209/
but not yet tried similar idea.

I have created a Windows 7 Pro 64bit VM which runs from the Host OS Ubuntu 20.4.3lts with out issue.
I have a spare 320 Gig SATA HDD connected to my pc and would like to use the Windows 7 Pro 64bit VM vdi to create a bootable OS on the 320 Gig HDD.

Is this at all possible.

Hardware: AMD Ryzen 64 bit running Ubuntu 20.04.3 lts 64 bit Host OS with a 256Gig SSD as main drive and the spare 320 Gig HDD
If this is possible I'd then like to change the Boot sequence to the 320Gig and run the Windows OS but I have and idea the ISO used to create the VDI has specific enviorment that need to be duplicated. I'm wondering if there has been a workaround for this difficulty in duplicating the hardware used to create the ISO when trying to recreate a bootable drive from an ISO.

Or am I just totally off the track and need to read the freaking manual again... lol..
mpack
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Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Is it possible to use a VDI and make it bootable from a second HDD

Post by mpack »

As that reply in the linked discussion mentions, you can transfer the image to a bootable drive (e.g. using Macrium) and boot from it. Not a problem, except of course the practical matter that Win7 will see new hardware and activation will be lost.

As for directly booting from VDI: a VDI is a data file for software, it is not physical media. The software has to be running in order to read its data file, hence the PC has to be already booted and running. I suppose that in these days of fancy boot managers it would be possible to create a custom boot manager that loads from VDI like it loads from a partition, but that would have nothing to do with VirtualBox since it's no longer a VM. There would also be the problem that the hardware is different to that which Win7 was activated on.

If all you want to know is: can a VM be launched from a removable drive - then yes of course it can. However it isn't recommended because of the likely poor performance, and the high probability that, sooner or later, you'll unplug the drive while the VM is running and corrupt the drive. Also note that USB flash drives are not designed for continuous use. Using one as an OS drive will probably destroy it quite quickly. It needs to be a portable SSD or mechanical drive on USB 3.x.
mahnac72
Posts: 4
Joined: 13. May 2021, 11:04

Re: Is it possible to use a VDI and make it bootable from a second HDD

Post by mahnac72 »

Thanks for reply.
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