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I would like to make my Windows 7 installation bootable from VirtualBox inside Linux. The only problem is that Windows 7 does not boot inside VirtualBox because of the different "hardware" it presents.

I have looked at this question and its accepted answer, but I fear that it would make the installation lose all its hardware drivers - i.e. it will become bootable only in VirtualBox.

I have all the other things sorted out - I created a raw VMDK, Windows 7 tries to start in VirtualBox, it starts to boot, but it throws a BSOD (I couldn't quite catch what it was) and reboots. So I am positive that the problem is Windows 7's clinginess to the hardware.

So my question is: How can I install Windows 7 drivers for VirtualBox's hardware while retaining support for the native hardware too?

Community
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matega
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3 Answers3

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Knowing what the BSOD was would help narrow down the issue. My guess is that there is a conflict with the storage drivers (0x0000007B). By default, when one storage driver or mode is enabled others are disabled to increase performance and avoid conflicts. When switching between RAID and AHCI or Legacy (IDE), the corresponding drivers must be instructed to start or Windows will encounter this storage BSOD. The exact drivers on your system will depend on the storage chipset in your computer, but generally the keys you will want to change are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\pciide HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStorV

These keys should be changed to a 0 (from 3) to instruct them to be enabled/start.

WinOutreach2
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sysprep does not delete drivers.

You can also boot from your Windows install DVD and open a command prompt.

You can then use this to add drivers to an offline copy of windows. Please adjust the paths as neccessary.

DISM.exe /Image:C:\ /Add-Driver /Driver:d:\Drivers\ /Recurse

cybernard
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Windows XP supported "Hardware Profiles" which would have allowed you to accomplish what you're after.

Unfortunately this feature was removed starting with Vista, which means a Windows 7 installation is practically hard-wired to a single PC (whether virtual or not).

Unless you have a genius handy who can come up with some crazy hacks I think you're out of luck sorry.

misha256
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