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Nowadays 32 or even 64 GB of RAM in a PC is becoming accessible for the average Joe.

Ideally I would like to be able to copy a fully working Windows 7 installation on DVDs or a Bluray disk and mount it in RAM each time I start the machine.

Is this possible ? If not, can I still install Windows on a ramdisk ?

The goal is to have something like a Windows live CD that would only operate in RAM and leave no trace since the machine would have no hard drive.

My google-fu returned tutorials for Linux, but I need Windows specific softwares. I could use a virtual machine, but I would prefer to keep things native.

All your suggestions are welcome.

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It might be possible to use Window 7's boot-from-VHD, keeping the VHD in RAM. – Breakthrough Aug 8 '12 at 13:49

migrated from serverfault.com Aug 8 '12 at 13:38

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You want to create a Windows Live Cd. A Live CD is effectively an installed version of the OS on a DVD/Blu-ray disk. There are several ways to accomplish this. My personal favorite is: Bart's PE. There are other ways too. Look for Windows Pre-installed Environment(WinPE). It is an official Microsoft Project for the same reason. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Preinstallation_Environment

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I have to make some researchs but can I install specific softwares on WinPE ? As an example, Visual Studio, .NET 4, Office 2010, Truecrypt ? – jmn Aug 8 '12 at 14:14
ot sure of WinPE but you can do that on Bart AFAIK. – darnir Aug 8 '12 at 14:16

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