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I want to create a bootable Windows 7 vhd using the steps mentioned at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=80ede31d-3509-407b-a896-0beea8705589&displaylang=en However, I wanted to know if I will be able to access the vhd using Virtualbox too. I intend to install VS2008 in the VM and use it in Virtualbox when doing quick work and on native hardware when doing a lot of work. I don't want to mess up my actual Win7 installation with VS2008 dev work.

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I strongly suggest you use separate Windows images for VB and real booting. Yeah, buy another license if you must. VirtualBox does not fake your real hardware, and at the very least you may end up having to reactivate Windows too many times and lose your license because MS thinks you're a pirate.

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Thanks for the answer:). You mean no problem apart from licensing issues? I'm okay with licensing problems ;) What would happen if I use two different licenses to activate under the two different boot scenarios? – user18151 Jan 11 '10 at 17:13
I'm sorry if I was unclear. There could potentially be HUGE problems aside from licensing, notably rendering your system unbootable. In any case, you can't use different licenses for the same VHD depending on how you boot--Windows doesn't support that. – CarlF Jan 11 '10 at 23:34
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I think it is like booting 2 different computers from one external Hard Disk.

Every time windows boots up, it will find different hardware so it will tell you some hardware was removed and some was added (and add drivers for it). So if the emulated hardware is similar enough to the real hardware, it might be ok. But the chances of getting everything jammed are a bit higher than normal, I think.

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Yes, Virtual box does support VHD files.

Wiki: Software using VHD

Wiki: Virtual box feature set

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I do know that. I am however wondering if I can play with the same Windows 7 bootable image in virtualbox too, without interfering with its bootable nature. – user18151 Jan 10 '10 at 14:25
By bootable, I assume you mean the ability of the host to boot from the guest image, without the VM. The safest bet would be to take a copy of the guest before manipulating it in Virtualbox. I would be very surprised if Virtualbox damaged a VHD created in this fashion. – RJFalconer Jan 10 '10 at 16:49
Yes, By bootable I mean the ability to boot on native hardware directly from the image, without the use of any virtualization platform. I do hope Vbox doesn't do anything unusual to it:) – user18151 Jan 10 '10 at 17:48
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