WARNING: This is some advanced stuff. It's not that hard, but you can break things that are hard to fix. So, there is no warranty express or implied. Windows 7 or Windows 2008 Server R2 are required.

Have you heard of the new feature in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 called Boot to VHD? It is amazing! But it's one of those concepts that people hear about and think "hmm, interesting." But when people see it in action it's "OMG, I must have this!"

I recently had that experience myself and enough people asked me about it that I decided to do a quick (15 min) screencast how to setup a native boot to virtual hard drives.

If you want a great overview and step-by-step instructions, check out Scott Hanselman's blog post:

   Less Virtual, More Machine - Windows 7 and the magic of Boot to VHD

If you want to see boot to VHD in action, then check out the video here:

(click image to stream the video)

Download Screencast: BootToVhdKennedyWalkthrough.zip (158 MB)