Double clicking on a VHD to mount it

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Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta 2 includes 'vhdmount' - a tool to allow you to mount a virtual hard disk directly on your host operating system. While vhdmount is provided as a command line tool - a very small amount of work will allow you to mount VHDs by just double clicking on them. By creating a .reg file with the following contents:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HD]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HDshell]
@="Mount"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HDshellDismount]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HDshellDismountcommand]
@=""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\Vhdmount\vhdmount.exe" /u "%1""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HDshellMount]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesVirtual.Machine.HDshellMountcommand]
@=""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\Vhdmount\vhdmount.exe" /p "%1""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.vhd]
@="Virtual.Machine.HD"

And then double clicking on the .reg file (to load it into your registry) you will be able to double click a VHD to mount it, and right click on it to dismount it.

Cool...

Cheers,
Ben