Testing new apps / updates in Windows 11

Morning All ... I have decided to move to W11 from W10 after an install broke Aquasuite access to my hardware. I use to use Acronis Try and Decide to test installations (and my playing with my system) to see if they broke. But T&D doesn't work with W11 ... how to I test a product installation / update and have the ability to revert back to a previous point?

I could do a complete backup and recovery.

I could do something else?

Any suggestions?

This is what Windows Sandbox is for, if you are on a Pro or higher SKU of Windows.

RuffHi said:

Morning All ... I have decided to move to W11 from W10 after an install broke Aquasuite access to my hardware. I use to use Acronis Try and Decide to test installations (and my playing with my system) to see if they broke. But T&D doesn't work with W11 ... how to I test a product installation / update and have the ability to revert back to a previous point?

I could do a complete backup and recovery.

I could do something else?

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

pseymour said:

This is what Windows Sandbox is for, if you are on a Pro or higher SKU of Windows.

Click to expand...

I have Win11 Pro. I did see sandbox during some of my googling around this. I am not sure it will give me what I am after.

from MS website ...

Windows Sandbox provides a lightweight desktop environment to safely run applications in isolation. Software installed inside the Windows Sandbox environment remains "sandboxed" and runs separately from the host machine.

A sandbox is temporary. When it's closed, all the software and files and the state are deleted.

Click to expand...

I think I need a clone of my existing setup to see how the new program interacts / interferes with my current build, not just a something that can be trashed.

Here are steps to Enable Sandbox in Windows 11

RuffHi said:

I have Win11 Pro. I did see sandbox during some of my googling around this. I am not sure it will give me what I am after.

from MS website ...


I think I need a clone of my existing setup to see how the new program interacts / interferes with my current build, not just a something that can be trashed.

Click to expand...

You want to test software in a Windows environment without upsetting your Windows install? Then it would stand to reason that a sandbox is exactly what you are after?
But yes, you should always do a backup of your system, regardless.

Ok - I will give it (sandbox) a try and report back.

RuffHi said:

Ok - I will give it (sandbox) a try and report back.

Click to expand...

Make a full backup first... Windows Sandbox leaks sometimes.

I have been thinking about this overnight. Here are a thought experiment that I ran ...

Installing a new K9 unit (female) into my current home situation (me, wife, 2 K9 (male - intact) units)
I fire up Family Sandbox text bed and it shows that the K9 unit is fully compatible with my hardware and general software. Unfortunately, I can't get an actual simulation of my existing environment because I don't have me, the wife unit or the 2 dog units installed. Nevertheless, Sandbox says everything is ok so I install the new K9 unit into my household and all hell breaks loose. My K9 males tolerate each other. They know which is alpha and which is not ... but they keep on a) having to remind the other of that situation or b) being reminded of that situation.

The introduction of the K9 (female) unit completely changed the intra-K9 situation. Sandbox missed the interaction of the various components.

If you have a spare hard disk or SSD, clone (make exact copy) of your existing disk on the spare using Acronis Clone feature. Then you can disconnect your original disk and connect the spare to do whatever experiments you want on the real hardware. If anything goes wrong, connect your original disk back and no worries.

Alternatively, you can create a virtual machine with HyperV or VMWare Player or Oracle VirtualBox or whatever else. Do your experiments on the virtual Windows 11 system. Only drawback you won't have the full performance of the host, and than means you cannot play resource demanding games or doing anything that requires too much RAM.

spapakons said:

If you have a spare hard disk or SSD, clone (make exact copy) of your existing disk on the spare using Acronis Clone feature. Then you can disconnect your original disk and connect the spare to do whatever experiments you want on the real hardware. If anything goes wrong, connect your original disk back and no worries.

Click to expand...

That is a very workable suggestion.

I currently have a Win10 drive, a Win11 drive and a Data drive (OneDrive) that connects to the various windows installs that I have. All I have to do is make a Win11Devl drive and I am off to the races. As it turns out, I do have a spare drive slot on my motherboard and a spare drive.

spapakons said:

If you have a spare hard disk or SSD, clone (make exact copy) of your existing disk on the spare using Acronis Clone feature. Then you can disconnect your original disk and connect the spare to do whatever experiments you want on the real hardware. If anything goes wrong, connect your original disk back and no worries.

Alternatively, you can create a virtual machine with HyperV or VMWare Player or Oracle VirtualBox or whatever else. Do your experiments on the virtual Windows 11 system. Only drawback you won't have the full performance of the host, and than means you cannot play resource demanding games or doing anything that requires too much RAM.

Click to expand...

RuffHi said:

As it turns out, I do have a spare drive slot on my motherboard and a spare drive.

Click to expand...

A third alternative is to clone not to a physical disk, but to a virtual disk .vhdx file. You can native boot a .vhdx and, unlike a VM, it will have full access to all the hardware.

Sounds interesting if you have at least 50GB free to create the virtual hard disk.

Interesting. Can I have the virtual disk in a bcdedit based boot menu?

Bree said:

A third alternative is to clone not to a physical disk, but to a virtual disk .vhdx file. You can native boot a .vhdx and, unlike a VM, it will have full access to all the hardware.

Native Boot Windows 11 Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to boot a Windows 11 VHDX file natively to dual boot with Windows 10 or Windows 11. Native Boot allows you to create a virtual hard disk (VHDX), install Windows to it, and then boot it up, either on your PC side-by-side with your existing installation, or on a...

www.elevenforum.com

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This Tutorial is to create the virtual disk. How can you install Windows 11 on it to dual boot? Should I boot from Windows 11 USB or can I run Setup inside the existing Windows installation?

I currently run Insider Beta on a VHDX without any issues as native Boot.
Works exactly like a normal system and a lot less hassles too.

Very simple to create and setup.

spapakons said:

This Tutorial is to create the virtual disk. How can you install Windows 11 on it to dual boot? Should I boot from Windows 11 USB or can I run Setup inside the existing Windows installation?

Click to expand...

RuffHi said:

Interesting. Can I have the virtual disk in a bcdedit based boot menu?

Click to expand...

Yes....

spapakons said:

This Tutorial is to create the virtual disk. How can you install Windows 11 on it to dual boot?

Click to expand...

If your .vhdx is a clone of an existing Windows install, then just mount the .vhdx and use one of the bcdboot commands at Step 11 of the tutorial.

I quadruple boot one of my machines, its installed Window 10 and three .vhdx for various Insider builds of Windows 11.



I'm currently booted into its DEV build to get today's update.

What if the VHDX is blank? Can I run Setup inside the original Windows 11 system and install Windows on it?

spapakons said:

How can you install Windows 11 on it to dual boot? Should I boot from Windows 11 USB or can I run Setup inside the existing Windows installation?

Click to expand...

@Griff79 gave you that info in post #17. If you want to clean install Windows on a vhdx, see this tutorial.