В настоящее время у меня есть "шаблонный" файл конфигурации с добавленным расширением, например:
web.config.rename
Однако я вижу проблему с этим методом, если критические изменения изменились.
It's difficult. I'd take a look at some projects which have done some of the hard work for you, e.g. Dokan.
Sure, you can abstract the regular file operations and have them running in the cloud (see Google Apps, Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure etc.). But if you'd like to talk to local devices - including the local HD - you'll have to use system APIs and those use drivers (system/kernel mode).
As long as all you want is a storage service -no problem. If you want a real OS, you'll need to talk to real hardware and that means drivers.
Yes. It's possible and has been successfully done for the ext2 filesystem.
Note that you will need to write your own driver which will require Microsoft signing to be run on some OSes.