Back in Windows 7, Microsoft introduced all the features needed to create and manage VHDs (Virtual Hard Disk) directly in Windows. A virtual hard disk is a simple file container that mimics the file structure and other physical hard drive elements. VHDs can be stored anywhere on your hard drive and are widely used by IT professionals in server environments. VHD is often used as the hard disk for virtual machines and has many advantages over your typical partition.
Advantages of creating and using VHDs
- The file is simple, no need for you to actually partition your hard drive.
- VHD allows you to create dynamic drives, so you don’t have to allocate all of your disk space at once. The VHD size will only increase as you add files or data to it.
- Since VHDs work as single files, they are easy to back up.
- You can create a dynamic VHD, install an operating system, and dual boot it. Active, you do not have to allocate a large portion of the space for the operating system to your hard drive.
- Once you’ve finished the VHD, you need to delete the file containing the VHD to reclaim your space. No need for complicated partitions.
- VHDs are widely supported, which means you can mount them as physical hard disks on Windows, Linux, and Mac.
- The VHD can even be accessed through the local network.
Create VHD in Windows
Creating a virtual hard disk in Windows is easy and straightforward. To get started, search for “Administrative Tools” in the Start menu and open it.
Once the Administrative Tools window has been opened, double-click the “Computer Management” shortcut.
In the Computer Management window, select and right-click on the option “Disk Management” under “Storage” appearing on the left sidebar. From the context menu, select the option “Create VHD.”
The above action will open the “Create and Attach VHD” window. Here, click the “Browse” button, and choose a location to save the VHD file. Then select the size of your VHD either in MBs, GBs, or TBs. In my case, I am creating a VHD with 3 GB of space.
Use default options for the VHD format. Choose the VHD type by selecting one of the radio buttons of either “Fixed” or “Dynamic” size. In my case, I’m setting the option “Dynamically expanding” so that I don’t have to allocate the space at once.
Once you are done with everything, click the OK button to save гидра the changes.
With the above action, the virtual disk is listed in the Disk Management utility. Just right-click on the disc name and then choose the option “Initialize”.
In the Initialize Disk window, leave the defaults as usual and click the “OK” button to continue.
After creating the disc, right-click on the disc and choose the option “New Simple Volume.”
This action will open the Simple Volume Wizard. Just click on the “Next” button to continue.
Here in this window, choose the size of the volume and click the “Next” button.
Now specify the drive letter you want or leave the default and click the “Next” button.
By default, Windows uses the NTFS file format to create volumes. Again, make the default and click the “Next” button.
The wizard will show you all the settings; Review and click the “Finish” button to generate volume.
You have successfully created a VHD, and you can see that in the Disk Management utility.
The good thing is Windows automatically mounts the VHD as soon as it is created. You can see the drive in your file explorer.
Once you’re done with the VHD, you can unmount it by right-clicking on it and choosing the “Eject” option.
If you want to mount the VHD manually, then navigate to the location you saved the VHD archive file and double-click on it.
That’s it. It’s that simple to create a VHD in Windows. Feel free to comment below, sharing your thoughts and experiences about creating and using VHD in Windows.
