Virtual Box
Resizing a Fixed Size VDI Disk
I created my virtual machines ages ago, when Fixed Size disks was the norm and recommendation. But I had to add MS Projet to me VM the other day and it filled the disk. I thought it would be easy to resize the disk, but apparently not. I eventually worked it out with information from several sites and have documente the process below
ModifyHD
According to the online guide you simply use the ModifyHD option of VBoxManage, but if you do you get the following errors
$ VBoxManage modifyhd "Windows 7.vdi" --resize 32768
0%...
Progress state: VBOX_E_NOT_SUPPORTED
VBoxManage: error: Resize hard disk operation for this format is not implemented yet!
CloneHD + ModifyHD
The solution is to first clone the hard disk, which automatically converts it to a Dynamic disk, then the resize option will work successfully
$ VVBoxManage clonehd "Windows 7.vdi" Windows71.vdi
0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Clone hard disk created in format 'VDI'. UUID: 351b1c36-cdf3-427d-95fd-f13c1e645c4c
$ VBoxManage modifyhd Windows71.vdi --resize 32768
0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Resize the Windows Hard Drive
This has only resized the hard drive on the disk though, you now need to tell windows that the disk is bigger. This is done by starting the Computer Management tool, which can be found by typing "Computer Management" into the Search Bar
Once Computer Management has launched you need to
- Select Storage —> Disk Management from the Left Side-Bar
- Then highlight the drive that you have modified
- Then Right-Click in the unpartioned space (Shown in black against Disk 0 in this image)
- Select Extend Volume…
- And follow the on-screen steps
- Finally, log back into Windows and enjoy the extra space