In Windows 11/10, you can create, use, attach & manipulate Virtual Hard Disk Files (VHD’s) as though they are real disks. This allows Virtual PC users to be able to mount their virtual disks within a live Windows installation without the need of booting the virtual PC environment. In this post, we will see how to create & use Virtual Hard Disk files as Real Hard Disks in Windows 11/10/8/7.
Virtual Hard Disks in Windows OS
In Windows OS, a Virtual Hard Disk or VHD can be used as the running operating system on designated hardware without any other parent operating system, virtual machine, or hypervisor. A Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) is a virtual hard disk file format, meaning that it can contain what is found on a physical Hard Disk Drive, such as files, folders, file system and disk partitions.
You can use the Windows Disk management tools to create a VHD file. You can deploy a Windows image, in .wim format, to the VHD, and you can copy the VHD file to multiple systems. You can configure the Windows boot manager for a native or physical boot of the Windows image that is contained in the VHD. Furthermore, you can connect the VHD file to a virtual machine for use with the Hyper-V role in Windows Server. Native-boot VHD files are not designed or intended to replace full-image deployment on all client or server systems. Previous versions of Windows do not support a native boot from a VHD, and they require a hypervisor and virtual machine to boot from a VHD file. Enterprise environments that already manage and use VHD files for virtual machine deployment will find the most benefit from its features.
To create a VHD on Windows Server, you install the Hyper-V server role, create a VHD file, and then start the virtual machine to install Windows from the CD or DVD onto a partition in the VHD.
In Windows 11/10, native-boot Virtual Hard Disks allow you to create and modify VHD files without installing the Hyper-V server role. To get started and to create a VHD by using Disk Management, click Start, type Disk Management in the Search box and hit Enter. Select Create VHD from the Action menu. This launches a dialog box that you can use to specify the parameters for a new VHD.
Let us see this in detail.
How to create Virtual Hard Disks in Windows 11/10
Right-click on Computer > Manage > Left pane > Disk Management.
Select Action tab > Create VHD.
Specify the location and its size. Once this is done, you will see a notification:
VHD HBA driver being installed
How to attach Virtual Hard Disk File
Right-click on Computer > Manage > Left pane > Disk Management.
Select Action tab > Attach VHD.
How to initialize Virtual Hard Disks
Right-click on Computer > Manage > Left pane > Disk Management.
Select Action tab > Attach VHD. Specify the location. The system will then mount the VHD file.
Next right-click on the VHD and select Initialize Disk.
Select the Partition style > OK. The system will now initialize the disk.
Next right-click the unallocated space in the VHD & select New Simple Volume. Follow the instructions.
That’s it. Open your Explorer, and you will see your new VHD.
Read: Search Wikipedia, Google from Windows 10 Start Menu Instant Search Box.
