Dangerous Things
Custom gadgetry for the discerning hacker

The Store is now open! Check out the gadgetry »
Like what you're reading?
Share It.

How to expand a VMware virtual Windows disk

1. Shut down the VMware virtual machine

2. Expand disk to desired size using Converter, vCenter UI tool, or vmware-vdiskmanager.exe

3. Detach disk from host machine, attach to a surrogate VM, and boot it up

4. Find disk drive letter and run diskpart.exe

* Type “list volume”. Look for the volume number for the expanded drive.
* Type “select volume x“, where x is number for the expanded disk.
* Type “extend”. The volume will instantly be extended.
* Exit diskpart.

5. Shut down surrogate VM and reattach disk to original machine

6. Boot the original machine. You should now have a larger volume

You might want to run “chkdsk /f /r” to be sure the disk is in good shape.

*Steps 3, 5, and 6 are only necessary if you are expanding a boot disk. If you are extending a secondary disk, there is no need to go through the surrogate VM process.

One Response to “How to expand a VMware virtual Windows disk”

  1. Jenny says:

    Your fans demand a new post 🙂

Leave a Reply

Get Adobe Flash player