How To Create A VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) In Windows 7

Posted May 25, 2009 – 6:19 pm in: Windows 7 Guides

Advertisements

Unlike previous Windows versions, Windows 7 lets you create a new Virtual Hard Disk without the help any third-party applications.

Creating a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) in Windows 7 is very simple. Just follow the below procedure to create a new Virtual Hard Disk (VHD).

1. Type in diskmgmt.msc in Start menu search filed and hit enter to open Disk Management window. Alternatively, right-click on Computer icon on the desktop, select Manage. In the Computer Management window, click on Disk Management link open the program.

2. In the Disk Management window, go to Action, and select Create VHD option.

3. In the following window, select a drive/folder location to create a new VHD file.

4. Next, enter the size of VHD. Make sure that you have enough free space before entering the VHD size. Here, you have the choice to choose between two VHD formats: Dynamically expanding, and Fixed Size (recommended).

In the dynamically expanding format, the size of the VHD expands to a fixed maximum size as data is saved to it. However, the disk size doesn’t compact automatically when data is deleted. As the name suggests, Fixed size VHD format uses a fixed amount of space regardless of the amount of the data stored in it.

5. Click on the create button to start the process. You will see a new VHD file. Stay tuned to know how simple it is to attach a VHD file in Windows 7.