Can't expand hard disk size

M

Mike Retondo

Bit poster
Can't expand hard disk size. I get an error message "Unable to edit the hard disk properties because it ha one or more snapshots". I have NO snapshots. I'm using Parallels 11.1.2 on an iMac i7 16GB Ram.
Parallels Expanding HDD.jpg Parallels Snapshots.jpg
Parallels Windows 7 Folder.jpg
 
I had the same problem, I ran the url_disk_tool merge and it reduced the hard disk size from 133gb to 64 gb, and now I am able to edit the size, and also to check and uncheck "expanding".
Nothing that I do causes the size to actually grow. I set the size to 80gb (up from 64gb), and indeed the PVM grew to a bit over 80gb, and when I did show contents I could see the image size expanded. But when I run and look at the disk via file manager, the size is unchanged at 64gb. If I copy data to it, when it gets to 64, it reports disk full, and there is no expansion, even when I have expansion checked.

What can I do to get it to use the full 80gb that it now has?
 
Ok, almost there. When I go to administrative tools, I see that there is an 18gb area on the disk that is unallocated, but the problem is, there is a recovery partition between the active Cdrive partition and the unallocated space. How do I move the recovery partition out from between them?
 
WorthR said:
Ok, almost there. When I go to administrative tools, I see that there is an 18gb area on the disk that is unallocated, but the problem is, there is a recovery partition between the active Cdrive partition and the unallocated space. How do I move the recovery partition out from between them?
Click to expand...
Hello WorthR, please check this article and keep us posted.
 
Well, I think I am where I want to be. Never did manage to get the 18gb unallocated space added to boot/C drive, but I did configure a second drive (E:) to use the space, and moved a few non-system folders from C to D, so I am good now. I wasn't comfortable deleting the recovery partition to make the unallocated space continuous with existing C drive. I think that is there as a result of Windows 10 install, and it may have thing I will need to solve future issues. With that there, there is no way to extend the C drive in Parallels, no matter how big the disk drive is. If deleting the Recovery partition is a valid approach, Parallels should offer it as an option to allow extension.

Another thing I learned along the way: from time to time I could not get windows start menu. I found that if, instead of booting by launching a windows app, I right clicked on the virtual machine (Windows10.pfm file), and chose launch with Parallels Desktop, it would come up with start menu available. Another thing I did, to have flexibility to free up space on my mac internal HDD, was to buy a 128gb USB-3 flash drive (<$30), and copy the Windows10.pvm file (now less than 90gb) to it. With it mounted, I can right click the externally mounted pvm file, launch with Parallels Desktop, and have a working version of my Windows10 install without having it stored on my hard disk! Via USB-3, performance is ok, so now I have an option for freeing up internal drive space if/when I need it. For now, I am just using it to make a full backup of my pvm ever week or so (takes about 20 minutes to copy 90gb). My internal 500gb SSD now has almost 100gb free even with the pvm file, so deleting it is not an immediate need.

Hope my experiences and lessons learned are helpful to someone else.
 
Hi all,, I am getting the same error posted by mike in this article. The link provided by dhruba is not granting me access to the solution. Any help would really appreciate.
 
ShubhamM said:
Hi Maria,
The technical report ID is 341413880.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply.
Please make a backup copy of your VM and try the following:

In Mac OS X, go to Applications > Utilities and launch Terminal.
Paste the command below into Terminal as is (do not hit Enter yet):

prl_disk_tool merge --hdd

Find your virtual machine in Finder. Right click on the .pvm file of your virtual machine and choose Show Package Contents.

Drag your WindowsXXX.hdd file into Terminal and drop it inside the window. In Terminal you will see a similar outcome:
prl_disk_tool merge --hdd /Users/Username/Documents/Parallels/Windows\ 7.pvm/Windows\ 7-0.hdd

Please note there should be a space between --hdd and /Users/Username... Press Enter key to start merging Snapshots.
 
Maria@Parallels said:
Thank you for your reply.
Please make a backup copy of your VM and try the following:

In Mac OS X, go to Applications > Utilities and launch Terminal.
Paste the command below into Terminal as is (do not hit Enter yet):

prl_disk_tool merge --hdd

Find your virtual machine in Finder. Right click on the .pvm file of your virtual machine and choose Show Package Contents.

Drag your WindowsXXX.hdd file into Terminal and drop it inside the window. In Terminal you will see a similar outcome:
prl_disk_tool merge --hdd /Users/Username/Documents/Parallels/Windows\ 7.pvm/Windows\ 7-0.hdd

Please note there should be a space between --hdd and /Users/Username... Press Enter key to start merging Snapshots.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Maria. It worked. It was great working with you on this issue. Thanks for the proper guidance and prompt help. :-)
 
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