Dear Parallels Support: There are a number of threads related to the issues of increasing the size of a VM. It seems as if Image tool can only expand the size of the VM up to the size of the partition that is created at the time of initial installation of Parallels Workstation. The procedures involved in resizing the partition are complicated and time consuming. Can parallels support please address this issue and provide an improved procedure or additional tools for average users that just want to use Parallels and who need to increase the size of their VM. It would also be helpful if the installation instructions of Parallels Workstation made clear that selecting the correct partition size initially is absolutely critical. Thanks, PR
correction I should have made clear that the application I am referring to is Parallels Desktop for Mac. PR
One of the good workarounds for this problem is adding second HDD image to resolve lack of disk space. It is much easier than resizing existing HDD.
I want to chime in here. Parallels could add a tool for resizing NTFS partitions, however this does not solve the greater problem. As soon as MS adds a version number to NTFS it will break the tool. this kind of tool also won't help the rest of us who are not using Windows in Parallels. Hard disk image files are simulating real disks, and real disks are not designed to be resizable. Until real disks are designed to be resizable, adding space to a parition without distroying the data will be a complicated thing, as disks were not designed to do that. I don't think it is appopriate to ask Parallels to solve this problem. There are already tools on the market that solve this. If you want to do it simply, then go buy Partition Magic. It's easy to use. The funny hacks floating around the forums are so that you don't have to spend money in order to do it. All Parallels does is simulate a computer. Anything that is hard to do on a real computer will be hard to do in Parallels.
resizing VM hard disk/partition Andrew- Could you please place step-by-step instructions for the workaround you describe-adding a second HDD image? Thanks, PR
I wrote my post specifically to stimulate more discussion on this matter. While there may be technical issues associated with the resolution of this problem, it is clear that 1) it is a problem for many parallels users and 2) a generalized, Parallels-tested and recommended, solution has not been developed and/or posted. By creating their product (and, I think Parallels Desktop is fantastic) I feel parallels has an ongoing, customer support issue of helping users of ITS product, use the product effectively. Being able to increase the size of the HDD is an important issue. So, I feel parallels should take greater steps to educate its users as to how to 1) avoid this problem or 2) resolve the problem when it occurs. PR
Can you explain in more detail how to use partition magic? I'm happy to purchase it but once i have it how is it used? Thanks PR
Parition Magic is a point and click app. You would expand the size of the .hdd file with Parallels image tool, then run partition magic to expand the size of the partition. My version is rather old but all I have to do is boot the VM with the Partition Magic CD, click on the partition, and click on "expand".
Thanks. I tried all of the solutions mentioned in the forums for resizing partitions and none of them worked. I downloaded Partition Magic and it resized the partition. PR
