Expand disk doesn't expand

Expanding disk doesn't expand

Hi,

I've recently migrated a boot camp installation to a Parallels VM and have the virtual file in my Documents folder.

My problem is that despite having 'Expanding Disk' enabled...



... the disk isn't increasing; it's stuck at 33gb, which means I'm out of disk space now.



Is there any way to force a 'refresh' so Parallels realises the disk needs expanding, or any other way of resolving this issue?

Thanks

Greg

 

You increased the disk size, but the Windows partition inside it doesn't automatically expand, this has to be done manually inside the VM, google for "resize ntfs partiton".

 

Ah, now I feel sheepish, I assumed it would be automagically taken care of.

Can you recommend a way of resizing the partitions? I get alsorts of freeware and potential crap when googling that and would rather try a guaranteed and known way than some malware infested stuff from the depths of the internet.

 

Either use GParted live cd or the disk management utilities in Windows, Microsoft probably has a knowledge base article on the subject.

Here, read this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/resize-a-partition-for-free-in-windows-vista/

 

Thanks.

Disk Management is showing me a 34gb NTFS partition on C: (correct) and a 81.03GB RAW partition on E: - do you know what that RAW partition is? Is that what I should be formatting for Windows to read?

If this was just a plain old VM I'd be a bit more likely to experiment but the fact it came from Boot Camp is what's causing me to be a little apprehensive, I don't want it to somehow have access to the ACTUAL hard drive like Boot Camp did.

 

Raw is the free space you can expand your existing partition into, raw=free/unformatted, you won't be formatting this space you will be expanding into it, check my previous post for the article I posted.

Access to the whole drive? Of course not this is only the virtual drive you are dealing with, if you sum both the 35gb partition with the raw space you get the 115 gb you assigned in parallels.

 

Ah, now I might have an issue then.



My understanding is I can only expand C: into contiguous space, right? If so, the 620mb partition in the middle will cause me issue won't it? I can create another partition but it's the C: I need to extend, really.

 

I do all my partitioning with Paragon Partition Manager (or Hard Disk Manager, which is a superset) -> http://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-personal/

You can easily copy your virtual machine (copy the .pvm file somewhere else), open the copy and play with partitioning.

HTH

 

ok, I'm having almost the same problem.
I've got the VM on an SSD partition with about 160G. My current VM is about 65G. I've set it to expanding, I've reset it to fixed and tried to expand it my self, and I've gotten into Win 7 partition manager and attempted to expand there.
1. Parallels expander drops/frags the MBR in my VM so even now that the disk is larger, the system is broken and won't boot.
2. Windows partition manager says that the disk can't be expanded. No reason, just can't be done.

I'm about at the point of using something like acorns to create an image, then do the expand on the parallels side and overwrite the current system with the acronis backup. It's just very time consuming to do that.

So, Any thoughts out there? Why won't windows let me expand, or why does parallels frag the MBR in windows.???

 

Ok, got it.
here's the sequence that will work for most people.
1. start up parallels.
2. select your VM, but don't start it (open the vm window)
3. from the parallels menu select Virtual Machine --> Configure
4. Select the Hardware Tab
5. Click on Hard Disk 1
6. Click Edit...
7. Unclick "Resize file system" - this screws up Windows 7 if you don't!!!
8. reset the size to whatever you need (I bumped it to 100G from 65G)
9. Click "Apply"
When it gets done, Click Close

Ok, you now have created a larger disk for windows to see. now tell windows to suck it in.
Start up your VM.
Open the control panel and in the search screen, type "partition" - no quotes
The partition manager will open.
You will most likely have 3 areas in the disk structure, a "reserved" area, your C: disk, and if the stars have aligned, a new blank drive area right next to the c: drive.
1. Right click in the c: drive area (or on the line that says C:\)
2. select Expand - this option will now be available
3. The expand selector will come up. It will automatically "grab" the most available space it can. That's the right answer.
4. Click Ok
5. It will ask if you're sure, say yes again.

Voila! you now have a larger disk and more room in windows.
I am so pleased with myself!

A couple notes:
1. If you tell Parallels to resize the file system, I hope you have a backup. It will destroy your MBR and windows won't boot.
2. Make a backup before you get started.
3. this worked for me. Your mileage may vary
4. Before you do the happy dance, reboot your windows vm just to be sure that you actually can.

Standard disclaimer: I've been a computer geek for more years than you've been alive. But I only turned to the MacSide a couple years ago. i've been known to be completely full of s*** when it comes to fixing a Mac, so if you have trouble with my instructions, or are not sure you should follow them, use the common sense your dad beat into you and don't do this without an expert's help.
Good luck.

 

I would like to say that Imported Boot Camp machines sometimes have GPT partition there - it is a Mac Partition, windows cannot read or write on this partition - the first thing you need to do is to get read of the GPT partition first, after that you can modify your disk with Microsoft software on any other software

 

Assuming "get read" = "get rid".

If the GPT partition isn't needed, shouldn't Parallels eliminate it automatically upon import? Id it doesn't do that automatically please forward a request to the dev team.

 

Thanks, will do.
GregSt, can you please send Problem Report, post an id here and specify the migration date

 

I have the same problem but your solution does not work.

I followed the exact procedures recommended by you, but my Volume C: still shows the old size (40 GB) although my partition shows C: 64 GB NTFS. I tried to expand but it is greyed out. Please see attached screenshots and help !!
I am using Parallels Desktop 9, Windows 7 virtual machine.
Thanks,
-Ben

 

Hi Ben,

The hard drive has been allocated to expand until 64 GB, so it will automatically increase the size till the space allocated.

Thanks,
Manoj.

 

Hi, Manoj-

That is the problem.
It should automatically increase and expand up to 64GB, but it is stuck at 40 GB.
Please see the attached images of my hard drive and disk management again, and let me know how to overcome this problem.

Thanks,

-Ben

 

I don't think you are actually addressing the user's problem, look carefully at the screenshots.

 

Hi ben777,

Please follow the steps outlined below to give more space to your Virtual Machine:

1. Check your Virtual Machine's hard disk for errors following steps from this article: http://kb.parallels.com/115549
2. To give more hard disk space on your Virtual Machine, please follow steps mentioned on the below article:

http://kb.parallels.com/113972

If you still are unable, then please submit a problem report id following this article: http://kb.parallels.com/9058

Thanks,
Looran

 

Dear Looran,

Thank you !!

This worked.
I had done repair disk from Mac Disk Utility but I am somewhat surprised that the additional step you provided seemed to make it work from the Window side.
My 1 TB SSD is only two months old, and I wonder if it already developed a bad block even with TRIM being active on my SSD/Mavericks.
In any case, now my Windows7/Parallels work nicely again.

Many thanks,

-Ben