How do I REDUCE the size of a VM?
- Thread starter Robster
- Start date
Hugh Watkins
Forum Maven
I would just make a new lean mean machine
I have made 7 before I got it right
(since June 2006)
Hugh W
I have made 7 before I got it right
(since June 2006)
Hugh W
I use Acronis TrueImage in both Parallels and VMWare - and it is much faster than any other approach.
It only works on Windows - alas. So you have to use a Windows machine to create a rescue disk ISO. Once you have that, you can use it under any host.
- create the new target virtual disk and make it availabe to the virtual guest.
- mount the TrueImage ISO as the CD, and set the guest to boot of that.
- clone the disk using automatic resizing - I have used it with FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and EXT3
- shut down
- load the new disk instead of the old one.
This is a great way to recompress sparse disks.
It's a fantastic imaging and recovery tool in general, which outshines ghost etc. It works over the network, too.
It only works on Windows - alas. So you have to use a Windows machine to create a rescue disk ISO. Once you have that, you can use it under any host.
- create the new target virtual disk and make it availabe to the virtual guest.
- mount the TrueImage ISO as the CD, and set the guest to boot of that.
- clone the disk using automatic resizing - I have used it with FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and EXT3
- shut down
- load the new disk instead of the old one.
This is a great way to recompress sparse disks.
It's a fantastic imaging and recovery tool in general, which outshines ghost etc. It works over the network, too.
Last edited:
non-troppo
Member
haralds: thank you for that valuable info - if you have time, a HOWTO would be very welcome on migrating/cloning images using TrueImage in Parallels.
HOWTO: Resize your partition with just Parallels and plenty of disk space
Here's my ghetto way of resizing Windows XP partition without any utilities whatsoever.
1. Make a copy of the .hdd file that holds your Windows partition. Let's call the original one A, and the copy B.
2. Make a new VM with a .hdd (let's call this C) the size you want A to become.
3. Freshly install Windows on C that matches the version installed in A.
4. After the first successful boot into desktop with C (i.e. end of installation process), shut C's VM down.
5. Go back to the VM of A, only this time, connect B as the second disk and C as the third. When you boot off A, you'll see B and C in Explorer.
6. Explorer should be set so that it can see all hidden & operating system files. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View and check or uncheck as appropriate.
7. Delete everything except for the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files at root on C.
8. Copy everything from B to C except for those aforementioned two files. Now, you could skip making B and just copy from A to C, but I'm doing this in case certain files in use on A interferes with copying process. Better safe than sorry.
9. Connect C as the first drive on the VM and disconnect the rest.
10. Check that the VM boots. You should now have what's basically the contents of A with the HDD size of C. You can discard A and B after confirming that everything is working as it should.
This should work with Windows 2000 and XP.
Here's my ghetto way of resizing Windows XP partition without any utilities whatsoever.
1. Make a copy of the .hdd file that holds your Windows partition. Let's call the original one A, and the copy B.
2. Make a new VM with a .hdd (let's call this C) the size you want A to become.
3. Freshly install Windows on C that matches the version installed in A.
4. After the first successful boot into desktop with C (i.e. end of installation process), shut C's VM down.
5. Go back to the VM of A, only this time, connect B as the second disk and C as the third. When you boot off A, you'll see B and C in Explorer.
6. Explorer should be set so that it can see all hidden & operating system files. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View and check or uncheck as appropriate.
7. Delete everything except for the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files at root on C.
8. Copy everything from B to C except for those aforementioned two files. Now, you could skip making B and just copy from A to C, but I'm doing this in case certain files in use on A interferes with copying process. Better safe than sorry.
9. Connect C as the first drive on the VM and disconnect the rest.
10. Check that the VM boots. You should now have what's basically the contents of A with the HDD size of C. You can discard A and B after confirming that everything is working as it should.
This should work with Windows 2000 and XP.