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+--- Thread: What is the process for adding additional storage to a VM in Hyper-V? (/showthread.php?tid=1218)
What is the process for adding additional storage to a VM in Hyper-V? - savas - 05-10-2020
Alright, so when you need to add more storage to a VM in Hyper-V, it's pretty straightforward, and I’ve got you covered on the steps. First, you want to fire up your Hyper-V Manager. That’s where all the action happens—you’ll see your list of VMs, and you can manage everything from there.
Once you’re in Hyper-V Manager, find the VM you want to expand storage for. Just right-click on it and look for the “Settings” option. This is where all the configuration magic happens. In the settings menu, look for the “Hard Drive” section. You’ll find it under the “Hardware” list on the left. If you’ve got an existing virtual hard disk that you want to resize, click on it.
Now here’s the cool part: if you want to increase the size of the existing VHD (virtual hard disk), you’ll need to use the “Edit” option next to the hard drive setting. This will bring up the Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard. Follow the prompts until you get to the section where you can choose to expand the disk. You can specify how much additional space you want to add. Type in the new size, but make sure to keep the original size in mind; otherwise, you might end up with a whole lot more space than you bargained for!
Once you’ve set it all up and you’re happy with the new size, hit “Finish.” That’s the technical side done, but we’re not quite through yet. You’ll need to boot the VM back up and extend the file system within the guest operating system. It’s like adding extensions to a room—you’ve got to make sure everything fits and functions as it should.
So, power up your VM, and once it’s up and running, you’ll probably need to access Disk Management inside the OS. Just search for “Disk Management” in the Start menu. You should see your new space as unallocated or free space right next to your existing partition. To put that space to use, you’ll want to right-click on the existing partition—normally that’s C:—and choose to extend it. The wizard will guide you through the steps, letting you decide how much of that unallocated space you want to grab for your current partition.
And just like that, you’ve added storage to your VM! It’s one of those things that seems intimidating at first but gets easier with practice. Just remember to keep backups and you’ll be golden!
I hope my post was useful. Are you new to Hyper-V and do you have a good Hyper-V backup solution? See my other post