Creating and adding a new virtual disk to a Windows virtual machine in VMware

sele

This article provides steps to create and add an extra virtual disk (hard drive) to a Windows virtual machine.

  •  You may want to add a new virtual hard drive if  you are running out of space on the first disk.
  • You want to use the other virtual hard disk as a dedicated virtual drive for backing up files in the virtual machine
  • You want a virtual disk which can be migrated to another virtual machine on a different location to transfer files and folder

Steps below

To create and add a new, empty virtual hard drive to a Windows virtual machine:
Shut down the virtual machine.
Go to Virtual Machine > Settings.
Click Add Device > New Hard Disk.
Click Next.
Click Create a new virtual disk and click Next.
To go to the Disk Capacity screen, specify the space you want and how you want the file to be stored.
Click Next.
Select the location to store the virtual disk in the storage folder of the virtual machine.
Click Finish.
Power on the virtual machine.
Initialize and format the new drive.
To initialize and format the new drive in Windows Vista/Windows 7/ Windows Server 2008:
In the Start menu, type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.
Right-click the disk to be initialized and then click Initialize Disk. Windows prompts you to initialize the disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it.
Select MBR (Master Boot Record) and click OK.
Right-click the unallocated space and click New Simple Volume.
Click Next.
Enter the size of the partition (in MB) and click Next.
Select a drive letter and click Next.
Select the file system type and volume name.
Click Next.
Click Finish. Windows prompts you to format the drive.
Click Format.

The second virtual disk is usable when the status is Healthy. To initialise and format the new drive in Windows XP/Windows Server 2003:

Click Start > Run, type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.
Right-click Disk 1 and choose Initialize Disk or use the initialization wizard.
Right-click Unallocated space and click New Partition.
Select Extended Partition and click Next.
Enter the size of the partition in MB and click Next.
Click Finish.
Right-click Free space and click New Logical Drive.
Enter the partition size, drive letter, and type.
Click Finish.

The second virtual disk is usable when the status is Healthy.