How to create and set up a virtual hard disk on Windows 10

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

Windows 10: How to Create a Virtual Hard Drive, DVD Drive or RAM-Disk

A virtual drive on Windows 10 can help you with disk management and has several benefits. Read how to create a virtual hard disk on Windows.

April 15, 2020 7:18 pm CEST
Windows 10 How to create a Virtual Hard Drive

• 1 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a hard drive
• 2 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual DVD drive
• 3 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a RAM disk

In Windows 10, a virtual hard disk (VHDX or VHD) works in the same way as a physical hard drive but the hard drive is contained within the virtual system. The virtual hard disk is a file using either the “.vhdx” or “.vhd” extension on Windows. You can use the virtual drive as a hard drive, CD drive, or RAM disk. In this guide we will show how to create such a virtual drive in Windows 10.

The multiple uses of a virtual hard disk can extend your disk management capabilities on Windows 10 and have various benefits. Importantly, creating a vhdx or vhd on Windows 10 is no longer a complicated process. For Ramdisks, a virtual hard disk, or virtual DVD drive, generating a virtual drive is relatively simple.

Creating a virtual drive in Windows 10 is certainly useful for numerous situations. For example, loading a DVD image in ISO format, partitioning ramdisk for apps that hog system performance, or creating a drive that is secured by a password.

While a traditional hard disk is a physical component in a Windows 10 PC, a virtual drive is just simulated by the platform as a separate drive while the holding file might be stored anywhere on your system . The data in the drive is available in files or folders, which are represented by software in the operating system as a drive.

Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a hard drive

In order to create a virtual drive as a normal hard drive, the “Disk management” built into Windows 10 is the best place to start. You can find this by right-clicking on the Start menu and via the alternative context menu.

Windows 10 – Open Disk Management

In “Disk Management” you click on “Action” in the menu above and select “Create virtual hard disk“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management Actrion – Create Virtual Hard Disk (Create VHD)

In the settings window you first click on “Browse” to specify the location of your virtual drive.

Windows 10 – Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk

Then you select the desired folder and enter a file name. All data on the virtual hard disk will be written to this file later.

Windows 10 – Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk – Location and File Name

Next you choose the desired size of the virtual hard disk, format and type. We recommend the standard format VHD and “Dynamically expandable” for reasons of flexibility.

Windows 10 – Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk – Set size, format, type

You can then see the virtual hard disk in the data carrier list, but it still must be initialized. You can do this by right-clicking on the data carrier label on the left and selecting “Data carrier initialization“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Initialize Disk

In the selection window for the partition style you can accept the default “MBR” by clicking on “OK“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Select partition style

After initializing, you click with the right mouse button in the dashed area in the disk overview and select “New simple volume“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – New Simple Volume

An assistant opens, which you start by clicking on “Next“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Create Volume – Wizard

As the volume size, you accept the default setting and click “Next“.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Create Volume – Wizard – Size

Then you give your virtual hard disk an available drive letter, such as “V” for “virtual”.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Create Volume – Wizard – Drive Letter

Then you must select a file system and can enter a “drive name”. “NTFS” is the best option on Windows 10. After clicking on “Next” your new virtual hard disk will be formatted and automatically recognized in Windows 10.

Windows 10 – Disk Management – Create Volume – Wizard – Select name and format

You can then use the virtual drive in File Manager just like any other hard drive.

Windows 10 – File Explorer – Virtual Hard Disk

Windows 10: How to Create a virtual DVD drive

Unlike in the case of virtual hard drives, you have to install additional software for virtual CD, DVD or Blu-ray drives. The most popular applications for this purpose are “Daemon Tools” and “Virtual CloneDrive”. With those apps you can mount image files from optical data carriers as a virtual drive. In the case of Virtual CloneDrive, this can be done conveniently just using double-click.

Windows 10 – Virtual CloneDrive

Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a RAM disk

With a RAM disk, you use part of your super-fast RAM for a virtual drive. In this separate tutorial we show you how you can create even use permanent RAM Disk.

SoftPerfect RAM Disk + RAM-DISK in File Explorer

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• Microsoft Windows
• tutorials
• Windows 10 Virtual Disk

How to create and set up a virtual hard disk on Windows 10

Here are the instructions to get started with a virtual hard disk on Windows 10.

On Windows 10, a virtual hard disk (VHDX or VHD) is a file that can use a “.vhdx” or “.vhd” extension and acts like a physical hard drive, but with the difference that this is a file stored on a real disk.

Using either format (.vhdx or .vhd) for a virtual drive, you can store any files, including documents, pictures, videos, boot files, and an entire OS installation. The only differences between the two formats are that a .vhdx file supports a maximum size of 64TB, features resiliency against power failure, and provides better performance.

Typically, a VHD comes in handy to add extra storage to a Hyper-V virtual machine, and thanks to its ability to support other OS installations, you can even use this storage virtualization technology to create a dual-boot system without modifying an existing partition.

In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to create and set up a virtual hard disk to store files on Windows 10.

• How to create a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10
• How to set up a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10
• How to mount a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10

How to create a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10

In order to create a VHD on Windows 10, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Disk Management and click the top result to launch the experience.
3. Click the Action button.
4. Click the Create VHD option.

1. Click the Browse button and locate the folder you want to store the virtual disk.
2. In the “File name” field enter a name for the drive.
3. Use the “Save as type file” drop-down menu and select Virtual Disk files (*.vhdx) . Or select Virtual Disk files (*.vhd) if you’re planning to create a VHD file.
4. Click the Save button.

1. Under “Virtual hard disk size,” specify the size of the drive in megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB).
2. Under “Virtual hard disk format,” select the VHDX option. (While using a VHDX format is recommended, you can also select the VHD format, but use it only if required.)
3. Under “Virtual hard disk type,” select the Dynamic expanding option. (If you have selected the VHD format in the previous step, it’s recommended to select the Fixed size option when selecting a type.)

Once you complete these steps, you’ll have created a VHD that you can then set up and use with any compatible version of Windows.

How to set up a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10

Using the above steps, you created a VHD, but it’s empty without any data or file system. To make it useful, you need to initialize the disk, create a partition, and format the drive using these steps:

1. Right-click the newly created drive button on the far-left side, and click the Initialize Disk option.

1. Select the disk from the list.
2. Check the MBR (Master Boot Record) option. (You could also select the “GPT (GUID Partition Table)” option, but this option isn’t supported by all versions of Windows.)
3. Click OK.

1. Right-click the Unallocated space, and select the New Simple Volume option.

1. Click Next.
2. Specify the size of the partition. (Leave this option unchanged if you’re planning to use all the available space for the partition.)
3. Click Next.

1. Using the drop-down menu, select the drive letter you want to assign to the drive.
2. Click Next.

1. Under the Format this volume with the following settings section, make sure to use the following options:
   • File System – NTFS.
   • Allocation unit size – Default.
   • Volume label – Use the name of the drive file, but you can enter any name.
   • Perform a quick format – Formats the drive faster.
   • Enable file and folder compression – If it’s not required, don’t select it (optional).
2. Click Next.

After completing these steps, the VHDX or VHD will be initialized, partitioned, and formatted. The VHD will mount automatically, and you can now access and save files using File Explorer.

How to mount a VHDX or VHD on Windows 10

Although during the setup process, Windows 10 will automatically mount a VHDX or VHD file to your device, that won’t always be the case.

If you’re creating a VHD for another device, or you’re storing the file on an external hard drive, you’ll need to know the steps to properly attach and detach the virtual drive.

Mounting

To mount or attach the virtual hard disk, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Disk Management and click the top result to launch the experience.
3. Click the Action button.
4. Click the Attach VHD option.

1. Click the Browse button, and locate the .vhdx or .vhd file.
   • Quick Tip: If you are only viewing and extracting files from the drive, you can also check the Read-only option to prevent accidental deletion or temper with the virtual drive’s content.

After completing these steps, you can access the VHD like any other drive using File Explorer.

Dismounting

It’s important to save any files and applications located in the VHDX or VHD file before dismounting or detaching to prevent data loss.

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Disk Management and click the top result to launch the experience.
3. Right-click the drive button on the far-left side, and select the Detach VHD option.

1. Ensure you’re detaching the correct drive, and then click OK.

Once you complete these steps, the VHDX or VHD file will no longer be mounted, and it’ll no longer show up in File Explorer.

While this guide is focused on Windows 10, the ability to use a VHD has been available for some time, and you can use the same instructions on Windows 8.1.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

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