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VMwareB3ast
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Windows 2003 basic disk 0, c drive expansion revisited.

All,

I have a Windows 2003 Standard VM with the following configuration;

Basic Disk 0 - C 30GB, D 5GB

Basic Disk 1 - E 20GB

What is being requested is to expand C from 30 to 60GB and E from 20 to 60GB. I know E should be able to be expanded but C is the system and a basic disk. What way if at all possible can C be expanded with the least amount of effort and risk? As always points to be awarded.

Thank you in advance.

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NeilRHunter
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This is very easy to do, here are the steps

  1. Assign extra disk space to the c: drive
  2. power down the guest
  3. add the c: drive to another guest
  4. log on to the other guest and rescan the disks
  5. you will see your disk there with the unallocated space.  extend it
  6. disconnect the disk from the new guest
  7. power your original guest back up
  8. BINGO it's done

Alternatively you can go through the pain of booting into a PE environment and using DISKPART to extend the disk.

I hope that helps

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6 Replies
mittim12
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This KB should help you out, http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007266.  

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vmroyale
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Hello.

Option 1:

Create a new virtual disk of 5 GB.  Assign it drive letter X in Windows.  Stop all services, apps, etc and copy all the data from 😧 to X:  Then rename 😧 to Z: and X: to 😧 - at this point delete Z: (the original 😧 drive).  You can now extend the C: drive using Dell's extpart utility.

Option 2:

Use VMware Converter and create the same layout mentioned in option 1.

Good Luck!

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
Troy_Clavell
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assumimg the C: and E: are seperate HDD's I prefer to use extpart.  You can expand the drive online.

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VMmatty
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I'm with Troy - use ExtPart from Dell and you can do it online without downtime.  Here's a blog post I wrote about using ExtPart from a few years back:

http://blogs.kraftkennedy.com/index.php/2009/06/30/expand-virtual-machine-boot-volumes-with-no-downt...

Matt

http://www.thelowercasew.com

Matt | http://www.thelowercasew.com | @mattliebowitz
bulletprooffool
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Pretty simple stuff - have a look here : http://www.get-virtual.info/2011/01/26/extending-a-windows-c-dell-extpart/  Extpart - is excellent - and most importantly, does not require downtime!

One day I will virtualise myself . . .
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NeilRHunter
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This is very easy to do, here are the steps

  1. Assign extra disk space to the c: drive
  2. power down the guest
  3. add the c: drive to another guest
  4. log on to the other guest and rescan the disks
  5. you will see your disk there with the unallocated space.  extend it
  6. disconnect the disk from the new guest
  7. power your original guest back up
  8. BINGO it's done

Alternatively you can go through the pain of booting into a PE environment and using DISKPART to extend the disk.

I hope that helps

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