Increasing hard drive space on virtual machine (xp)

[plora2003]

While my virtual machine (xp) is shut down, I go in to the settings section of VMware Fusion and click on the "Hard Drives" section. I click on the slider and it tells me that the minimum that I can put in is 153GB, so I set it to 155GB. But either way when I start up the virtual machine, I go to My Computer, I click on the C drive and it says 38GB... Can someone please help!

Thanks in advance!

Pablo

[WoodyZ]

Have a look at:

[plora2003]

Those steps are exactly what I said I did. Can you see anything I did wrong? If you can please tell me... I've been over this document a lot and I can't seem to find the right option for some reason. Thanks for the quick reply.

[WoodyZ]

Enlarging the size of a Virtual Hard drive is a two step process.

1. In the target Virtual Machines Settings you slide the slider to the size you want. Note if an OS is already installed you cannot resize it smaller then it was originally created only enlarge it.

2. Depending on the OS installed you either need to use a third party utility or if the OS has the capacity built-in to resize the partition now that the disk has been resized. In Windows XP you can use EASEUS Partition Master (new name as it's different in the linked document) or one of the other methods. With Windows Vista and Windows 7 you can do it right from the OS itself.

Bottom line is read and follow the information in otherwise provide explicit and specific details as to what you followed in that document that didn't work.

[plora2003]

Umm ok.. So, is EASEUS a needed program for resizing your virtual machine's hard drive when using XP as your virtual machine? It says that you can use it, but is it needed? I have done this before, at my office I simply slid the bar over and I was using XP on the VM. I provided screen-shots and a step by step process which mirrors the step by step process on your guide (which is unofficial?). I'm not trying to be a jerk but I'm just trying to get some help because I am not really computer literate.. if you couldn't already tell.

So I guess bottom line, my question is this: Is a 3rd party partition software needed to change the partition size of a VM hard drive when using XP? If the answer is no, then by looking at my screenshots and step by step process, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks again for the help. I really do appreciate it.

[WoodyZ]

It is not my guide and that document was written by Pat Lee who is the Director of Personal Desktop Products at VMware although it is his personal document and is not official VMware documentation none then less if you what to accomplish the task at hand then I strongly suggest that you read the entire document and then do one of the third party methods described in that document.

And to be perfectly blunt it can't be written much simpler or explained much simpler then what Pat wrote as he wrote it with the non tech savvy user in mind but understand the following...

1. VMware Fusion the application and any of it components can only increase the size of the Virtual Hard Drive and can only make it smaller if on OS has been installed on the Virtual Hard Drive yet.

2. The Virtual Partition on the Virtual Hard Drive must be increased in size by either a Third Party Utility or a Utility built into the Guest OS.

This makes it always a minimum of a two step process however the second part is critical in that one must do it properly so as not to wipe out what is already existing on the Virtual Hard Drive and the various utilities mentioned in the previously linked document do just that when used properly they preform a nondestructive resizing of the partition.

Good Luck!