Increase A Disk’s Size in a VMWare VM

I occasionally need a larger disk in one of my VMWare VMs, and I always forget how to do it. I’m writing this post to save myself time the next time I need to do it!

Problem: You need a larger disk in one of your VMWare VMs.

Solution: Expand the disk first in VMWare, then inside the guest OS use Disk Management to extend the disk. (Of course this is somewhat centric to Windows 200*, Vista, or Windows 7 guest OSes. Steps 1-4 apply are the same regardless of your guest OS.)

Note: You can’t extend volumes in VMWare if the VM has any snapshots.

1. Shut down the guest OS.
2. Delete any snapshots of the system (VMWare | VM | Snapshots | Snapshot Manager | Delete)
3. From the VM’s settings screen, select the disk you need to resize, then use Utilities | Expand

   

4. Select the new disk size, click OK and go get lunch. It’s not a fast operation. (Impatient? Grips, dude. Think of what’s going on and listen to some Kenny while you do some yoga breathing exercises.)

   

5. Start up the guest OS, log on, and start server manager, then select Storage | Disk Management.
6. Notice the partition you just expanded now shows extra available space. Right click the drive and select Extend.

   

7. Walk through the wizard and confirm everything looks as it should

   

8. Bask in the joy that you don’t have to fool around with building a new VM with a larger hard disk.