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File Type
The current version of the Parallels Workstation creates and uses only virtual hard disks stored in .hdd files. The size of virtual disk can be set within the range from 20 MB to 128 GB.
Physical hard disks are inelegible to use. To transfer data from real hard drive to Virtual Machine, an image of a real hard drive can be made using Parallels Image Tool.
Format of The Virtual Disk
A virtual hard disk can be one of the two formats: plain or expanding.
plain |
Disk of this format occupies all the allocated space right from the moment it is created. It takes more space on the real hard disk and more time to create as compared with an expanding virtual hard disk, but allows guest OS to operate faster. |
expanding |
Disk of this format is small initially and grows as you add applications and data to the Virtual Machine. It takes less time to create and saves disk space. We recommend that you use the Disk Compacting Tool to keep the size of the expanding disk as small as possible and save space on the host hard disk. See the Compacting Virtual Disk topic. |
Disk format is set when you create a hard disk image. If you need to change disk format after the hard disk file is created, a copy of the disk in another format can be made using Parallels Image Tool.
Hard disk images of both formats are stored in .hdd files, however structure of disk file is different. Format of the virtual hard disk is displayed in the Disk format field on the Advanced tab of Hard Disk Options.
Creating New Virtual Hard Disk
A new virtual hard disk is created and attached to the new Virtual Machine when creating a custom Virtual Machine if you select Create a new virtual hard disk option on the step 6.
To add new virtual hard disk to an existing Virtual Machine use Add Device Wizard.
You may also replace current virtual hard disk in an opened Virtual Machine configuration by a new one using Recreate button on the Hard Disk Options tab in Configuration Editor.
Besides creating new empty disk, an image of a real hard drive with all the data inside can be created using Parallels Image Tool. This feature is intended mainly for migrating data from real hard drive to Virtual Machine.