Creating and adding a new virtual disk to a Windows virtual machine in VMware

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to create and add an extra virtual disk (hard drive) to a Windows virtual machine.

 

When needed to add a new virtual hard drive if:

• Running out of space on the first disk
• When needing to use the other virtual hard disk as a dedicated virtual drive for backing up files in the virtual machine
• Adding virtual disk which can be migrated to another virtual machine on a different location to transfer files and folder

Environment

VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 16.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 16.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 17.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 17.x (Linux)

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

To create and add a new, empty virtual hard drive to a Windows virtual machine:

1. Shut down the virtual machine.
2. Go to Virtual Machine > Settings.
3. Click Add Device > New Hard Disk.
4. Click Next.
5. Click Create a new virtual disk and click Next.
6. To go to the Disk Capacity screen, specify the space needed and location of the file to be stored.
7. Click Next.
8. Select the location to store the virtual disk in the storage folder of the virtual machine.
9. Click Finish.
10. Power on the virtual machine.
11. Initialize and format the new drive.

To initialize and format the new drive in Windows:

1. In the Start menu, type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.
2. Right-click the disk to be initialized and the click Online.
3. Right-click the disk and then click Initialize Disk.
4. Select MBR and click OK.
5. Right-click the unallocated space and click New Simple Volume. A new wizard Window open.
6. Click Next to continue in creating Simple volume.
7. Enter the size of the partition (in MB) and click Next.
8. Select a drive letter and click Next.
9. Select the file system type and volume name. [enable radio button for "Perform a quick format"]
10. Click Next.
11. Verify the Simple Volume configuration and Click Finish to complete.
    
    The second virtual disk is usable when the status is Healthy.

Additional Information