Know How to Create, Initialize and Attach VHDX / VHD Permanently in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 Easily
VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) is used to contain disk images utilized by Microsoft Virtual Server. These VHD files comprise the data stored within an individual file and it works just like a physical hard drive. You can create the virtual hard disk and save it as the backup of your computer’s hard disk. The hyper-v also creates.vhd and.vhdx. Creating and managing VHD’s is very simple with Windows and it lets users create and attach a virtual disk even without taking help from any third-party utility. In this article, we will show you a step-by-step solution for how to create, initialize and attach VHDX / VHD permanently in Windows 11, 10 and below versions.
First, let’s understand how to create.vhd or.vhdx in Windows. In the below section, you will find a simple and complete guide. After that, you will find a complete guide for how to initialize and attach VHD permanently in Windows.
Important Note:- If files lost from VHD or VHDX, then try out this Hyper-V Data Recovery Software. It will easily get all missing files back in the healthy state. The application allows you to recover and save VHD data files, including videos, audios, files, multimedia, images, files, databases, etc.
With this software, users can recover formatted and lost files from the VHDX partition on the Windows operating system. The tool also supports recovering files regardless of whether the VHDX is formatted in NTFS or FAT.
Recover your Data File from VHDX / VHD
- Download and run VHDX recovery tool.
- Search for VHD/VHDX files and select them during scanning.
- Preview of software to recover data from VHD file.
- Save the recovered data anywhere.
Methods to Create Initialize and Attach VHDX / VHD Permanently Windows 11, 10, 8, 7
The steps listed here can be slightly different in different versions of Microsoft Windows OS. Here I am showing the screens, taken on Windows 10. To create .vhd file or .vhdx file, perform the below listed steps.
Steps to Create VHD or VHDX on Windows 10, 8, 7
- Right-click on the Windows Start menu, select Disk Management or press Windows + R keys and type diskmgmt.msc in the search box, and click OK. Simply open the Windows disk management utility.
- In the Disk Management window, click on the Action tab and select the Create VHD option.
- Click on Browse and navigate to the folder where you want to save the VHD. Also, provide virtual hard disk size.
- In the File Name section, enter a name for the newly created virtual hard disk.
- From the Save as type file menu, select the Virtual Disk Files (*.vhd) or Virtual Disk Files (*.vhdx) option. Click Save.
- Define the desired size for VHD in Virtual hard disk size box in megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB)
- From Virtual hard disk format section, choose VHD or VHDX format as per your current requirements
- From the Virtual Hard Disk Type section, select the Fixed Sized option if you want to fix the defined size. Otherwise, select the dynamically expending option for an auto-size increment of this VHD. Eventually, hit the OK button. (Note: If you have selected VHD as Virtual Hard Disk format, then, it is advised to choose the Fixed Size option while choosing a type.)
Know How to Initialize VHD / VHDX File on Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7
With the help of the above steps, you have created an empty VHD without any data or file system. In order to make it usable, you have to initialize and format it. Below are the steps for how to initialize virtual hard disk?:
- Hit a right-click on recently created VHD and select Initialize Disk option in disk management.
- Now, choose the disk from the prompted list and check the MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) option. (Note: GPT (GUID Partition Table) option is not compatible with all lower versions of Windows OS.) and Click OK.
- Hit a right-click on the Unallocated space and choose New Simple Volume option.
- After this, define the partition size and leave this field same if you want to use the entire available partition space. Click Next.
- From Assign the following drive letter drop-down box, select a drive letter that you want to assign to your drive and click Next. Make sure the assign drive letter is not in use on the same computer.
- Choose Format this volume with the following settings option and make sure the following options are selected. Click Next >> Finish.
Now, your VHD / VHDX is initialized, formatted, and partitioned. This VHD will be mounted automatically and can be used to save data items from Windows File Explorer.
Steps to Attach A VHD / VHDX Permanently Windows 10, 8, 7
While setting up, Windows 10 automatically attach the VHD to your device but, in some cases, it doesn’t work. Also, if you already have a VHD or you have created that VHD for an external hard drive then, below is how to attach VHD permanently in Windows 10:
- In Disk Management, select Action >> Attach VHD.
- Click Browse and navigate to the location of VHD/ VHDX and select it. Click Open.
- Finally, click OK.
Now, this VHD/ VHDX can be utilized just like any other in File Explorer Drive. All these steps helped you in creating the virtual hard disk and then initialize the created .vhd or .vhdx. At the last, simple steps to attach VHD permanently windows 7, 8, 10.
Now, You Can Answer These Queries!
- How Do I Create VHD File?
- How to Initialize VHD and VHDX file in Windows?
- How to Attach VHDX File Permanently Windows 10?
- Is it Possible to Attach VHD Permanently Windows?
Concluding Lines
How to create, initialize and attach VHDX / VHD permanently in Windows 10, 8, 7 and below versions is one of the most searched queries on the Internet today. In order to simplify the whole task, we have come up with this technical blog. Here, we have mentioned all the steps for how to attach VHD permanently in Windows 10 to make this challenging task easier for both geek and non-geek users.
