If you want to know how to convert VHD to physical disk, this guide gives you step-by-step instructions to move data between virtual and physical environments using professional disk cloning and virtual disk tools.
Virtual Hard Disks (VHD) have revolutionized how we manage data, offering a flexible way to run multiple operating systems or test software without risking the primary environment. However, there often comes a time when you need to "go physical"—moving a virtual setup onto a real hard drive—or move your existing system into a virtual disk. Knowing how to convert VHD to physical disk is a vital skill for system recovery, hardware upgrades, and professional IT deployment.
This article explores the best practices for bidirectional conversion, ensuring your data remains intact and your system stays bootable throughout the process.
The transition from a physical environment to a virtual one, often called P2V (Physical to Virtual), is common for developers and enthusiasts. Understanding how to convert physical disk to VHD allows you to preserve an aging system before the hardware fails.
By deciding to convert physical disk to VHD Windows 10 or 11, you create a digital twin of your computer that can run inside a Virtual Machine (VM). This is particularly useful for running legacy applications that aren't compatible with new hardware or for creating a secure sandbox to test suspicious files.
Furthermore, if you want to move your entire OS into a cloud environment or a different host, you must first convert physical disk to bootable VHD to ensure the virtual machine recognizes the startup sequence.
Moving a virtual system back to a physical machine (V2P) is slightly more complex than the initial virtualization. This process is usually required when a user has perfected a system configuration in a virtual environment and is ready to deploy it to a physical PC or SSD.
The primary challenge when you convert VHD to physical disk is ensuring hardware compatibility. Virtual disks use generic drivers, while physical hardware requires specific drivers for the motherboard, GPU, and storage controller. Without the right approach, simply copying files will result in a "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD).
To avoid this, a sector-by-sector or intelligent cloning method is required to map the virtual data correctly onto the physical blocks of the target drive.
While Windows has built-in tools like Disk Management, they are often limited when it comes to the actual migration of data between virtual and physical states. For a reliable experience, AOMEI Partition Assistant is the industry-standard choice for Windows users.
AOMEI Partition Assistant is a comprehensive disk management software that simplifies complex partitioning tasks. For those looking to bridge the gap between virtual and physical storage, this software provides a highly specialized "Virtual Disk" function and a robust "Clone Disk" engine. These features allow users to skillfully manage VHD files as if they were physical hardware, making it the perfect tool to convert physical disk to bootable VHD or restore a VHD to a physical SSD.
Step 1. Click the tab "Virtual Disk", you will see 3 options available for VHDs: create VHD, attach VHD, and detach VHD. Select the "Create VHD" option after clicking the "Virtual Disk" tab.
Step 2. You can specify the virtual disk location and size.
Optionally, you can click the "Advanced" option to set the virtual hard disk format and type. (By default, the VHDX format and the Dynamically expanding type are checked.)
Virtual hard disk format: VHD and VHDX are supported.
For VHD, it supports virtual disks up to 2040GB in size.
For VHDX, it supports virtual disks larger than 2040GB in size. (Up to 64TB) This format is not supported in operating systems earlier than Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012.
Virtual hard disk format: Fixed size and Dynamically expanding are supported.
For fixed size, the virtual hard disk file will be allocated its maximum size when it is created. So it will take much longer to create.
For Dynamically expanding, the virtual hard disk file will grow to its maximum size as data is written to it. (Recommended)
Click "Browse" to select a location to create the VHD. Please enter a file name for the virtual disk and click "Save".
Step 3. Once the virtual disk location and size are set up, you can click "OK" to start creating the VHD.
Step 4. After the reload process is finished, you will see that the VHD has been created successfully. It will be attached automatically.
You can also view the VHD in Windows Disk Management.
The created VHD will be uninitialized, so it is empty without any data or a file system. To make it useful, you need to initialize the disk, create a partition, and assign a drive letter.
You can initialize the drive in Partition Assistant.
Before cloning a VHD to a physical disk, it must be attached so that Windows can treat it like a real drive. Once mounted, the VHD shows up in Disk Management with all its partitions and data available.
Step 1. Select the "Attach VHD" option after clicking the"Virtual Disk" tab.
Step 2. Click "Browse" to locate the location where the .vhd or .vhdx file is saved. Select the .vhd or .vhdx file you want to attach and click "Open" to attach it.
Step 3. Once the virtual file is selected, you can click "OK" to start attaching the VHD.
Step 4. Once the process is finished, you will see that the VHD is attached successfully. Now, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".
Step 5. Choose the host hard disk that you need to clone as the virtual disk and click "Next".
Step 6. Select another drive as the destination disk, and then click "Next".
Step 7. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.
Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of the SSD.
Step 8. You can preview the disk cloning operation by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed".
✨ More Handy Functions of AOMEI Partition Assistant
Beyond conversion, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard offers a suite of tools to keep your drives healthy. It can resize or move partitions to fix "low disk space" errors, wipe hard drives to permanently erase data before selling an old physical disk, and more.
The most common failure point for users is creating a virtual disk that won't start. When you convert physical disk to bootable VHD, you must ensure that the partition style (MBR or GPT) matches the boot mode of your virtual environment (Legacy BIOS or UEFI).
If your physical disk is GPT, your Virtual Machine must be configured to boot via UEFI. If there is a mismatch, the conversion will complete, but the system will fail to load. AOMEI Partition Assistant helps mitigate this by allowing you to convert the partition table before or after the cloning process, ensuring that whether you are going from physical to virtual or vice versa, the system remains fully operational.
Whether you need to convert VHD to physical disk for a hardware upgrade or convert physical disk to VHD Windows 10 for safe testing, having the right tools makes all the difference. By utilizing the built-in "Virtual Disk" and "Clone Disk" features of AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can bypass the technical limitations of native Windows tools. This professional approach ensures that your data is migrated accurately and that your system remains a bootable VHD or physical drive throughout the transition.
Q1: Can I convert physical disk to VHD while Windows is still running?
A: Yes, using AOMEI Partition Assistant's cloning technology combined with Windows VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service), you can create a virtual clone of your physical disk without shutting down your current session.
Q2: Does "converting VHD to physical disk" erase the data on my physical drive?
A: Yes. When you clone a VHD to a physical disk, all existing data on the target physical disk will be overwritten. Always back up important files on the target drive before starting the process.
Q3: Why won't my virtual disk boot after I convert physical disk to bootable VHD?
A: This usually happens due to a mismatch between the partition style (MBR/GPT) and the VM boot settings (BIOS/UEFI). Ensure your VM settings match the source disk's configuration.
Q4: Is AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard free for VHD conversion?
A: The Standard version offers powerful features for disk cloning and virtual disk management for free, making it an excellent choice for home users and enthusiasts.
Q5: What is the difference between VHD and VHDX?
A: VHDX is the newer format that supports larger capacities (up to 64TB) and is more resilient to data corruption caused by power failures. AOMEI Partition Assistant supports both formats.