Disk to VHD: The Ultimate Guide to Virtualizing Your Physical Disks

In the landscape of modern computing, the ability to create virtual copies of physical hardware is a game-changer. One of the most powerful techniques is converting a physical disk into a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file. This disk to VHD process, often called Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) conversion, creates a single, portable file that is an exact replica of your hard drive, complete with the operating system, applications, and data.

This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of how to perform a disk to VHD conversion. We'll explore why you would want to do this, answer common questions, and provide detailed, step-by-step instructions using both a popular Microsoft utility and a professional-grade disk management suite.

Can I make a physical disk into a VHD?

Yes, you can absolutely convert a physical disk into a VHD. This process creates a perfect snapshot of your drive's state at a specific moment in time. This capability is incredibly useful for a variety of purposes, making it a valuable skill for IT professionals and power users alike.

Here are the primary benefits of converting a physical disk to a VHD:

Complete System Backup: A VHD of your system drive is one of the most reliable forms of backup. You can mount it on any compatible Windows machine to recover individual files or use it for a full system restore.

Virtualization: You can attach the created VHD to a virtual machine in Hyper-V or VirtualBox. This allows you to run a complete copy of your physical computer in a sandboxed virtual environment.

Safe Software Testing: Before installing a risky piece of software or a major Windows update on your main system, you can test it on the virtualized copy. If anything goes wrong, your physical machine remains completely unaffected.

Simplified System Migration: A VHD can serve as an intermediate step when migrating an operating system to new or different hardware.

While Windows has excellent built-in tools that let you create VHD files from scratch, it does not have a native, one-click tool for converting a live physical disk directly into a VHD. For that, we need to turn to specialized utilities.

How to create a VHD on my disk?

There are two primary methods for converting your physical disk to a VHD. The first involves a free, standalone utility from Microsoft, and the second uses a comprehensive disk management suite that offers more flexibility and power.

Method 1: Using the Disk2vhd Utility

For users looking for a straightforward disk to VHD download, the best place to start is with Disk2vhd, a free tool from the official Microsoft Windows Sysinternals suite. This lightweight, portable application is designed specifically for this task and uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to create a consistent snapshot of your volumes, even while the system is running.

Step 1. Download Disk2vhd: Navigate to the Windows Sysinternals page on the Microsoft website and download Disk2vhd. It comes in a ZIP file; extract the contents to a folder.

Step 2. Run the disk2vhd.exe executable. As it's a portable app, no installation is required. It's recommended to run it as an administrator.

Step 3. In the Disk2vhd window, you will see a list of options and all the volumes on your physical disks.

Step 4. Check the box for "Use VHDX" to create a file in the modern VHDX format, which supports larger sizes and is more resilient.

Step 5. Ensure "Use Volume Shadow Copy" is checked. This is crucial for creating a consistent backup of a live system.

Step 6. Specify the location and name for the VHDX file you are creating. Make sure to save it to a different physical drive with enough free space.

Step 7. Select the partitions (volumes) you want to include in the VHD. For a bootable system backup, you must include the system reserved partition (or EFI partition) and the C: drive.

Step 8. Click the "Create" button. Disk2vhd will begin the process of creating a snapshot and writing the data to the VHDX file. This can take a significant amount of time, depending on the size of your disk and the speed of your hardware.

Method 2: A Comprehensive Approach with AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional

While Disk2vhd is an excellent single-purpose tool, a professional disk management suite like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional offers a more integrated and powerful solution. This software is a complete toolkit for all your disk and partition needs, providing an intuitive graphical interface for tasks that are often complex.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional allows you to perform a disk to VHD conversion by using its robust "Clone Disk" feature. This method gives you a high degree of control and is performed within a full-featured management environment.

Step 1: Click "Create VHD" to Create VHD or VHDX. Select the "Create VHD" option after clicking the "Virtual Disk" tab.

Step 2: Specify VHD Location and Size(s). 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: Start Creation VHD. Once the virtual disk location and size are set up, you can click "OK" to start creating the VHD.

Step 4: Create the VHD Successfully. 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 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.

Or, initialize it in Windows Disk Management.

Then, you can create a partition and assign a drive letter for the partition. Finally, you can use the VHD normally. 

To sum up

The ability to perform a disk to VHD conversion is a powerful asset for system backup, testing, and virtualization. For a quick and simple conversion of a live system, the Microsoft Disk2vhd utility is an excellent and reliable free tool.

However, for users who need a more powerful, flexible, and integrated solution, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional stands out. By leveraging its advanced cloning features, you can not only create a VHD from your physical disk but also manage all your storage devices through a single, user-friendly interface.