HardDisk resize not working

[andyjmj]

Hello

I am using winXP host and vista guest (both 32 bit)
However when I use the recommended VBoxManage modifyhd --resize command, I see that the virtual size of the disk has increased.
But my guest OS is still constrained by the old size.

Help is appreciated
Andy

[Perryg]

You have increased the size of the disk now you need to use something to increase the size of the partition.
I prefer Gparted for this. Download the ISO and mount it to the guests cd/dvd and boot the guest. Increase the partition and shutdown. Remove the cd/dvd from the virtual drive and boot the guest.

[andyjmj]

I thought Gparted was for linux. Am I wrong.
I am working with windows XP host and windows vista guest. I didnt create any partitions.

thanks for ur help
Andy

[Perryg]

I thought Gparted was for linux. Am I wrong.
I am working with windows XP host and windows vista guest. I didnt create any partitions.
thanks for ur help
Andy

Gparted is Linux based but it supports a lot of different disk formats. One of the reasons why it is so good and of course since it is Linux based it is free. Another really good plus. Hey download and try it out on a guest. It may ever convert you to using Linux which is of course another plus.

[BillG]

A similar question came up recently in this forum. I was a bit surprised then and I still am. What does Windows have to do with it? If you are fiddling with partitions, Windows is not running! If you want to use the Microsoft partition manager it is called diskpart (and it is not really very user friendly).

[mpack]

I am working with windows XP host and windows vista guest. I didnt create any partitions.

You may not have created any partitions, but Windows did. Partitions are a necessary feature of disk organisation. You'll find that a Vista guest probably has several partitions in use on the drive - a big one which you know as drive C, and one or two small ones where Windows hides things it doesn't want you to see. If this were a badged physical PC the manufacturer might also have installed a partition to hold system rescue data.

[m2brenesp]

Having the same problem. And, for the Penguin crew, I did use GParted and it also sees no increase in disk space. I am running a Mac OSX host and Windows 2008 R1 SP2 guest. I used VBoxManage modifyhd --resize NEWSIZE. The only place this new size is realized is in the VB Manager.

[andyjmj]

I was wondering whether the Oracle Virtual Box Extensions Pack has to be installed for this feature to work.
From the documentation for the Extensions,, it does not seem so...

[andyjmj]

Also I am using the Virtual Hard Disk attached to an IDE controller as a Primary Master and the VirtualBoxAdditions.iso as a primary slave to the same IDE controller. Is that correct configuration.

Also, I do not have access to the installation folder of the Virtual Box (only the admin does).
However, I do have access to the folder where the Virtual Disk is.
Could this be a factor.

Also, I am surprised that just the Vista Installation without any additional programs takes almost 20GB.
XP used to take about 5GB or so if I remember it right.
Has MS added so much stuff to Vista or is something else the matter !?

Any help is deeply appreciated.
Have a good Friday n weekend!

Andy

[Perryg]

You don't need the Extension Pack. You need to put the Gparted.iso in the Virtual CD/DVD drive and boot the guest. If the VBox Manager sees that you have increased the disk size then you have increased the disk size. Gparted will then allow you to increase the primary partition to utilize the new space.

[andyjmj]

Thanks PerryG. that worked.

Rgds
Andy

[uhebeisen]

Perryg,

I have done the mentioned steps above (increased HD using the modifyhd command (using Termin in Mac OS X). In the VirtualBox Manger I see that new HD size 20GB (IDE primary master).
I have also attached the gparted-live-0.8.0-5.iso to WinXP "machine". Now if I boot gparted takes over, asks me some questions and at the end I get a window open showing my Windows HD. BUT this HD has only 10GB (as before) disk space. So there is nothing to increase
What have I done wrong?

my settings: VB 4.0.4
host: Mac OS X
guest: WinXP with 10GB

[Perryg]

@uhebeisen,
How about a screen shot of Gparted running?
Gparted must be mounted in the guests virtual CD and then boot the guest.

[vbox4me2]

Make sure you are not using snapshots, else merge them all and then re-size.

[uhebeisen]

@Perryg: there is not much to see on the screenshot: the rectangle of the WinXP Harddisk takes all the space from left to right and there is no grey part as in the various screenshots I have seen elsewhere.
But there is one thing to mention: in the VB Manger the expanded 20GB attached HD in WinXP is displayed in italic. I have checke that on another machine and there the HD text is normal. No idea about that.

@vbox4me2: yes, on that machine I do have snapshots. I can do that. Do I have to merge them before I use the modifyhd command or afterwards? Currently there are 15 snapshots displayed, how do I have to proceed to merge them?

btw thank you all for your support.