virtualbox.org

As the title says. First time to create a VM via virtualbox and i created a 100gb fixed space for my Win 10 installation on my SSD drive. It turns out that i only need MAX 30GB (so 70gb of empty space going to waste) . Is there a way to "remove" some of the fixed space i created for the Win 10 on my virtualbox?

The only way that I know to reduce a fixed-size disk file is to clone it to a new disk file of the proper size. Fixed size disks also cannot be made bigger.

Dynamic size disk files are recommended for their ability to easily get bigger. They can be made smaller by reducing data in the disk file then shrinking the partition inside the disk file, then compacting the disk file or cloning the disk file with the compact option enabled.

The only valid reason I know of to use a fixed-size disk file is when using a VHD file. VHD has a design flaw that can kill the data inside if the disk is dynamic and a host error happens while the VHD is expanding. Fixed size VHD still has the design flaw but never gets bigger so the flaw can't get triggered.

scottgus1 wrote:The only way that I know to reduce a fixed-size disk file is to clone it to a new disk file of the proper size. Fixed size disks also cannot be made bigger.

Dynamic size disk files are recommended for their ability to easily get bigger. They can be made smaller by reducing data in the disk file then shrinking the partition inside the disk file, then compacting the disk file or cloning the disk file with the compact option enabled.

The only valid reason I know of to use a fixed-size disk file is when using a VHD file. VHD has a design flaw that can kill the data inside if the disk is dynamic and a host error happens while the VHD is expanding. Fixed size VHD still has the design flaw but never gets bigger so the flaw can't get triggered.

When cloning the current win10 installation, do i need to keep the original version also? Or can i delete it when the clone is done?
In the clone menu, do i choose the linked version of full exact version?

scottgus1 wrote:reduce a fixed-size disk file is to clone it to a new disk file

Only clone the disk file, not the whole VM.

The easiest way to do this disk file clone is with Mpack's CloneVDI. It makes a dynamic compacted vdi copy of the original disk file. If the old disk file is a .vdi:

Use the following settings:
Check the 'Keep Old UUID' checkbox
Set the copy's name same as the original disk file's name, and save the copy in the same folder as the original.
Check 'Compact drive while copying'

The original file will get renamed to 'Original {filename}'. The copy will be the original file's {filename}. The VM will automatically use the copy, not the original. Now that the copy is dynamic, you can adjust the partitions inside the VM to be 30GB smaller, then the disk will only grow to 70GB instead of 100.

You can move the original to backup media (recommended) or delete it (if you like doing trapeze without a net )

Let us know if your original file is not a .vdi, further adjustments will be needed.