virtualbox.org

I have VirtualBox 4.2 RC4 installed on a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit system. I have Windows XP SP3 installed on a dynamically sized virtual HD (.vdi). I want to increase the size of this virtual HD. For example, the original size is 25 GB dynamic and I want to increase the size to 50 GB dynamic. I have read the manual and it appears I need to use VBoxManage command line options to complete this action. BUT, VBoxManage is not recognized as a command in a command prompt window on the Windows 7 guest.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks, Jim

You need to either add the VirtualBox location to your environmental variable (path statement) or in the folder/directory that has VBoxManage to be able to use the CLI tools.

But since you are using a Windows host why not go the easy way CloneVDI Tool

Thanks for your reply. I am still unable to re-size a virtual HD. The clone function in the GUI does not offer any way to re-size the cloned HD. And the VBoxManage function I thought re-sized the HD actually re-sized RAM. I can't seem to find any way to change the size of a HD.

Thanks for any additional help, Jim

Never mind, I found the VBoxManage command to change the HD characteristics.

Jim

I spoke too soon. No matter what I do, VBoxManage can't find the virtual HD file. I have changed the path variable to include both the path to VBoxManage and to the .vid file. I have started VBoxManage from the dir where the .vid file is located. Every time I try to run resize, I get an error that the file can't be found.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

Thanks for any help, Jim

Like I said this is easier for Windows users CloneVDI Tool

If you really want to use the CLI you need to be in the directory that has VBoxManage and then you must provide the absolute path to the file you want to resize. If you have spaces (and I bet you will) you must wrap the entire line in quotes. " "

Yeah, I have done all of that. Still fails with message about not finding the HD file. I really hesitate to use second party software to execute something that first party software is supposed to do. That means maybe I shouldn't be using the first party software. There is another viable machine emulator out there.

Anyway, I will give your program a try tomorrow.

Thanks, Jim

You should read about it. It was written by one of the Mods here.

Anyway if you can't get the "first party" way to work it has to be something you are doing wrong. I spelled out the issues that you would need to deal with. Perhaps if you posted the exact command you are using including the absolute path I can tell you where you are failing.

Oh and so you know this will only increase the size of the drive and not the primary partition. For that you will need to use the MS diskpart of the guest or some other partitioning software just like on metal.

Well, when all else fails, start from scratch and write down each step, checking each step. I was using file extension of .vid NOT the correct .vdi.

So now I have a re-sized HD. I will also give the second party application a test run. And I will also re-size the partition.

Thanks for all of the help, Jim