Windows 7 : Preparing Disks for Use (part 3)

4. Creating and Attaching Virtual Hard Disks

Windows 7 also allows you to create and attach virtual hard disks (VHDs). You can create a virtual hard disk by completing the following steps:

1. In Disk Management, select the Create VHD option on the Action menu.

2. In the “Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk” dialog box, click Browse. Use the Browse Virtual Disk Files dialog box to select the location where you want to create the .vhd file for the virtual hard disk, and then click Save.

3. In the “Virtual hard disk size” list, enter the size of the disk in MB, GB, or TB.

4. Specify whether the size of the VHD dynamically expands to its fixed maximum size as data is saved to it or uses a fixed amount of space regardless of the amount of data stored on it.

5. Click OK to create the VHD.

6. The VHD is attached automatically and added as a new disk in Disk Manager. To initialize the disk for use, right-click the disk entry in the Graphical view and then select Initialize Disk.

7. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, the disk is selected for initialization. By default, the disk partition style is set to MBR (Master Boot Record) if the total disk size is less than 2 TB. If you want to use the GPT (GUID Partition Table) style, select the related option. Click OK.

8. After initializing the disk, right-click the unpartitioned space on the disk and create a volume of the appropriate type. After you create the volume, the VHD is available for use.

You can work with a VHD in much the same way as you work with other disks. Your computer can boot off a VHD. You can write data to and read data from a VHD. Additionally, you are able to take a VHD offline or put a VHD online by right-clicking the disk entry in the Graphical view and selecting Offline or Online, respectively. You can detach a VHD if you no longer want to use it by right-clicking the disk entry in the Graphical view, selecting Detach VHD, and then clicking OK in the Detach Virtual Hard Disk dialog box.

You can create VHDs using other programs. If you created a VHD using another program or have a detached VHD that you want to attach, you can do so by completing the following steps:

1. In Disk Management, select the Attach VHD option on the Action menu.

2. In the Attach Virtual Hard Disk dialog box, click Browse. Use the Browse Virtual Disk Files dialog box to select the location where you want to create the .vhd file for the virtual hard disk, and then click Open.

3. If you want to attach the VHD in read-only mode, select Read-only.

4. Click OK to attach the VHD.

5. Formatting Volumes

Formatting a volume creates a filesystem that you can use to store your data. If you format an existing volume that you’ve already used, you will permanently delete any existing data. You can format a volume by following these steps:

1. In Disk Management’s Graphical view, right-click the volume that you want to format and then select Format. This displays the Format dialog box shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Formatting the volume

1. In the “Volume label” text box, type a text label for the volume.

2. Use the “File system” list to set the filesystem type. The options you have depend on the size of the volume and type of device, but they include FAT, FAT32, and NTFS.

3. The “Allocation unit size” list sets the cluster size for the filesystem. A cluster is a logical grouping of file sectors. In most cases, you’ll want the “Allocation unit size” list to be set to Default. This allows Windows 7 to optimize the cluster size based on the volume size.

4. The “Perform a quick format” checkbox allows Windows 7 to format the volume without checking the partition for errors. Although this option can save you a few minutes, it’s usually better to allow Disk Management to check for errors and mark any bad sectors it finds on the disk so that they aren’t used.

5. The “Enable file and folder compression” checkbox turns on compression for the disk. Built-in compression is available only for NTFS. If you select this option, files and folders on the volume are compressed automatically.
   

6. Click OK to continue. Because formatting a volume destroys any existing data, Disk Management displays a warning. Click OK to start formatting the volume or Cancel to cancel.

6. Changing Drive Letters

Assigning a drive letter to a volume is the fastest and easiest way to access and work with a volume. On most systems, the drive letter B and drive letters E through Z are available, with drive letter A reserved for a floppy disk, C assigned to the primary disk, and D assigned to the CD/DVD drive. If your computer has a secondary hard disk, a secondary CD/DVD drive, or both, you may find that drive letter E or the drive letters E and F are already assigned as well.

To prevent potential startup problems, you should rarely if ever change the drive letter for the system and boot volumes. However, you can change the drive letters for other volumes at any time. To change a drive letter, follow these steps:

1. In Disk Management’s Graphical view, right-click the volume that you want to work with and then select Change Drive Letter and Path. This displays the “Change Drive Letter and Paths for” dialog box shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Changing the drive letter

1. To change the drive letter, select the current drive letter and then click Change. In the Change Drive Letter or Path dialog box, choose a different letter to assign to the drive. Only those drive letters that aren’t currently assigned will be available.

   NOTE

   Although volumes can have multiple drive letters or be mounted to file paths instead of drive letters, I recommend that you avoid these options. You’ll prevent possible confusion and it always will be clear how your drives are accessed.

1. Click OK to save your settings, then click Yes when you are warned about the effects that changing a drive letter may have on installed applications.

7. Changing Volume Labels

The volume label is a text descriptor for a volume that is displayed when the volume is accessed in Windows Explorer and other Windows programs. If your computer has multiple volumes, giving each volume a descriptive label will help you easily navigate between volumes. For example, you might have a volume named Documents and a volume named Archive.

To change or set a volume label, follow these steps:

1. In Disk Management’s Graphical view, right-click the volume that you want to work with and then select Properties.

2. On the General tab of the Properties dialog box, use the Label field to type a new label for the volume.

3. Click OK.

8. Converting a Volume to NTFS

Windows 7 provides the Convert utility for converting FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS. Convert is a command-line utility that requires administrator privileges to run. When you convert a volume, Convert preserves the file and folder structure and no data is lost.

Windows 7 does not provide a utility for converting NTFS to FAT or FAT32. The only way to go from NTFS to FAT or FAT32 is to delete the volume and then recreate the volume with FAT or FAT32 as the filesystem format.

You can convert any volume to NTFS, including the active, boot, and system volumes. If you try to convert the boot or system volume, Windows 7 displays a prompt asking whether you want to schedule the volume to be converted the next time you start your computer. If you choose Yes, you can restart the system to begin the conversion process. In most cases, it will take several restarts to convert the boot or system volume. Don’t interrupt the conversion process and don’t attempt to shut down your computer during the conversion process.

Convert needs a block of free space that’s approximately equal to 25 percent of the total space used on the drive. For example, if the drive stores 5 GB of data, Convert needs about 500 MB of free space. If there isn’t enough free space, Convert will not convert the volume and will instead tell you that you need to free up disk space.

You can convert a volume by following these steps:

1. Click Start→All Programs→Accessories.

2. Right-click Command Prompt and then select Run As Administrator.

3. At the command prompt, use the following syntax to convert the volume:

   convert volume /FS:NTFS

   
   

   where volume is the drive letter followed by a colon (:). For example, if you wanted to convert the H volume to NTFS, you would use the following command:

   convert H: /FS:NTFS

   
   

4. Type the volume name when prompted. This confirms that you are converting the correct volume.

9. Deleting Volumes

Occasionally, you may need to delete volumes that you no longer need. You might also need to delete a volume if you want to extend or reconfigure another volume on the same disk drive. Because deleting a volume erases all data on the volume, you will want to copy or move all data on the volume and then verify the copy or move prior to deleting the volume.

NOTE

You can’t delete the system or boot volume. However, Windows 7 will let you delete an active volume if it isn’t also designated as boot, system, or both. Always check to ensure that the volume that you are deleting doesn’t contain important data or files.

You can delete a volume by following these steps:

1. In Disk Management’s Graphical view, right-click the volume that you want to delete and then select Delete Volume.

2. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the volume, click Yes.