Managing the Virtual Hard Disk Properties

With Parallels Image Tool, you can manage the properties of your virtual machine hard disk. You can change the virtual hard disk type from plain to expanding and vice versa, split or merge the disk parts, or merge snapshots of the virtual machine that uses this virtual hard disk.

To change the type of the virtual hard disk:

1. Start Parallels Image Tool.
2. In the Introduction window, click Continue .
3. Specify the source virtual disk image file with the .hdd extension in the Source Virtual Disk window. You may type the path and file name or use the Choose button to locate the file. The virtual hard disk image file can be found inside the virtual machine's PVM bundle. PVM bundles are stored by default:
   • in the /<Username>/Documents/Parallels/ folder in Mac OS X.
   • in the C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\My Documents\Parallels\ folder in the Windows primary OS.
   • in the /<username>/parallels directory in the Linux primary OS.

     Note: The virtual machine using this virtual hard disk should be stopped before proceeding.

4. Select the Manage disk properties option in the Select Action window.
5. In the Select Operations window, choose one or several of the following operations to perform on the disk and click Start :

   Note: The operations with the virtual hard disk are irreversible.

   • If the virtual hard disk image you specified is an expanding virtual hard disk, the Split virtual hard disk image file option is selected by default.
   • If it is an expanding disk, you can select the Convert to Plain option.
   • If it is a plain disk, the Convert to Expanding option is selected by default.
   • If the hard disk image you selected has snapshots, the Merge snapshots option is selected by default. You cannot clear this option.

     Note: The merging process deletes all the snapshots, except the last one.

     Parallels Image Tool needs to merge all the snapshots of the current virtual hard disk before performing any actions with it. The information from all the snapshots will be merged to the last one, and all the other snapshots will be deleted. Parallels Image Tool does not change the snapshots tree in Snapshot Manager, so if you attempt to revert to any snapshot of the tree, it will be no longer accessible, and you can remove it manually. Note: If the virtual hard disk image file you specified is in the old format, it will be automatically converted to the new format.

   You can view the operation progress in the Processing the File window. Clicking Cancel terminates the operation.

6. After the disk image has been successfully modified, the Execution is Completed window appears. Click Finish to close Parallels Image Tool.