Easiest Guide to Copy VHD to Physical Disk Without Data Loss

Understanding VHD: An Overview

VHD is a disk image format for the Microsoft virtualization platform, Hyper-V. The abbreviation stands for Virtual Hard Drive. However, the same abbreviation can be used for Virtual Hard Disks, which refers to the different types of disk image formats used by virtualization programs.

The most popular virtual hard disk formats used in the IT space are VHD (virtual hard drive) of Hyper-V, VDI (virtual disk image) of Oracle VM, and VMDK (virtual machine disk) of VMware. These VHDs serve the same purpose, which is to store the data and files of a connected virtual machine.

A VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) acts like a physical hard disk drive, but this time, it does so for a Virtual Machine (VM). A VHD contains every single detail, file, configuration settings, and metadata information of a virtual machine; if the VHD of a virtual machine is tampered with, the VM won’t power on. Hence, it is important to always backup VHD files to multiple locations, regularly.

What Exactly Is a VHD?

A virtual machine is literally a “virtual computer” created inside a physical computer. One physical computer can only serve as a single host or server in a data environment, but with virtual machines, you can have up to 15 or more virtual servers inside one physical host – a physical computer.

Physical computers need a physical hard disk – either a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a Solid-State Drive (SSD) – to function. This physical hard disk stores every data the physical computer needs to function and also provides storage space for new input data that would be written or installed on the physical computer.

A VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) does the same thing a physical hard disk does for a computer, but, the VHD works with a VM and not a physical computer. Virtual hard disks for virtual machines and physical hard disks for physical computers – more like that.

That said, a virtual hard disk (VHD file) is saved on a physical hard disk; thus, while protecting your VHD, also make sure nothing happens to the physical disk that contains the virtual hard drive file.

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Step-by-Step Guide: How to Copy a VHD to a Physical Disk

Step 1: Attach the VHD in Disk Management for Conversion

To start the process of converting a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) to a physical disk, you first need to attach the VHD in Disk Management. This will make the VHD accessible to your system, allowing you to proceed with the conversion. Follow these steps:

1. Open Disk Management:

   • Press Win + X and select Disk Management.
   • Alternatively, you can right-click on 'This PC' or 'My Computer', select Manage, and then choose Disk Management.

2. Attach the VHD:

   • In Disk Management, click on the Action menu.
   • Select Attach VHD.
   • Browse to the location of your VHD file, select it, and click OK.
   • The VHD will now appear as a new disk in Disk Management.

Step 2: Execute VHD to Physical Disk Cloning

Once the VHD is attached, the next step is to clone the VHD to a physical disk. This can be done using various tools such as Disk2vhd, Clonezilla, or other disk cloning software. Here's a general guide using typical disk cloning software:

1. Launch Disk Cloning Software:

   • Download and install your preferred disk cloning software, such as Disk2vhd, Clonezilla, or Acronis True Image.

2. Select the Source Disk:

   • Open the disk cloning software.
   • Select the attached VHD as the source disk.

3. Choose the Destination Disk:

   • Select the physical disk where you want to clone the VHD.
   • Ensure the destination disk has enough space to accommodate the contents of the VHD.

4. Start the Cloning Process:

   • Begin the cloning process by following the software’s instructions.
   • Wait for the process to complete. This might take some time depending on the size of the VHD and the speed of the hardware.

Step 3: Complete the Restoration of VHD to Physical Disk

After the cloning process is complete, you will need to finalize the restoration of the VHD to the physical disk. This may involve additional steps to ensure the physical disk is bootable and properly configured:

1. Set the Disk as Bootable (if applicable):

   • If the physical disk is intended to be a boot drive, ensure it is set as the primary boot device in your BIOS/UEFI settings.
   • Restart your computer and enter the BIOS/UEFI setup.
   • Change the boot order to prioritize the newly cloned physical disk.

2. Verify Disk Integrity and Functionality:

   • Check for any errors on the physical disk by running a disk check.
   • Ensure all files and applications are accessible and functioning properly.

3. Adjust Partitions and File System (if necessary):

   • If needed, adjust the disk's partitions and file system to optimize performance and storage efficiency.
   • Use disk management tools to resize or format partitions as required.