{"id":793,"date":"2011-07-21T19:34:18","date_gmt":"2011-07-22T00:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swildow.darktech.org\/wp\/?p=793"},"modified":"2019-07-30T14:31:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T19:31:16","slug":"how-to-fix-the-%e2%80%9ccannot-attach-the-virtual-hard-disk-%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wildow.com\/blog\/?p=793","title":{"rendered":"How to fix the \u201cCannot attach the virtual hard disk \u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

link\u00a0http:\/\/blog.wisefaq.com\/2009\/12\/31\/how-to-fix-the-cannot-attach-the-virtual-hard-disk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 to the virtual machine.\u00a0 Check the values provided and try again.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>error<\/p>\n

It sucks as an error message.\u00a0 Would it take too much programming effort to make it more meaningful\u00a0Virtual PC team<\/a>?<\/p>\n

What does it mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It means you have a Virtual Hard Disk file larger than 127.5GB.\u00a0 Which Virtual PC does not support.
\nYou might have created this with the\u00a0Microsoft Disk2VHD tool<\/a>.
\nTo confirm the \u201cdisk is too big\u201d problem, open the Settings on an existing Virtual PC, and try to attach the drive:<\/p>\n

In other words, we\u2019ve captured a 160GB hard disk, and Virtual PC won\u2019t let us use it.<\/p>\n

But we can fix it, it\u2019s a two step process<\/strong><\/p>\n

First we use\u00a0DiskPart<\/a>, and then we use\u00a0VHD Resizer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.DiskPart<\/strong><\/p>\n

DISKPART> select vdisk file=c:\\users\\dale\\desktop\\worktest.vhd<\/code><\/p>\n

DiskPart successfully selected the virtual disk file.<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> attach vdisk<\/code><\/p>\n

100 percent completed<\/code><\/p>\n

DiskPart successfully attached the virtual disk file.<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> list volume<\/code><\/p>\n

Volume ###\u00a0 Ltr\u00a0 Label\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Type\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Size\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Status\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Info
\n----------\u00a0 ---\u00a0 -----------\u00a0 -----\u00a0 ----------\u00a0 -------\u00a0 ---------\u00a0 --------
\nVolume 0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DVD-ROM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0 B\u00a0 No Media
\nVolume 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 100 MB\u00a0 Healthy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 System
\nVolume 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 199 GB\u00a0 Healthy
\nVolume 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 265 GB\u00a0 Healthy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Boot
\nVolume 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 149 GB\u00a0 Healthy<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> select volume 4<\/code><\/p>\n

Volume 4 is the selected volume.<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> list volume<\/code><\/p>\n

Volume ###\u00a0 Ltr\u00a0 Label\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Type\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Size\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Status\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Info
\n----------\u00a0 ---\u00a0 -----------\u00a0 -----\u00a0 ----------\u00a0 -------\u00a0 ---------\u00a0 --------
\nVolume 0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DVD-ROM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0 B\u00a0 No Media
\n...
\n* Volume 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 149 GB\u00a0 Healthy<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> shrink querymax<\/code><\/p>\n

The maximum number of reclaimable bytes is:\u00a0 106 GB (108636 MB)<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> shrink desired=40960<\/code>\u00a0(Note: desired is the amount we want to prune of the image)<\/p>\n

DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:\u00a0\u00a0 40 GB<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> list volume<\/code><\/p>\n

Volume ###\u00a0 Ltr\u00a0 Label\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Type\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Size\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Status\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Info
\n----------\u00a0 ---\u00a0 -----------\u00a0 -----\u00a0 ----------\u00a0 -------\u00a0 ---------\u00a0 --------
\nVolume 0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DVD-ROM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0 B\u00a0 No Media
\n...
\n* Volume 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NTFS\u00a0\u00a0 Partition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 109 GB\u00a0 Healthy<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> detach vdisk<\/code><\/p>\n

DiskPart successfully detached the virtual disk file.<\/code><\/p>\n

DISKPART> exit<\/code><\/p>\n

What we now have is a VHD file still sized at 149GB, but with a 109GB partition in it.\u00a0 What we need to do next is resize the VHD to 109GB.<\/p>\n

2. VHDResizer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use VHDResizer to resize your newly shrunk VHD file, in this example WorkTest.VHD<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(yes, I picked a New Size larger than 109GB, I went for 120GB instead).<\/p>\n

And finally\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Success!\u00a0 It boots!<\/p>\n

This article might be useful as well:
\nMount base and differencing VHD disks using Windows Virtual PC on Windows 7 x64.<\/a><\/p>\n

To recap, the tools used were:
\nDiskPart<\/a>\u00a0(included in Windows)
\nDisk2VHD<\/a>
\nVHDResizer<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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