Thank you - your a true geek, very well edited/presented & to the point. Watched other youtube vids that shows you using command line which does not apply to windows machine (using .vhd) seems to be an outdated version of Virtual Box. Thanks for this up to date detailed vid. Saved a lot of time. Nice touch with the time index & your polished efforts on those Chapters thumb nails is a commendable addition, it is an exceptional clone of your index; end result - delivering an easy to navigate feel, typical of a DVD/Blu Ray menu experience. This is the 1st time I seen this Chapters carousel in use, if I can call it that, such a clever little touch inside of your youtube description.
Thank you @Wah Yung for such a detailed and considered response to the content. It's really appreciated that you have taken the time to write extensively about the video, and we're glad you found the indexing system to be useful, because a lot of work goes into making the content as readily accessible as possible.
@SupaIsaiah016. You are very welcome. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your comment. We have been extensively pursuing activities outside of the RUclips platform for the past six weeks, and consequently we are only now catching up on feedback and questions. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
@@TechFixFlix Thank you! Any idea how to find the right disk in the tool list? I have like 25-30 vdi and vmdks. Klicking on the machine in the left list and then choosing tools does not jump to the right vdi/vmdk.
There is indeed a way to do that. In the “Tools” menu, click on the .vdi file, then look toward the bottom of the screen. You’ll see two tabs labelled “Attributes” and “Information,” and you’ll be looking at “Attributes” by default. Clicking on “Information” will show further details, one of which is “Attached to.” This will naturally reveal the name of the virtual machine to which the disk is attached. Hope this helps.
@@TechFixFlix Thank you so much! I am using the newest version of vBox 6.1.12 as of today 03.Sep.2020 and the newest extension pack, but it seems that you can only increase the size of a disk. As soon as I move the slider to the left to decrease the size, at the bottom right corner appears a red exclamation sign telling me that decreasing is not yet implemented. I hope this function will come soon. Good work, thanks again!
Thank you very much indeed. We often tend to think of resizing as a reaction to a need to create more space on the virtual hard drive. Of course, it’s every bit as valid to need to decrease the size, and, as you’ve discovered, this is not as easily accomplished.
There might be a very simple explanation for this, but forgive us if we’re wrong here. We think that the “Properties” tab only appears if you have at least one existing virtual machine configured, so, if you’re working from an entirely blank slate, you won’t see that tab until you have set up your first virtual machine. If we’re wrong, as a worst-case scenario, you could always resize your drive using the method shown in our original video, found at ruclips.net/video/44CVcaGAYEw/видео.html It’s a slightly more complicated method, in that it uses a typed command rather than the G.U.I., but it avoids using the Properties menu which is presently unavailable to you, so it’s a potential workaround.
Unfortunately not, @Leonid. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it. Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across. The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter: www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/ www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/ forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149 forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
Hi @AL1ENZZ. We have two potential thoughts here. Firstly, the Tools tab will look different depending upon whether or not you have already created a virtual machine. Once you’ve created a VM, more options will be available in the Tools menu. Also, don’t overlook the dropdown menu accessible by clicking the icon to the right of the Tools menu option. The icon looks like a to-do list with a blue square bullet point and a black line designed to resemble text, repeated three times vertically, found immediately to the right of the pin icon. Clicking the icon opens a drop-down menu with options labelled “Welcome,” “Media” and “Network.” The “Media” option contains the functions used when working with drives.
Hi @VEKTOR. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it. Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across. The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter: www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/ www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/ forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149 forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
If you’ve been following our tutorials, or indeed simply accepted the setup defaults, you’ll have opted for “Dynamically allocated” storage when setting up your virtual machine. In practice, this means that your virtual hard drive will initially be quite small in size, with unused disk sectors not occupying storage space, but will grow dynamically as content is added to it, and this dynamic growth requires additional computing power by comparison to the “fixed” allocation type. This allows you to allocate more virtual storage space than your physical hard drive can offer. If you’re thinking this is potentially dangerous, you’re absolutely right, and, in this scenario, you’ll need to personally monitor physical storage use very carefully to ensure your virtual machine doesn’t use physical resources your host is unable to provide. Although you might imagine there would be limitations or safeguards in place to prevent this type of over-reach, it’s something which many users need, so it’s an integral part of virtual machines, and obviously something to use only with caution.
Hi @Mass Media. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it. Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across. The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter: www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/ www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/ forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149 forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
@@TechFixFlix Hey, wow, thanks for the detailed response. I will look at those articles but here is what I already did (to no avail) just for your info: I tried shrinking capacity via cloning to new (smaller)machine like this: VBoxManage clonehd [old-VDI] [new-VDI] --existing BUT, it destroys the partition map, so then in rescue I grub directly to the boot, and it still throws "boot outside hd0" error... then I storagedctl toggled bootable to "on"... still nothing. Moral = dont over allocate size capacity when you create a VM. :) (Just to clarify, I am not speaking of zeroing/compacting) Thanks Again!
@@TechFixFlix My lesson was: size it correctly to begin with. So, I am now just making a brand new one sized correctly. I discovered, as much work is involved, it is actually faster than all these hacks, and certainly More Secure. :)
I was so excited to find this tutorial after hours searching and trying the endless solutions offered online. Everything went smooth--perfectly--until I tried to start the virtual machine to be greeted with a "Could not read from the boot medium! system halted" error. Tried release the copied drive and adding back the original. Same error. After days trying to chase down another solution, I seem to be left with only the option of staring a new vdi from scratch and just kissing goodbye all the work done on the old vm. I do hope other people had luck with your tutorial. For me it seems to have made the situation worse.
Sorry to hear that this isn’t working for you. Have you tried keeping the .vdi file but otherwise deleting the virtual machine configuration? We”re wondering whether starting with a fresh VM configuration, then adding your existing.vdi file to that fresh configuration might resolve the issue. Secondly, can we safely assume that you’ve Googled the error message and checked out potential solutions, for example m.ruclips.net/video/K7ajWHHkijo/видео.html from RUclips (not one of our videos)?
Thank you - your a true geek, very well edited/presented & to the point. Watched other youtube vids that shows you using command line which does not apply to windows machine (using .vhd) seems to be an outdated version of Virtual Box. Thanks for this up to date detailed vid. Saved a lot of time. Nice touch with the time index & your polished efforts on those Chapters thumb nails is a commendable addition, it is an exceptional clone of your index; end result - delivering an easy to navigate feel, typical of a DVD/Blu Ray menu experience. This is the 1st time I seen this Chapters carousel in use, if I can call it that, such a clever little touch inside of your youtube description.
Thank you @Wah Yung for such a detailed and considered response to the content. It's really appreciated that you have taken the time to write extensively about the video, and we're glad you found the indexing system to be useful, because a lot of work goes into making the content as readily accessible as possible.
Worked well ,thanks
That’s great. Glad you found the content useful.
Thank you
@SupaIsaiah016. You are very welcome.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your comment. We have been extensively pursuing activities outside of the RUclips platform for the past six weeks, and consequently we are only now catching up on feedback and questions. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Thank you! Sounds very easy, I'll give it a try.
You’re very welcome. Hope it works for you.
@@TechFixFlix Thank you! Any idea how to find the right disk in the tool list? I have like 25-30 vdi and vmdks. Klicking on the machine in the left list and then choosing tools does not jump to the right vdi/vmdk.
There is indeed a way to do that. In the “Tools” menu, click on the .vdi file, then look toward the bottom of the screen. You’ll see two tabs labelled “Attributes” and “Information,” and you’ll be looking at “Attributes” by default. Clicking on “Information” will show further details, one of which is “Attached to.” This will naturally reveal the name of the virtual machine to which the disk is attached. Hope this helps.
@@TechFixFlix Thank you so much! I am using the newest version of vBox 6.1.12 as of today 03.Sep.2020 and the newest extension pack, but it seems that you can only increase the size of a disk. As soon as I move the slider to the left to decrease the size, at the bottom right corner appears a red exclamation sign telling me that decreasing is not yet implemented. I hope this function will come soon.
Good work, thanks again!
Thank you very much indeed. We often tend to think of resizing as a reaction to a need to create more space on the virtual hard drive. Of course, it’s every bit as valid to need to decrease the size, and, as you’ve discovered, this is not as easily accomplished.
Thank you for the help... ❤️
You are very welcome.
When I go to the "Tools" tab, it only says (Preferences, Import, Export, New, and Add). There is no Properties part.
There might be a very simple explanation for this, but forgive us if we’re wrong here. We think that the “Properties” tab only appears if you have at least one existing virtual machine configured, so, if you’re working from an entirely blank slate, you won’t see that tab until you have set up your first virtual machine.
If we’re wrong, as a worst-case scenario, you could always resize your drive using the method shown in our original video, found at ruclips.net/video/44CVcaGAYEw/видео.html It’s a slightly more complicated method, in that it uses a typed command rather than the G.U.I., but it avoids using the Properties menu which is presently unavailable to you, so it’s a potential workaround.
you can shrink VM the same way, right?
Unfortunately not, @Leonid. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it.
Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across.
The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter:
www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/
www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
nice one
Glad you found the content useful.
help, when I go to the tools tab it doesn't show any tabs, it just says add
Hi @AL1ENZZ. We have two potential thoughts here. Firstly, the Tools tab will look different depending upon whether or not you have already created a virtual machine. Once you’ve created a VM, more options will be available in the Tools menu. Also, don’t overlook the dropdown menu accessible by clicking the icon to the right of the Tools menu option. The icon looks like a to-do list with a blue square bullet point and a black line designed to resemble text, repeated three times vertically, found immediately to the right of the pin icon. Clicking the icon opens a drop-down menu with options labelled “Welcome,” “Media” and “Network.” The “Media” option contains the functions used when working with drives.
how do i shrink/decrease size??
Hi @VEKTOR. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it.
Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across.
The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter:
www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/
www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
how does the 2 tb of storage work even if i dont have 2 tb
If you’ve been following our tutorials, or indeed simply accepted the setup defaults, you’ll have opted for “Dynamically allocated” storage when setting up your virtual machine. In practice, this means that your virtual hard drive will initially be quite small in size, with unused disk sectors not occupying storage space, but will grow dynamically as content is added to it, and this dynamic growth requires additional computing power by comparison to the “fixed” allocation type. This allows you to allocate more virtual storage space than your physical hard drive can offer. If you’re thinking this is potentially dangerous, you’re absolutely right, and, in this scenario, you’ll need to personally monitor physical storage use very carefully to ensure your virtual machine doesn’t use physical resources your host is unable to provide. Although you might imagine there would be limitations or safeguards in place to prevent this type of over-reach, it’s something which many users need, so it’s an integral part of virtual machines, and obviously something to use only with caution.
ok i have a question
How do you SHRINK the VHD Limit? (Not compact)
Hi @Mass Media. When we published this video, its premise was that users would be looking to increase the size of their virtual hard drive as their storage requirements grew. We didn’t give too much consideration to users looking to reduce their capacity, although this is an equally valid request. As you might expect, increasing capacity simply by bolting on extra storage space is relatively straightforward by comparison to taking away a portion of the virtual drive which may already have data allocated to it.
Probably the most straightforward solution would be to configure and attach a smaller drive to the virtual machine, before using cloning software to copy the existing content across.
The articles linked below detail some interesting methods for potentially achieving this, as well as some of the pitfalls you may encounter:
www.maketecheasier.com/shrink-your-virtualbox-vm/
www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89149
forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68310
@@TechFixFlix Hey, wow, thanks for the detailed response. I will look at those articles but here is what I already did (to no avail) just for your info:
I tried shrinking capacity via cloning to new (smaller)machine like this:
VBoxManage clonehd [old-VDI] [new-VDI] --existing BUT, it destroys the partition map, so then in rescue I grub directly to the boot, and it still throws "boot outside hd0" error... then I storagedctl toggled bootable to "on"... still nothing. Moral = dont over allocate size capacity when you create a VM. :) (Just to clarify, I am not speaking of zeroing/compacting)
Thanks Again!
Thanks for the update, and you’re certainly exploring some interesting options. Hope you find a workable solution.
@@TechFixFlix My lesson was: size it correctly to begin with. So, I am now just making a brand new one sized correctly. I discovered, as much work is involved, it is actually faster than all these hacks, and certainly More Secure. :)
Good plan @Mass Media. The simplest plan is always the best one (even if it might involve a bit more work).
I was so excited to find this tutorial after hours searching and trying the endless solutions offered online. Everything went smooth--perfectly--until I tried to start the virtual machine to be greeted with a "Could not read from the boot medium! system halted" error. Tried release the copied drive and adding back the original. Same error. After days trying to chase down another solution, I seem to be left with only the option of staring a new vdi from scratch and just kissing goodbye all the work done on the old vm. I do hope other people had luck with your tutorial. For me it seems to have made the situation worse.
Sorry to hear that this isn’t working for you. Have you tried keeping the .vdi file but otherwise deleting the virtual machine configuration? We”re wondering whether starting with a fresh VM configuration, then adding your existing.vdi file to that fresh configuration might resolve the issue. Secondly, can we safely assume that you’ve Googled the error message and checked out potential solutions, for example m.ruclips.net/video/K7ajWHHkijo/видео.html from RUclips (not one of our videos)?