Windows 7 Tips Creating Virtual Drives

Creating virtual drives under Computer

If you have administrator rights, you can create virtual drives with the help of built-in tools and use them in Windows Explorer. Technically, the operating system creates a special file for every virtual drive, inside which all the data in the drive is saved.

       You can defi ne a virtual drive in ‘Disk Management’. You will find this option in ‘Computer management’ under ‘System and security | Administrative tools’. Double click ‘Computer management and click on ‘Computer management (Local) | Storage | Disk Management’ in the left pane.

 Click on the context command ‘Create VHD’ (Virtual Hard Disk) in the Action menu. In the following dialogue, specify the path and the file for saving the virtual hard disk under ‘Location’. As with any other dialogue, you can click ‘Browse’ to identify a location. The file name must be added manually. The file must end with ‘.vhd’. In ‘Virtual hard disk size’, define the size you wish it to have. In order to maintain performance, leave it at the ‘Fixed size’ option rather than selecting ‘Dynamically Expanding’. Confirm the settings with ‘OK’.

       Now, Windows creates a VHD file of the size you have specified. Subsequently you will have access to the virtual hard disk in the Details area of the ‘Disk management’ window. Before you input anything, you must right-click the drive and allow the initialisation process to take place. Accept the settings in the following dialogue with ‘OK’. Subsequently, format the hard disk by clicking its icon with the right mouse button and by selecting the context command ‘New simple volume’. Follow the wizard's instructions. While doing so also specify the drive letter for your new virtual hard disk.

       If you would like to delete a virtual drive, click its icon with the right mouse button in Disk Management and select ‘Delete the virtual hard disk’ in the context menu. With ‘Delete file for virtual hard disk after un mounting’, you can specify whether the operating system should delete or retain the VHD file for later use. This can come in handy for keeping fi les confi dential or simply to help you organize your data.