Introduction
vdi
files are VirtualBox native virtual drive containers. These can have a fixed size or be dynamic, consuming as much space as is needed.
- "Hardware virtualization" deals with how to convert a real partition into a
vdi
container for use within VirtualBox - "Compact vdis": At some point you might want to shrink such dynamic disk containers to ease maintenance (backup for example)
Hardware virtualization
Tested with Windows 7
disk2vhd
: create a vhd (without vhdx!)- transform the vhd into vdi with
VBoxManage clonehd
- setup a vm with VirtualBox & test if you can boot the vdi
- Check the drivers, eventually remove the PCI bus driver if you get Code 12 errors. In my special case I had trouble with
AMD pci express 3gio filter
- Re-activation of the windows key in the VM (do not use old system anymore!!)
Compact vdis
To shrink dynamic drives to a reasonable size (almost same as actually used bytes) follow the procedure here:
See https://www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/
Windows guest
- use defragmenter to defragment / compact the filesystem
- use sdelete to zero out unused space
sdelete.exe c: -z
Linux guest
- use
zerofree
Host
- Run
VBoxManage modifymedium disk <vdi file> --compact