Imported Bootcamp VM shows incorrect VM disk size

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Big_Gee42

Bit poster
I've just purchased Parallels to allow me to switch from Bootcamp.

I've run through the Import Bootcamp process successfully and the resultant Windows 7 VM works fine and starts up OK.

However, the disk size in the Hardware config shows that the VM disk is 698GB, even though the boot camp partition was only 50GB, and the actual VM hdd file is only 20 to 30GB. For some reason, Parallels has the virtual disk size quoted as being the size of the entire physical hard disk. I don't have snapshots enabled either.

When you look in Disk Management in Windows, the disk shows 4 partitions with the 4th being Windows. In Computer, only the C drive shows, and with the correct size. It's clear that the config of the disks from Bootcamp has been imported and retained even though the disks don't exist in the VM environment.

As well as this, I am unable to resize or compress the Windows 7 VM disk. I get the following error:

Unable to resize the last volume. The file system on that volume might be corrupted or not supported.

I can only assume that this is because the Disk Management config contains GPT and MBR records from when it was run under bootcamp.

I can't change the disk to plain either as I get problem ID 41601 which states the physical disk doesn't have enough space.

Is there any way to correct the configuration of the virtual disk so that it shows correctly and can be resized & compressed properly? Or is there a way to get the import from Bootcamp process corrected so that the Mac OS X partition config is not imported as well? Happy to redo the import as long as it works right...
 
I have the same problem...

I purchased Parallels in November last year, imported my Bootcamp, checked that everything worked, deleted the Bootcamp partition then thought nothing more of it.

Now I look at Compressing and can't: I receive the usual error messages - "file is corrupt or dynamic or has snapshots" or "Unable to process the disk. Error message 491" (but there is no such error). I have deleted snapshots.

Here are the numbers
My MBP Harddisk is 250 GB with about 120 free space - from Disk Utility
The pvm file is 40 GB
In Configuration, the HDD shows as Expanding with size 233 GB - when I click "Edit" I receive the message: "Unable to resize the last volume. The file system may be corrupt or not supported"
In Windows My Computer, the C: is 60 GB (the original Bootcamp size) with 28 GB free
In Windows My Computer, the "Home" is 232 GB with 112 GB free

Any thoughts on 1) why the numbers make no sense and 2) how I can compress the HDD?

Thanks,
Stephen
 
It appears that this is a symptom of the bootcamp import.

When you run Windows under bootcamp, it sees Windows as a partition on the full hard disk (which it is). When you import Windows from Bootcamp it copies this configuration to the virtual disk.

Now, you can go to Disk Administrator and delete the first 2 or 3 partitions that don't actually exist to mark them as free space. I figured the windows partition could be extended then it would sort itself out, but since the Windows partition is not the first partition on the disk you can't actually do anything with the free space after this. Bummer.

It's possible that a 3rd party program such as Partition Magic might be able to resolve it, but I couldn't begin to guess.

I've tried building a new VM and restoring my Bootcamp install from a Windows image backup but Windows 7 won't restore the image to the Virtual disk.

In the end, I had to backup my files & folders and stuff like the DRM licences then create a clean VM from the Windows 7 disk. I then moved my files etc back into place and re-installed my programs.

Thankfully I didn't have much installed and it was easy enough to get back to where I was, now with a virtual disk file that can be compressed properly. Windows works nicely too.

Whether this is suitable for you is another matter.

It's a bit of a raw deal cos there's no fix from Parallels for this, so it essentially means the "Import from Bootcamp" option is pretty rubbish and/or useless for now.
 
I've been in contact with Support and rigorously followed the instructions here: http://kb.parallels.com/en/9165
including the use of Terminal to delete snapshots that don't exist...

One thing I did notice is that if you use Disk Management, one of the partitions is GPT which, according to the rules, cannot be compressed.

From my non-tech perspective, it looks as though the BootCamp setup creates a hard disk that Parallels can't compress. Seems odd if that's the case...

Assuming that is the case, what is the best way to back-up? Use snapshots and Time Machine?

Thanks,
Stephen
 
I realize this thread is six months old, but maybe it should be revived.

I have exactly the same situation as described--Parallels 8, imported Windows 8 from Boot Camp, runs fine, but cannot be resized. As someone said, it must be seeing the size of the entire HD on the Mac instead of the size of the VM HD.

Nothing else seems to be affected--just the inability to resize an imported Boot Camp VM.

I may try reporting this directly to Parallels. I wonder if they follow this forum?
 
A partial solution

I have been battling with this problem all day. I have an imported Vista VM that I want to upgrade to Windows 8 but I could not do so because there was not the minimum of 16 Gb available on my C drive. The imported VM had a virtual disk of over 500Gb with 4 partitions. The fourth contains the C drive ie the virtual disk looks like the original physical disk. The first was a GPT so Parallels will not resize the disk and it can not convert it to a plain disk either.

The solution is to follow the instructions here and remove the partitions before the C drive: http://kb.parallels.com/en/114473. If the shut the VM you can resize the virtual disk. When you reboot your C drive will grow in to the new space.

I call this a partial solution as the virtual disk is over 600Gb but only the bit at the end is available to Windows. This does not really matter but it is untidy. I guess I could find a tool to move the Windows partition to the front of the virtual disk and compress it but life is too short.
 
problem solved

I had the same problem and here's what I've ended up doing to fix it.
1) Install PartitionWizard Freeware
2) In PW delete any partitions other than Windows and expand Windows partition to take up all of the unallocated space (reboot required)
3) In PW resize the newly expanded Windows partition to release any free space (reboot required). From this point onward, vhd can be compressed and any free space freed up using standard Parallels Desktop tools and any other adjustments to get the VM to show correct disk size of the windows vhd are of a purely cosmetic matter - affecting only how it's visually presented. Follow the next step if you are a perfectionist like me and want to fix the presentation too
4) You are going to end up with a new Windows partition set to correct size. Now you can reduce the vhd using Parallels standard resizing tool, don't forget to uncheck the 'resize filesystem' box since you are now dealing with the unallocated space
 
Last edited:
MaximusK said:
I had the same problem and here's what I've ended up doing to fix it.
1) Install PartitionWizard Freeware
2) In PW delete any partitions other than Windows and expand Windows partition to take up all of the unallocated space (reboot required)
3) In PW resize the newly expanded Windows partition to release any free space (reboot required). From this point onward, vhd can be compressed and any free space freed up using standard Parallels Desktop tools and any other adjustments to get the VM to show correct disk size of the windows vhd are of a purely cosmetic matter - affecting only how it's visually presented. Follow the next step if you are a perfectionist like me and want to fix the presentation too
4) You are going to end up with a new Windows partition set to correct size. Now you can reduce the vhd using Parallels standard resizing tool, don't forget to uncheck the 'resize filesystem' box since you are now dealing with the unallocated space
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. Sounds as though your solution would have worked.

I ended up upgrading the Windows XP to Windows 8, getting a license key for Windows 8, and installing it on Boot Camp. I wish I could have done the upgrade to Windows 7, but it was more expensive at the time. So, I'm living with Windows 8 --it works--and no longer have the partition size issue.
 
THANKS a lot for the suggestion to use partition wizard. I have the same problem and couldn't solve it following all the KB from parallels. PW did the trick.
I erased two small partitions (200 and 600 Mb, probably left there by bootcamp) and then expanded the C: partition.
Works like a charm!
 
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