In this article, I will guide you step-by-step through converting your physical Windows machine to a virtual machine.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this on Windows is using Disk2vhd, a free tool from Microsoft Sysinternals. This lightweight utility allows you to create a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD or VHDX) from your existing system while it’s running, so no complicated setups are required. Once created, you can easily import the virtual disk into Microsoft Hyper-V, VirtualBox, or VMWare Workstation.
But why should you do this? Here are some key benefits:
- Test safely: Experiment with updates, software, or configurations in a VM without affecting your real machine.
- Run legacy apps: Keep old systems alive to run software that doesn’t work on modern Windows.
- Protect your system: Create a complete backup of your PC or server and restore it anytime.
- Move easily: Take your VM anywhere; Hyper-V, VirtualBox, VMware, or even the cloud.
Pre-requisites:
Some prerequisites have to be met to perform the conversion successfully.
1/ BitLocker-encrypted drives:
If BitLocker or any other encryption device encrypts your physical machine drives, disable the encryption before starting the conversion; otherwise, the generated VHD disk may be unreadable.
To check if BitLocker is enabled on your physical machine, type the following PowerShell command:
Get-BitLockerVolume
2/ Disk space:
Ensure you have enough free space on the destination disk to store the resulting VHD/VHDX file.
Download Disk2vhd Tool:
Disk2vhd is a free Microsoft tool that is part of the Sysinternals suite. You can download it from this link.
After downloading the tool, unzip it, then launch it by double-clicking on the x64 bit version (disk2vhd64.exe)
On the tool’s menu, select the following:
- Use Vhdx: Selected by default.
- Use Volume Shadow Copy: If disabled, Disk2vhd reads the disk directly while Windows is running, which means that files may be open or locked, and system files and databases might be inconsistent in the VHD.
- Select the volumes: Select volumes you want to include in the VM. If you want your VM to boot correctly, include system volumes (\\?\Volume{Volume ID}).
Check your selection and click “Create” to create the VM.
Import the VM into Microsoft Hyper-V
Once the virtual machine is created, you can import it into the Hypervisor. In this guide, I will use the Microsoft Hypervisor.
Create a New Virtual Machine:
In Microsoft Hyper-V, create a new virtual machine and set the appropriate hardware configuration (CPU, RAM, Network, etc.)
1/ Give a name to your VM.
2/ Specify the VM generation: Choose Generation 2 for more performance and security.
3/ Set the memory size: Enter the amount of RAM you want to allocate to your VM. Depending on the operating system edition and the apps you want to use inside the VM, make sure that the VM has enough memory to start and run properly. In my case, I chose a startup memory of 4 GB (Which is the minimum required for Windows 11) and allowed the use of dynamic memory.
4/ Connect the VM to the virtual Switch
5/ Connect the virtual hard disk: connect the virtual hard disk created by the Disk2vhd tool.
Start Using the VM:
Once the virtual machine is created, you can start it and open a session using the same logins as your physical machine.
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