Resizing VMWare virtual disks

We still use VMWare server 2.x even though it's now an unsupported product.

Why do we still use it?   -- Because it works! and it's free..

Doubtless eventually it will break with some new Microsoft hotfix but until then we'll stick with it.

One of the issues that arises from time to time is the need to expand the virual disk and this can be done by following these instructions.

1.Turn off the virtual machine;

2.Commit/remove all the snapshots first!

3.Open a Command Prompt and go to:

C:\Program Files\VMWare\VMWare Server or C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation
or for 64-bit
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMWare\VMWare Server or C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation

4.Run this command to expand the virtual disk:
vmware-vdiskmanager -x 12GB "My harddisk.vmdk" (in this case, 12 GB will be the new size). The file name can contain spaces because of the double quotes.

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Server>vmware-vdiskmanager -x 30GB D:\VMs\MSI-VM-Acnts-4\XP-Pro.vmdk
  Grow: 100% done.
Disk expansion completed successfully.

WARNING: If the virtual disk is partitioned, you must use a third-party
         utility in the virtual machine to expand the size of the
         partitions. For more information, see:
         http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1647

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Server>

5.Note: Because this only expands the disk and not the partition, you'll need to resize the partition table as well. This can be done by 3rd party tools like 'Partition Magic', but also with 'diskpart.exe', a built-in tool of Windows.