Most organizations today are incorporating Hyper-V technology into their virtualized working environments. Hypervisors are virtual machine managers that impact efficiency, stability and improve system performance. It works on a platform between the physical server and the virtual machines, which manages fair resource allocation to all machines. While virtual systems are beneficial, you need to implement strict security measures for data protection. VMs are susceptible to malware attacks due to the several operating systems. Use a reliable Hyper-V backup software to secure your data and increase business productivity.

Our article focuses on converting physical computers into Hyper-V virtual hard drives. It is a simple process that requires a few converters to create the perfect Hyper-V platform that will improve your business operations.

Step 1-Download Converter – Disk2Vhd

This stage involves downloading a converter that will help in generating a virtual hard disk. Although there are many Hyper-V converters, the Disk2Vhd utility is among the best in the market. It is an efficient converter from Microsoft, weighing around 0.9MB, making it light and readily available.

Proceed to open the Windows Sysinternals page, click on downloads, select Disk2Vhd and click to download it.

Step 2-Run Disk2Vhd

After successfully downloading the converter file, you must run the Disk2Vhd utility on the server you want to convert to a virtual hard drive. There is a checkbox where the system prompts to tick or not use volume shadow copy (VSS). With this option, you will get a transaction-consistent disk form, which contains all the backup files.

You must choose the new destination of the VHD file. Tick the disk that you want to convert and include the options of system reserved if you want a bootable disk. Then, proceed to start the conversion process by clicking the ‘create’ button.

Step 3

During the process, there is a timer that will estimate the completion progress. If you are still skeptical about the conversion, you can choose to click ‘cancel’ or help if you encounter any problem. When the process is complete, you will have a VHD (virtual hard drive) disk. Copy the file to the Hyper-V server and paste it into the VM folder containing the disks.

Step 4

In this step, ensure that you have a virtual machine that will support the new virtual hard drive. Proceed to the Hyper-V manager and click on Action → New→ Virtual machine and enter the configuration settings as per your specifications. The process is quite simple, but you need to be extra careful when selecting the VM generation option since you cannot the alter the generation after creating a VHD

After selecting the generation, click on finish to complete the setup.

Step 5

This step prompts you to Connect Virtual Hard Disk. So, select the available hard disk and proceed with the other steps to complete the wizard.

Step 6

Finally, run the virtual hard drive by right-clicking on a VM to power it up. It might not pick up immediately to change in configuration settings, but it will eventually boot up. Windows will start as usual, showing that your conversion process is successful.

Hyper-V VHDs are advantageous to users in many ways. Apart from lowering resource costs due to the virtual systems, the conversion process increases efficiency in incorporating a VHD to the system. Converting your physical machine to virtual hypervisor hardware is simple if you follow the proper procedure. Do not forget to incorporate a reliable backup plan to protect your virtual machines. Hypervisors improve efficiency and scalability while ensuring each virtual machine receives a fair share of the hardware allocation. Operating on a virtualized platform is convenient and easy to operate.