Dynamically expanding disks only take up space on your physical drive as data is added. While convenient, they can suffer minor performance penalties and risk crashing the guest system if your host physical drive completely runs out of space.
Find a Windows 10 or 11 ISO to install it in a virtual machine
3. How to Create Your Own Windows 10 VHD Image (Recommended)
Visit the official Microsoft Developer website to download Windows 10 VMs. Windows 10 Vhd Image Download
: These images are typically packaged for specific virtualization software: Hyper-V : Standard .vhdx format. VirtualBox : .ova format. VMWare : .vmdk format. 2. Creating a VHD from an ISO (Best for Permanent Use)
For Windows 10 and beyond, always choose VHDX format unless you need backward compatibility with older systems. As industry experts note, when working with Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016+, there is virtually no reason to stick with the old VHD format—VHDX is more stable, secure, faster, and future-proof.
Copy the long alphanumeric GUID string generated by that command. Dynamically expanding disks only take up space on
Go to the Microsoft Evaluation Center . Sign in with your Microsoft/Work/School account. Select the Windows 10 Enterprise (or LTSB/LTSC) edition.
Available for Hyper-V, VMware, and VirtualBox on the Microsoft Developer Portal.
Once setup is complete, shut down the VM. You now have a permanent, custom Windows 10 VHD file located in your Hyper-V virtual hard disks folder. How to Create Your Own Windows 10 VHD
Choose a location, select , specify the size (minimum 40 GB), and select Dynamically expanding .
Browse to your downloaded or created Windows 10 VHD file and finish the setup. Option B: Setting Up a Native Boot (BCDEdit) To add your VHD directly to your PC's startup boot menu: Open . Copy your existing boot configuration entry using: bcdedit /copy current /d "Windows 10 VHD Boot" Use code with caution.