Windows 2008 Drive Size Discrepancy

Question

We have a VSphere server and increased the drive for the C:\ drive on one of the VMs from 20GB to 30GB. Disk management shows the correct new size in the Disk view, but the volume information still shows 20GB as does the Local Disk (C:) Properties. We have re-scanned and refreshed several times and even rebooted the VM. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

I had this happen once when my Server 2003 disk resize with gparted bombed out in the middle. My fix was to add just another bit of space (1GB in my case) and then resize it; it saw the additional space once I did so.

Answer 2

I've seen this happen before, only it wasn't on a VM it was on physical hardware with storage based in a SAN after we extended a LUN. It fixed itself over the course of a day, and possibly a reboot. I can't say why it fixed, but it did self-rectify.

Answer 3

If it wasn't the C: drive, you could do an "extend" using Diskpart. A workaround:

1) Shutdown the VM.
2) Make a backup of the VMDK files for the disk you wish to extend (just in case)
3) Temporarily mount the VM's C: drive on another VM (e.g.: making it the D: drive of a gash vm).
4) Boot the temp VM.
5) From a command line:

diskpart.exe
list disk
select disk <disknum>
extend

Then shutdown and boot up the original vm.