Many users want to open a VHDX file, but are unable to perform it. As they don’t know how to open VHDX file in Windows 10. Some users who don’t know about the Virtual machine VHD/ VHDX files, find it difficult to open them. Therefore, we are here to give all the information about the VHD and VHDX files and how to open them.

So let’s start to understand the VHD and VHDX files first.

Step 1: Prepare your OS. You need to build your Windows 10 virtual machine locally. An easy way to do this is with Oracle VirtualBox. If you aren’t familiar with it, VirtualBox is a free desktop hypervisor you can use to run VMs locally on your workstation. Instead we needed to create our own VHD and import it as an AMI in our EC2 isntance. Download and install Oracle VM Virtualbox. Download your Windows 10 ISO file. Create a new Windows 10 VM. When creating the hard drive make sure to choose the VHD format. I chose Fixed size for the storage on the hard disk. To create a VHD On the Action menu, select Create VHD. In the Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk dialog box, specify both the location on the physical computer where you want the VHD file to be stored, and the size of the VHD. In Virtual hard disk format, select Dynamically expanding or Fixed size, and then click OK. The VHD is a virtual hard disk format and which symbolize virtual hard disk drive. It consists of a disk partition, file system, files and folders like the hard disk drive. The virtual machine usually uses it as a hard disk. The VHD file is used as a backup for your system image in Windows Vista and later version software. Basically, a virtual hard disk (VHDX or VHD) is a file on Windows 10 operating system that acts as a physical hard drive but the difference is that this is a file stored on a real disk. The extension of the file is.vhdx or.vhd.

Windows 10 Vhd Run

What are VHD & VHDX Files of Virtual Machines?

For your information, there are two different types of Virtual file format. These are –

• VHD – VHD aka Virtual Hard Drive is a file extension i.e utilized for the virtual servers. It has disk partitions and file systems such as physical hard disks, which act as a storage of file(s), folder(s), and other stuff. VHD file also allows the Hyper-V servers to backup the full data from the user’s PC into a single disk image. It generates a copy of the system as it comprises the data such as disk partition and file system inside it.

• VHDX – VHDX also known as Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk is a free specification of VHD and a semi-open file format of Microsoft. The user’s main motive behind the switching from VHDX to VHD is due to its storage capacity. Normally, VHD files store 2TB of data whereas VHDX stores 64TB of data. The drawback of the VHDX file format is that it only runs in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Now, let’s discuss the features of the VHDX file.

VHDX file features that one should know before knowing “How to open VHDX file in Windows 10”.

Some new features of the VHDX file format are:

1. Provide better alignment of the virtual hard disk so that it performs effectively on the larger sectors.
2. It offers a storage capacity of 64 TB in virtual hard disks.
3. It offers data protection from the corruption that occurs due to power failure and other update failures.
4. The larger block size for differencing and dynamic disk permits the disk to modify the requirement for the workload.
5. Can store data according to the user needs i.e., if the user wants to record data of custom metadata.

If users properly want to utilize VHD/VHDX file(s), then the need for a Virtual machine is a must. But, if one wants to access a VHD or VHDX file(s), there is no need for the Virtual machine installation.

Users have to access or mount the file if they want to open the VHDX file. Once it is utilized they can unmount it later.
As we have known a lot about the term VHD and VHDX are. So let’s move to the manual techniques that will guide the methods to extract file from VHDX.

How to Open VHDX file in Windows 10 with DIY Procedures?

There are a few methods that can help in mounting and unmounting of VHD/VHDX. These are-

Method 1: Mount VHD/VHDX by utilizing Disk Management Console

In this approach, users can use Windows Disk Management Console. Users can try these steps that are given below:

1. First, right-tap on the Windows icon.
2. Now, choose Disk Management from the list.
3. Tap-on action and choose Attach VHD.
4. Then, browse the VHD/VHDX file and tap OK
   Note: Tick on the Read-only option to oppose the write permission for unauthorized users.
5. After a few seconds; users can view the partition.

Method 2: Mount VHDX file via the Windows File Explorer

• First, open the Windows File Explorer.
• Then, choose the VHD/VHDX file and right-tap on it and pick the Mount option from the drop-down menu.
• Finally, wait for a few moments and inspect, a new drive would pop.

Windows 10 Vhdx Image

These methods work well while mounting and unmounting the VHD/VHDX file(s) or extract file from VHDX. But if it gets issues like virus infection, incompatibility, and so on. Then the chances of approaching failure increase. Thus, to be on the safe side, we suggest using third-party tools. If the user faces corruption in their VHDX file then they must fix them first.

One can use VHDX Recovery to recover maximum corrupt data from VHDX files. The utility also offers the free VHDX Repair tool in an online platform to preview the recovered data files.

Windows 10 Vhs Capture

Last Words!

This guide helped users to know the solution to the query “how to open VHDX file in Windows 10”? The explained techniques will help users to open the VHDX file in Windows 10. If these methods don’t work well then it means some VHDX files are corrupted. Users can fix these corrupted files by using an alternative tool.