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Defragmenting a Virtual Disk

You can defragment a virtual disk to rearrange files, programs and unused space on the virtual disk so that programs run faster and files open more quickly. Defragmenting does not reclaim unused space on a virtual disk; to reclaim unused space, shrink the disk.

You can also run the defragment feature on an older virtual disk to convert it to the newer VMware GSX Server 2.0 format. If you run this feature on a virtual disk created under a prior version of VMware GSX Server, and are running VMware GSX Server 2.0, this option is available.

If you choose to convert (upgrade) your virtual disk, you can no longer use it with older versions of VMware GSX Server.

To defragment a virtual disk:

1. Select File > Open and open the virtual machine configuration file (.cfg) you want to modify.
2. Leave the virtual machine powered off.
3. Select Settings > Configuration Editor from the console.
4. Click the + sign next to IDE Drives or SCSI Devices.
5. Select the device node for the virtual hard disk you want to modify. For example, select the P-M device node.
6. On the right-hand side, click Defragment.

Defragmenting disks may take considerable time.

Related Topics:

• Installing VMware Tools
• Setting preferences for VMware Tools
• Shrinking virtual disks

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