User`s guide
Configuring a Virtual Machine 218
Support for Virtual and Real Disks
This section lists the types of disks that can be used by Parallels virtual machines and provides
the information about basic operations you can perform on these disks.
Supported Types of Hard Disks
Parallels virtual machines can use either virtual hard disks or Boot Camp partitions as their hard
disks.
Virtual Hard Disks
The capacity of a virtual hard disk can be set from 100 MB to 2 TB.
Virtual hard disks can be of either plain or expanding format. When you create a virtual
machine in Express Windows or Typical mode (in the New Virtual Machine assistant), the disk is
created in the expanding format.
plain
A plain virtual hard disk image file has a fixed size. The size is determined when the
disk is created. Plain disks can be created with the help of New Virtual Machine assistant
(the Custom mode.)
expanding
An expanding virtual hard disk image file is small initially. Its size grows as you add
applications and data to the virtual hard disk in the guest OS.
Split disks
A virtual disk of either format can be a single-piece disk or a split disk. A split disk is cut into 2
GB pieces and is stored as a single .hdd file.
Boot Camp Partitions
With Parallels Desktop, you can choose how to use your Boot Camp Windows XP, Windows
Vista, or Windows 7 operating system: to boot in it natively (via Boot Camp) or in a virtual
machine (via Parallels Desktop). A Boot Camp Windows partition can be used as a bootable
disk or as a data disk in Parallels virtual machines. For detailed information, see Using the Boot
Camp Partition in a Virtual Machine (p. 255).
Note: You cannot create snapshots or use the Undo Disks option for a virtual machine that uses
the Boot Camp partition.
CD/DVD Discs and Their Images
Parallels Desktop can access real CD/DVD discs and images of CD/DVD discs.
Parallels Desktop has no limitations on using multi-session CD/DVD discs. A virtual machine
can play back audio CDs without any limitations on copy-protected discs.
If your host computer has a recordable optical drive, you can use it to burn CD or DVD discs in
a virtual machine.
Parallels Desktop supports CD/DVD disc images in ISO, CUE, and CCD formats.