Does Disk2vhd require downtime on the source machine?

No, it uses Volume Shadow Copy Service to snapshot a running system, so it works without rebooting or taking the machine offline.

Can I boot the resulting VHD directly in Hyper-V?

Usually yes with a new VM pointing at the VHD/VHDX, though driver differences between the source hardware and the virtual hardware can require adjustments.

What's the difference between VHD and VHDX output?

VHDX is the newer format supporting larger disk sizes and better resilience to power failures; VHD is the older, more widely compatible format.

Disk2vhd (Sysinternals)

Download Disk2vhd

Disk2vhd is a free Sysinternals utility that creates VHD or VHDX virtual hard disk files from a running physical machine's disks, useful for P2V migration or full-system backup. This page is independent and not affiliated with Microsoft or Sysinternals.

Updated August 9, 2026 · PC Utility Hub Editorial Team

What Disk2vhd does

Disk2vhd captures a snapshot of a running Windows system's volumes using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and writes them out as one or more .vhd or .vhdx files — the format Hyper-V (and other tools that support VHD) uses for virtual disks.

Because it uses VSS, it can create a consistent snapshot of the disk even while the source system is in active use, without needing to reboot into an offline environment.

Key features

Converts one or more selected physical volumes into a single VHD or VHDX file.
Uses VSS snapshotting for a consistent point-in-time image of a live, running system.
Supports the newer VHDX format for volumes larger than 2TB or when you want VHDX-specific features.
Command-line switches for scripted/unattended conversions.
Portable executable — no installation needed.

Typical use cases

Physical-to-virtual (P2V) migration: converting an aging physical PC or server into a VM you can run under Hyper-V.
Creating a point-in-time full-disk backup that can be mounted or booted as a VM if the physical machine fails.
Testing changes to a production machine's disk state inside a disposable virtual copy.

Download and requirements

Disk2vhd runs on supported Windows versions and needs no installation. Download it standalone or as part of the full Sysinternals Suite from the official Microsoft Sysinternals downloads page, or run it directly from \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\disk2vhd.exe.

The resulting VHD/VHDX will typically need Hyper-V's boot configuration adjusted (or Sysprep/driver changes) to boot correctly as a VM if the source hardware differs significantly from the virtual hardware.

Practical tips

Close unnecessary applications before converting to reduce the chance of inconsistent open files, even though VSS handles most in-use files gracefully.
Make sure the destination drive has enough free space — the output VHD can be as large as the used space on the source volumes (Disk2vhd supports creating dynamically expanding VHDs to save space).
For very large drives, prefer VHDX over VHD to avoid the older format's size limitations.

Get Disk2vhd

Start the download and follow the setup steps described on this page.

Download now

Frequently asked questions

Does Disk2vhd require downtime on the source machine?: No, it uses Volume Shadow Copy Service to snapshot a running system, so it works without rebooting or taking the machine offline.
Can I boot the resulting VHD directly in Hyper-V?: Usually yes with a new VM pointing at the VHD/VHDX, though driver differences between the source hardware and the virtual hardware can require adjustments.
What's the difference between VHD and VHDX output?: VHDX is the newer format supporting larger disk sizes and better resilience to power failures; VHD is the older, more widely compatible format.