To install the upcoming Windows 10 May 2019 update, Windows requires 32 GB of free space, an increase from the (bluntly, paltry) 16 GB needed for 32-scrap versions and the xx GB needed for the 64-flake versions. This has caused significant pain for users of Windows 10 on low-cease systems with a 32 or 64 GB eMMC SSD, as those systems may non be able to upgrade without installing a new SSD–if the organization supports it.

Likewise, Linux users who utilized a Windows ten license bundled with their laptop or desktop by installing Windows ten in a virtual machine are also likely to be troubled by this update, unless they allocated a large corporeality of disk space on initial setup. Without an ample amount of free space available when the update is started, updating to Windows ten May 2019 volition fail, often displaying mistake code 0x80070070. (Windows Update does not verify that sufficient deejay space exists before starting the update.)

SEE: 20 quick Windows tips for power users (complimentary PDF) (TechRepublic)

Rather than destroying the existing VM to expand the disk to let for the installation, users can–with some manual try–expand the existing deejay image used with Windows 10 in a VM.

What to know before following this guide

This guide is principally for users of Windows 10 using a QEMU+KVM virtual machine, managed either with Boxes or VMM. Additional directions are also bachelor for users of VirtualBox. Read the entire guide before performing whatever of these steps on your system.

How to increase virtual disk size in your VM platform

Increasing the virtual disk size in Linux is the easier role of the process.

Boxes

In Boxes, correct-click the Windows 10 VM, click "Properties," and click "System." Employ the bottom slider to change the size of the virtual disk. Disks in Boxes expand dynamically, allowing the VM to report a larger size than is allocated on the host motorcar bulldoze, merely using only the real infinite taken upwardly past the VM.

Transmission increment (VMM)

In the final, navigate to the location of your virtual disk. In Fedora and RHEL, this is /var/lib/libvirt/images.

Run the following command to increase the prototype size by 32 GB, replacing vmdisk.img with the filename of your virtual deejay. (The extension may be .qcow2, instead of .img.)

qemu-img resize win10-x64.img +32G

VirtualBox

Refer to TechRepublic's guide to resizing a VirtualBox VM from the control line.

How to safely expand a Windows x partition

Fifty-fifty though you have expanded the disk size for your VM, this does not automatically change the properties of the Windows filesystem. This must be washed manually. Previously, this could easily exist done using Disk Management in Windows; notwithstanding, Windows x inserts a recovery sectionalisation after the Windows 10 system partition. This cannot be deleted in Deejay Management, making it impossible to aggrandize the system partition.

Deleting a Windows recovery segmentation

Using the command line, it is possible to delete a Windows recovery partitioning. Assuming you have no other partitions after the active Windows 10 partition, the recovery division should be Sectionalization 3, using almost 500 MB.

  • Open up a Control Prompt as an administrator, type diskpart, and press enter
  • Type list deejay
    • Probable, you accept but i virtual disk fastened to your VM
  • Blazon select disk 0
  • Type list partition
    • Take notation of the number of the "Recovery" sectionalization
  • Blazon select partition #
  • Type delete partition override

Expanding an active Windows 10 arrangement division

Without the recovery partition in the way, you are free to expand the system division using Disk Management. Blazon diskmgmt.msc in the Search bar to open Deejay Management, right click the Windows volume, and click Aggrandize.

The deleted recovery segmentation will (likely) exist regenerated on the adjacent kicking, or next time Windows Update is run.

For more on Windows 10, check out "Windows x May 2019 Update: Everything you lot need to know," and TechRepublic'due south crook canvass for Windows 10.