To install the upcoming Windows 10 May 2019 update, Windows requires 32 GB of free infinite, an increase from the (frankly, paltry) sixteen GB needed for 32-scrap versions and the 20 GB needed for the 64-fleck versions. This has caused significant pain for users of Windows 10 on depression-end systems with a 32 or 64 GB eMMC SSD, every bit those systems may not be able to upgrade without installing a new SSD–if the system supports it.

Likewise, Linux users who utilized a Windows 10 license bundled with their laptop or desktop past installing Windows 10 in a virtual auto are also probable to be troubled by this update, unless they allocated a large amount of disk space on initial setup. Without an aplenty amount of free space available when the update is started, updating to Windows ten May 2019 will fail, often displaying mistake code 0x80070070. (Windows Update does not verify that sufficient deejay space exists earlier starting the update.)

Run into: twenty quick Windows tips for ability users (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Rather than destroying the existing VM to expand the disk to allow for the installation, users can–with some manual effort–expand the existing disk paradigm used with Windows x in a VM.

What to know earlier following this guide

This guide is principally for users of Windows x using a QEMU+KVM virtual machine, managed either with Boxes or VMM. Additional directions are besides available for users of VirtualBox. Read the entire guide earlier performing any of these steps on your arrangement.

How to increment virtual disk size in your VM platform

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

Boxes

In Boxes, right-click the Windows 10 VM, click "Properties," and click "System." Employ the bottom slider to modify the size of the virtual disk. Disks in Boxes expand dynamically, allowing the VM to study a larger size than is allocated on the host machine drive, but using merely the real space taken up by the VM.

Manual increase (VMM)

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

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

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

VirtualBox

Refer to TechRepublic'due south guide to resizing a VirtualBox VM from the command line.

How to safely expand a Windows ten sectionalisation

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 done manually. Previously, this could easily exist done using Disk Management in Windows; withal, Windows x inserts a recovery division after the Windows ten system partition. This cannot be deleted in Disk Management, making it impossible to expand the organisation partition.

Deleting a Windows recovery partitioning

Using the control line, it is possible to delete a Windows recovery partition. Assuming y'all have no other partitions after the active Windows 10 sectionalization, the recovery sectionalisation should be Partition iii, using nearly 500 MB.

  • Open a Command Prompt equally an administrator, blazon diskpart, and press enter
  • Type list disk
    • Probable, you accept but one virtual disk attached to your VM
  • Type select disk 0
  • Blazon list partition
    • Take note of the number of the "Recovery" partition
  • Type select segmentation #
  • Blazon delete partition override

Expanding an active Windows x system partition

Without the recovery partition in the mode, you are complimentary to expand the system partition using Disk Direction. Type diskmgmt.msc in the Search bar to open Deejay Direction, correct click the Windows volume, and click Aggrandize.

The deleted recovery sectionalisation will (likely) be regenerated on the adjacent boot, or next time Windows Update is run.

For more than on Windows x, check out "Windows 10 May 2019 Update: Everything you need to know," and TechRepublic'southward cheat sail for Windows 10.