We still talk about virutualization, a concept in some ways not easy to understand. In fact the term " virtual " is rather abused in computer science: some, mistakenly, use it to mean a web application (for example some sites write virtual hard disks meaning online storage spaces).
In reality virtualizing in computer science means making the computer believe that a physical piece of hardware is attached to it that does not actually exist and does not exist.
You can thus simulate the installation of a new cd-rom reader (see article on virtual cd and iso images), you can simulate an ethernet network socket (see article on vpn or on proxy programs), you can mount a floppy disk virtual, you can also virtualize an operating system as if it were a different computer, you can add virtual RAM which is actually the Windows paging file or use RAM to create an additional hard disk.
and so on.
On this occasion, we virtualize the hard disk by creating new partitions, not real but simulated, useful for many purposes related to virtual PCs but above all to add security to files, hiding them or blocking access.
To say that I am not writing about a completely useless thing, just know that on Windows 7 you can create a virtual hard disk, without installing any additional program because it is a function included in the Microsoft operating system.
This process creates virtual disks in .VHD format whose minimum size is 3 MB.
To start, right click on My Computer and then select Management.
Alternatively, you can type diskmgmt.msc in the Start search box.
When the computer management screen opens, you have to press on Disk Management, then on the Actions button at the top and finally on "Create VHD".
Here you choose the folder where to save the VHD file, choose the format you want and whether the space should be dynamic or fixed.
If you want the disk to automatically grow in size each time you add files, then choose the dynamic option.
In Disk Management you will now see this new virtual disk in the list marked with the warning that the space is not allocated.
To start using it, you must first initialize it by pressing on it with the right mouse button.
In the disk initialization box you have to choose, as partition format, MBR (Master Boot Record) which is compatible with other versions of Windows.
Once this virtual partition has been created, a new volume must be created inside.
Click inside the unallocated space to select the New Simple Volume item.
Now everything is very easy because there is a wizard in which you just have to press the "Next" button to finish.
The options to focus on are: the choice of the letter to be assigned to the new disk, the space to be given to the disk which, presumably, will be identical to the partition, and the type of disk formatting between NTFS, FAT32 or FAT.
Both in Disk Management and in computer resources a new disk is now visible as if it were actually inside the computer but which is only virtual and uses the real disk space (even if this does not notice it).
The most relevant use of this virtual hard disk is that it can be locked, password protected or hidden with the all new function called BitLocker
You can also make it bootable so you can use it with Virtual PC to boot other operating systems on a virtual machine.
In this regard, there is also the possibility of converting the Virtual PC VHD disk into VMDK format used by VMWare with the StarWind Converter program.
All this can be useful to try new operating systems like Google Chrome OS or to keep Windows XP on Windows 7 and vice versa.
On Windows XP and Vista there is no option to create a virtual drive however small programs can be used to create hidden or locked partitions or to create fake disks.
A first program that does not have a protection function, is called Virtual Drives Manager, is small, small, portable that does not require installation (there are others but this is a single file and nothing needs to be configured).
Its operation is very easy, there is only one button to create and mount a virtual disk or to remove it.
You can choose a mount point to make the files of a specific folder appear inside it.
Note that the fake hard disk is the same size as the real hard disk and is empty virtually only (in reality the space occupied by the real files is counted).
A more solid program to create fake partitions and virtual hard disks is Secret Disk which has security purposes.
In this case there is necessarily a personal password to read the data stored on this disk.
The files inside can thus be hidden and locked .
I remember to close that it is also possible to password protect the data on the computer and also of a partition on a portable hard disk or USB stick through the TrueCrypt program.
