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VHD

vhd icon

Virtual Hard Disk file

File type: Virtual machine, virtualization software related file

A vhd file extension is commonly used for virtual hard drives for Microsoft Virtual Server. A vhd file contains disk image used in virtual machines. Several programs can work with .vhd files including Microsoft Virtual PC, or ISOBuster.

Found 2 different file type records with the same vhd filename suffix.

What is vhd file?

File type category:
Virtual machine, virtualization software related file

Date updated: July 19, 2025

File extension vhd is associated with Virtual Hard Disk. A disk image for Microsoft Virtual Server. Microsoft has set the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file format as the standard for running and managing virtual machines using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

The VHD file format provides for a range of disk types, including dynamically expanding, linked, undo, and different disks.

The Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format is a publicly-available image format specification that allows encapsulation of the hard disk into an individual file for use by the operating system as a virtual disk in all the same ways physical hard disks are used.

These virtual disks are capable of hosting native file systems (NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and UDFS) while supporting standard disk and file operations. VHD API support allows management of the virtual disks. Virtual disks created with the VHD API can function as boot disks.

The vhd file extension is also associated with Windows Vista complete PC backups.

The vhd files are used to restore whole system or only certain directories back from the backup. Microsoft has added several new features to Windows Virtual PC to make it easy to use and to help you run many older Windows XP applications in Windows 7.

How to open vhd file?

VHD is the default format of Microsoft Virtual PC that can be downloaded from free from Microsoft Internet servers.

Another application that can open and work with *.vhd files are Microsoft Virtual Server, VirtualBox and ISOBuster.

How to convert vhd file?

Various virtualization software is able to import *.vhd files and export them to other disk formats.

Suggested software to open vhd file:

Associated software actions with the vhd file

Articles about vhd files

January 9, 2013

Run Acronis TIB as virtual machine

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November 15, 2012

Run VirtualBox machine in Virtual PC

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May 17, 2012

Run Virtual PC machines in VMware Workstation

Easily open Virtual PC virtual machine in VMware Workstation or convert Virtual PC VHD files to VMwa...

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April 4, 2012

Run VMware virtual machines in Virtual PC

Virtual PC much like other Microsoft virtualization programs use VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) file format...

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November 16, 2011

How to backup and restore files in Windows 7

Data backup is one of the most important things when you regularly work on PC. Windows 7 offers its...

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Quartus II VHDL design data

File type category:
Text file

Date updated: January 23, 2018

The vhd file extension is also related to Quartus II design software, a comprehensive environment available for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design.

Quartus II replaces the MAX+PLUS II Software for chip design. These files were also used by MAX+PLUS. This is a text file used in design projects.

How to open vhd file?

Use Quartus II to work with *.vhd files.

Suggested software to open vhd file:

Associated software actions with the vhd file

Software applications that can open vhd files:

Software apps that create vhd files:

Software applications that handle other tasks involving vhd files:

Convert .vhd files

Convert to .vhd from other formats

Related file extensions