For What These Images Can Be Used
The Parallels Image Tool can create images of real hard disks. Such disks are intended mainly for migrating data from your real computer to a virtual machine. Since configuration of the virtual machine is probably different from the hardware configuration of your real computer, an operating system installed on the real disk (if it is installed) is not likely to function properly on the virtual machine. Thus such virtual disk is not recommended to serve as startup disk, rather it should be attached to an existing configuration as an additional one.
Requirements to Computer Hardware
An image of a real hard disk is created in plain format only. See the Format of The Virtual Disk in the Hard Disk Images topic for description of the plain format. Virtual hard disk in plain format occupies all its size right from the moment it is created. This means that the disk image is the same size as the real disk itself, regardless of how much space on the real disk is actually used. So, to create an image of a real hard disk you should have one real hard disk more for storing the image file. And to accommodate the image, the size of the additional hard disk should be not less than the size of the one you are going to image.
So, in order to create an image of a real hard disk:
Using the Wizard to Modify an Existing Hard Disk Image
To create an image of a real hard disk follow these steps:
in the Source field, select a physical hard disk to be duplicated,
in the Destination field, specify a destination directory and file name for the disk image file. The folder should be located on another physical hard disk.
Click Next.
Also see the Hard Disk Images section for ideas on using hard disk images in Parallels Workstation.