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loni
Contributor
Contributor

Win Srv 2003 - operating system not found

Hi gang,

trying to move a physical win2003 srv machine (with IDE drives) to ESX server. USed Acronis true image to make a backup, and VMWare converter 3.0.2 to convert it to the ESX server. Evrything worked fine, with no errors and got to 100% successfully. But when the VM is started, it just displays a black screen with "operating system not found." SCSI controller is set to LSI.

I can boot a recovery console, can see the disk contents and browse through them. I tried fixboot, fixmbr ... still can't boot. I can even connect the virtual disk to another bootable VM, and look at disk contents. Ntldr and boot.ini are there and appear with corrent content. DIsk managements shows the correct partition and it's size.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Loni

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14 Replies
Santhosh_vmware

Hi Loni,

Try installing third party bootloader (like part).

http://www.ranish.com/part/

regards

santhosh

mike_laspina
Champion
Champion

Hello,

That can be fixed by using the W2K3 installed CD and selecting install on the first prompt and repair the installation on the second prompt after it finds a previous Windows install. This will require the VLK and it does not kill the apps or data.

http://blog.laspina.ca/ vExpert 2009
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loni
Contributor
Contributor

Unfortunately this won't work. When I select install and the appropriate partition, it tells me that partition is not suitable for Windows OS (??) and all I can do is delete and format it...

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mike_laspina
Champion
Champion

The only other suggestion I have for recovery is to mount it on a VM and check disk it.

http://blog.laspina.ca/ vExpert 2009
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theanykey
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Did the source machine have dynamic disks? A diagnostic partition? A pagefile set to a partition other then the C drive?

loni
Contributor
Contributor

I did mount it to another Windows 2003 VM, check-disked it (no errors) I used diskpart to make sure the partition is active and still get "operating system not found" on boot.

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loni
Contributor
Contributor

Basic disk, no diagnostic partition, and pagefile on C:

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TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

have you verified that the SCSI controller is the correct type as per your VMX file. if the VM does not have the drivers necessary it will not see the disks. a starter for ten thats all. it this server was P2V'd from an IDE based system this could be your issue. ESX does not support IDE disks

Tom Howarth

VMware Communities User Moderator

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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loni
Contributor
Contributor

I've tried both controller option with the same result - same error.

I've just now noticed another thing - if I try to boot another new VM with a fresh (empty) virtual disk, it comes up with exactly the same error message "Operating system not found"

This seems to me like the VM in question here is not seeing the disk at all during the boot process. Or at least can't find the boot partition, maybe boot sector? Again, I can boot from a Windows CD, start recovery console and see data on disk, try to "fixboot" etc.

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TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

are you sure that the boot partition is marked as active,

Tom Howarth

VMware Communities User Moderator

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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loni
Contributor
Contributor

I booted a DOS disk with the suggested partition manager (Thanks for that!) ,and this is what I get. It shows up as en extended partition..

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loni
Contributor
Contributor

OOPS! I just rechecked the source machine once again, and found it DOES have the disk set as dynamic. I'm sorry for misleading... Now, I assume it does make a difference?

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theanykey
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Converter does not play well with dynamic disks. It will convert it to a basic disk. If your OS is on that dynamic disk then it will not boot properly.

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gdavid
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

if you already have an acronis image you can try some daring stuff.

Converting Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk without data loss: (ignore title check out workaround section)

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