vmdk = 0kb but flat-vmdk=41GB

[LabDevUser]

I have a VM (2012r2 vm) that I've moved around and copied a bunch. It's a VM Version-8. I imported it into my ESXi 5.5u2 lab box to see what it is before deciding to archive it or just delete it. When I got the thing imported (I used the vSphere thick client to upload the folder directly to a datastore) the flat-file is 40GB and the regular vmdk is 0kb. Is there a way to reverse this or salvage the vmkd or is it dead/gone?

Thx.

[a_p_]

Yes, the file name for both the vmdk and the -flat.vmdk are identical ...

Just to clarify. I'm not asking if both files have the same name (except for "-flat" in the name), but whether the flat file's name matches the entry in the descriptor file.

André

[LabDevUser]

My apologies, yes, they match exactly.

I moved the vmdk file from the ESXi host to my local machine via WinSCP. I then created a new file and copied the descriptor data back exactly as it was previously. The disk now shows up to add/remove. The VM now powers on however I get a: "Missing Operating System" error on the VM's console menu (its a 2008r2 VM). I then tried to attach the disk to another machine (2012r2 VM) and got this error: A general system error occurred: Unrecognized handle property identifier

[continuum]

Missing Operating System ???
thats quite unexpected - the hexdump shows a Windows MBR so I would have expected that it is bootable

In such a case I usually boot the VM into a LiveCD which has Testdisk installed - often you can still recover something after fixing the Windows-bootsectors