AutoProtect causing VMware Tools crash

[GeezerGeek]

I have a client running Fusion 4.1 with a Windows XP guest. I (probably foolishly) set up AutoProtect to run each night. Shortly after doing that he started having a crash message from VMware Tools each morning after logging in. In looking at the Windows events, the actual crash coincided exactly with the time of the snapshot. I have since turned off AutoProtect and we now do a nightly image backup of the VM from within the guest OS.

Details:

Host is Lion 10.7.3 on a Mac Mini with 8GB RAM, 256GBSSD, 750GB platter

Guest is Windows XP, SP3 with 120GB dynamic HD, 2GB RAM

Crash logs not submitted (3MB), but available on request

[ColoradoMarmot]

Autoprotect, at first blush, isn't a bad idea.  In practice it is.  You're better off shutting down the guest and copying the entire VM off for backups.

[GeezerGeek]

I've found that Acronis True Image backup works well, without shutting down the VM. In the event that a restore is needed, you can restore it into a new VM image by using the Acronis freestanding backup CD instead of an OS CD. The backup image has to be on either a virtual disk drive or a USB drive. The advantage is that the Acronis image files are compressed so they take less space than the full VM, and the backups go pretty quickly considering the size of the drive. I had hoped to use AutoProtect as a secondary level for fast recovery, but apparently it's not yet ready for prime time.

[raj196]

Hi

he advantage is that the Acronis image files are compressed so they take less space than the full VM,

for restoration it  will take lot of time .

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