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jonmrich
Contributor
Contributor

Can't access virtual machine after migrating to SSD

I recently swapped out my old Mac hard drive and moved everything to SSD. I made an EXACT clone (I thought) of my original drive and expected my virtual machine to be part of that.


However, when I try to access it, I can see the snapshot image of my suspended desktop, but when I try to access, I get this error:

Unable to open file "/Users/me/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows 7 x64.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk"

I can't find this file anywhere in my Virtual Machines folder and not sure where else to look for it. I have system files set as visible.


Of note, the size of my virtual machine file on my new drive is 6.74 GB, but the same file on my original drive is 21.45 GB, which is what I'd expect it to be.

If I plug my original drive in using a SATA/USB connector, I can access the drive and  VMWare instantly recognizes the virtual machine. I can boot it up past the windows intro screen, but it hangs on a black screen after that. Eventually, I get this error:

The operation on file "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/me/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows 7 x64.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-flat.vmdk" failed.

If the file resides on a remote file system, make sure that the network connection and the server where this disk resides are functioning properly. If the file resides on removable media, reattach the media.

Select Retry to attempt the operation again.

Select Cancel to end this session.

Select Continue to forward the error to the guest operating system.

I've tried all these things, but none have worked. I don't see a Virtual Disk.vmdk file in my folder on this other drive either. Again, not sure where to find it apparently.

Additionally, I've tried to transfer the machine image from my original hard drive to my new one, but it throws a bunch of errors about half way through and stops. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the error log and drive right now, so I can't include the exact message.

I'm using Fusion for Mac(Yosemite) Version 7.0.1 (2235595)

Any thoughts on how to get this up and running? Ideally, I need my original virtual machine on my new drive.

Thanks.

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

How did you make the clone?  It sounds like the original drive is starting to fail.  A good cloning program (like Carbon Copy Cloner) will warn you and may be able to read and recover the files.

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jonmrich
Contributor
Contributor

I used the native disk utility that comes with the OS, which worked great for everything with the exception of my virtual machine. I'd just trash it and start over with a fresh install of Windows with a new virtual machine, but I need to access my old one to retrieve some keys for some expensive software licenses.

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