VMware Communities
mark_1961
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Lost original Virtual Machine when upgrading from Beta VMware Fusion

Can anyone help?

I lost my original virtual machine when I uninstalled the Beta VMware Fusion version and upgraded (re-installed) to product version.

I when through the set-up steps including re-installing the Windows XP OS (just to see if it would work)...but still no original VM.

Can it be recovered?

Thanks,

Mark

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
borisdusek
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

When Fusion is upgraded/installed/uninstalled, virtual machines are untouched, so this is strange. Try searching for .vmwarevm in Spotlight (the Mac OS X search feature - the magnifying glass in top right corner). If it is not there, look in the Trash as well (Spotlight does not display files that are in Trash, so you have to check manually).

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
6 Replies
borisdusek
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

When Fusion is upgraded/installed/uninstalled, virtual machines are untouched, so this is strange. Try searching for .vmwarevm in Spotlight (the Mac OS X search feature - the magnifying glass in top right corner). If it is not there, look in the Trash as well (Spotlight does not display files that are in Trash, so you have to check manually).

Reply
0 Kudos
rcardona2k
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

The Fusion uninstaller does not delete virtual machines but it can clear the Library. Your old virtual machines should be in ~/Documents/Virtual Machines. If you open that folder then double click the VM file, it will get re-registered in the Fusion Library and run.

Reply
0 Kudos
mark_1961
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Thank you so much! I now have renewed confidence in VMware Fusion thanks to your help.

I was beginning to think it was over for Mac & VMware.

Can you give me a hint how to dump the new virtual machine and any clutter I may have accumulated when uninstalling / re-installing several times?

I am a bit hesitant about deleting my trash also...should I be?

Thank you again! Too bad VMware's live support wasn't as good as these forums.

Mark

Reply
0 Kudos
mark_1961
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

That was too simple. You saved me a lot of grief!

Can you advise what files to delete (clean up), including the new virtual machine, now that I have found the "missing link"?

I cannot thank you enough for your help!!!

Mark

Reply
0 Kudos
borisdusek
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

Hi,

I am glad you have your main issue resolved (i.e. you found your old machine).

Now I suppose that both the old (the one you really need, I will refer to it as ORIGINAL) and one or maybe several other new virtual machines that you created in desperacy (I will call these NEW) to find your data are all in the "Virtual Machine Library" window. I also suppose that if the ORIGINAL machine was in Trash that you moved it back from Trash (i.e. to Documents/Virtual Machines).

Since virtual machines are just "documents" (i.e. just a file in Finder), you want to delete the NEW ones. They are probably in Documents/Virtual Machines and their name is the same as their name in Virtual Machine Library. So simply select them in Finder and delete them. Note that best is to have all virtual machines suspended and Fusion shut down when doing this. To really make sure you are deleting the right one in the right place, hover mouse over the name of each of NEW virtual machine in Virtual Machine Library - tooltip should be displayed with its exact name and location (the tooltip takes a bit of time to display).

So after you finish this, there is only the ORIGINAL virtual machine left in your VM library and in some location in Finder.

You might also checkout Fusion menubar > Help > VMware Fusion Help > Using the VMware Fusion interface > Using the Virtual Machine Library Window

to see most of the above information written in the official documentation (and maybe to get introduced to the official documentation for the first time Smiley Happy

The virtual machines that you removed in Finder probably should not appear again in VM Library Window when you start Fusion again. If they do, double check you really removed them in Finder. If yes, you will find in the documentation above how to remove them from the VM Library.

mark_1961
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!!!

Reply
0 Kudos