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tarmo201110141
Contributor
Contributor

Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk file missing

Hi everybody.  I got my HD crashed lately and I had to restore virtual machine (Windows XP running on Fusion 2.0) from recovered HD. Unfortunately some files could not recovered and Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk was among them. To start my virtual machine again on new HD, I did next steps:

1. I downloaded Fusion 2.0 from vmware.com, installed it and registered with activation code I had for previous virtual machine

2. Then copied Windows XP Home Edition.vmwarevm  from recovered HD to the new HD: documents/virtual machines/Windows XP Home Edition.vmwarevm

3. When I tried to start virtual machine, it says that "File not found: Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk  This file is required to power on this virtual machine.  If this file was moved, please provide its new location."

Is there any solution to activate this virtual machine again? I tried to find an answer through google, but did not got solution that worked. It seems to be also a problem, that existing virtual machine is not powered off, but has suspended.

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

To help figure out what is what the best way to provide comprehensive diagnostic information is to use the "Collect Support Information" command from the VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Collect Support Information and then attach the .tgz file it created on your Desktop to a reply post.

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tarmo201110141
Contributor
Contributor

Hi WoodyZ, thanks for help. Here is the support file.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Even though you will most likely be able to start the VM without the snapshot file  (Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk) you may not be very happy with it, because the snapshot was taken in August 2008 and all data modified since then is lost.

To be able to start the VM from the original virtual disk, delete the following files from the vmwarevm bundle:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 536870912 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmem

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 17950365 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmsn

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 536870912 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmem

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 username staff 508 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition.vmsd

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 135626531 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmss

drwxr-xr-x 3 username staff 102 May 18 08:53 Windows XP Home Edition.vmx.lck

From the remaining files:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 8684 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.nvram

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 6880952320 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 username staff 3110 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmx

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 278 Aug 31 2009 Windows XP Home Edition.vmxf

edit the vmx file and replace:

scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk"

with

scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk"

André

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tarmo201110141
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Andre

How can I open these files (.vmem, .vmsn, .vmss etc..) for editing? Which program I have to use to open them?

"To be able to start the VM from the original virtual disk, delete the following files from the vmwarevm bundle:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 536870912 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmem

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 17950365 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmsn

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 536870912 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmem

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 username staff 508 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition.vmsd

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 135626531 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmss

drwxr-xr-x 3 username staff 102 May 18 08:53 Windows XP Home Edition.vmx.lck

From the remaining files:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 8684 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.nvram

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 6880952320 Aug 25 2008 Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 username staff 3110 Mar 8 22:22 Windows XP Home Edition.vmx

-rwxr-xr-x 1 username staff 278 Aug 31 2009 Windows XP Home Edition.vmxf"

regards

Tarmo

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hpreyers
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

You can just open them in a simple text editor. Be sure to save them in the same format though.

Just a note on the side:

When you take a snapshot a differencing file is created. All changes are written to the differencing file instead of the original vmdk.

Grtz,

Harold

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tarmo201110141
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

I tried to open files .vmem and .vmsn with TextEdit on my mac, but I could not locate necessary lines on code what Andre recommended to delete.:(

Tarmo

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hpreyers
Contributor
Contributor

Like Andre said: delete files, those other files you keep and you edit the vmx file to point to the correct vmdk file.

If want to test it first, then edit the vmx file, move the files to delete to another folder and boot your machine. If it boots well then you can delete the moved files.

To be able to start the VM from the original virtual disk, delete the following files from the vmwarevm bundle:

  • Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmem       --> virtual memory when everything crashed and the machine was running
  • Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmsn       --> this is the actual snapshot
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmem                       --> virtual memory when you made a snapshot and the machine was running
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmsd                        --> metadata of the snapshot (file location, etc...)
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmss                        --> suspended virtual machine state
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmx.lck                    --> this lock file gets deleted once you close the virtual machine (it is not visible in the tabs)

These files you can keep:

  • Windows XP Home Edition.nvram                      --> this is the BIOS of the virtual machine
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk                       --> the hard disk
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmx                         --> the virtual machine config file (vmdk location, amount of memory, etc ...)
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmxf                        --> virtual machine team settings

Edit the vmx file and replace:

     scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Home Edition-000001.vmdk"

with

     scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk"

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

hpreyers wrote:

  • Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmsn       --> this is the actual snapshot

The .vmsn file is not the "actual snapshot" and is the snapshot state file, which stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time you take that snapshot and this is quite different then the actual "<vmname>-<disk>-<###>.vmdk" snapshot virtual hard disk file.  Which in the case of the OP doesn't exist and why the need to edit the .vmx configuration file to point to the base virtual hard disk.

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

I tried to open files .vmem and .vmsn with TextEdit on my mac, but I could not locate necessary lines on code what Andre recommended to delete.:(

You do not need to open the .vmem and .vmsn files, only delete them and the .vmsd file.  You need to edit the .vmx configuration file so have a look at:

VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > VMware Fusion Help > Using the VMware Fusion Interface > Working with Virtual Machine Packages

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tarmo201110141
Contributor
Contributor

I deleted those files:

  • Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmem       --> virtual memory when everything crashed and the machine was running
  • Windows XP Home Edition-Snapshot1.vmsn       --> this is the actual snapshot
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmem                       --> virtual memory when you made a snapshot and the machine was running
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmsd                        --> metadata of the snapshot (file location, etc...)
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmss                        --> suspended virtual machine state
  • Windows XP Home Edition.vmx.lck                    --> this lock file gets deleted once you close the virtual machine (it is not visible in the tabs)

Virtual machine booted well after that, but all the data since 2008 was lost. Do I have any oportunities to recover this data at all?  Are all the lost data written to the lost ...000001.vdmk file?

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hpreyers
Contributor
Contributor

Indeed. The moment you take a snapshot, you start working in a new vmdk file, in your case 'the lost ...000001.vdmk'. This new vmdk file only contains the changes. You should avoid working on a snapshot for the long term. The only way to recover your changed data since 2008 is to recover the lost vmdk file. You should consider a way to backup your data. This remains true in regards to virtual environments.

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