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  • 1.  Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 15, 2024 07:16 PM

    Hello support,

    My old macbook pro 2018 ventura with vmware fusion 13.5 gave up the ghost (returned to the Apple Store). I bought a second-hand Intel x86 Macbook pro for compatibility to open my VM. I restored this new second hand macbook pro with my last time machine session but in my time machine, the VM "Window_11.vmware" was not backuped (disabled for time machine). But, I had a copy of this VM "Window_11.vmware" file on an external drive. I have copied in the internal disk of the second hand mac book pro and the problem is that the macbook pro second hand cannot find the VM "Window_11.vmware" and when I try to open directly double click to open vmware fusion it does nothing ?!! How can, I open this VM "Windows 11.vmware" to be able to recover all data inside it ? (I precise that I have licence of the windows 11 and vmware fusion) Many thanks



  • 2.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 16, 2024 12:32 PM

    A suggestion:

    First thing I'd do is to check that copy of your VM and make sure that all the files are there. Use the Finder to find the .vmwarevm bundle, right click on it, and select "Show Package Contents". You should find multiple files there, including the virtual disk files and the .vmx (virtual machine description) file. 

    If all appears intact, copy the .vmwarevm bundle to your hard drive, and repeat the process of verifying all the files are included in the copy - that were copied back successfully.

    Then, open the Fusion GUI and delete the VM out of the Virtual Machine Library. If the original VM doesn't exist on your hard drive, the VM should be deleted without any further prompting by Fusion.

    Now use the Fusion menus to File > Open... and locate the copy of the VM that you moved back to your hard drive. 

    It should be returned to the Virtual Machine Library. You should be able to power-on the VM - but you will need to know the encryption password of the old VM in order to power it on. 



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    - Paul (technogeezer)
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  • 3.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 16, 2024 05:30 PM

    Hi Paul ,

    Ther's no vmx file in my Window_11.vmware. I don't know why this file is missing. Impossible to create machine win11 x64 and select this Window_11.vmware. I have the encryption password. Do I need to do some additional manipulation ?  Many thanks.

    (Just for information, I have a vmx file in my windows7.vmware (updated in windows 10) successfully imported). 




  • 4.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 16, 2024 07:24 PM

    Can you post a listing of the files in that .vmwarevm copy? We might be able to recreate the VM if the virtual disk files are present in the bundle. 



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    - Paul (technogeezer)
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  • 5.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 18, 2024 11:02 PM

    Hi Paul,

    Here all files named inside my Vm - Windows 11 x64.vmwarevm :

    Windows 11 x64.plist
    Virtual Disk-s001.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s002.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s003.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s004.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s005.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s006.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s007.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s008.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s009.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s010.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-s011.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s001.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s002.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s003.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s004.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s005.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s006.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s007.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s008.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s009.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s010.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s011.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s012.vmdk
    Virtual Disk-000001-s013.vmdk

    Many thanks.




  • 6.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 19, 2024 10:38 AM

    Unfortunately it looks like your backup is missing some files for the virtual disk. It's missing the descriptor files and some of the actual VMDK files.

    As it stands right now  that backup's unusable. Looks like it's "rebuild the VM from scratch" time. Unless another expert such as @a_p_ can offer some possible alternatives to stitch together the disks so you can retrieve data from it. 



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    - Paul (technogeezer)
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  • 7.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 21, 2024 09:38 AM

    Hi Paul,

    I found all the files on my backup disk with with data recovery software (.vmx, .log, plist,snapshot .vmsn, .scoreboard, etc) and I was able to restart the virtual machine Window_11.vmware. On the other hand, I didn't understand why they were deleted from my backup disk. But now everything is fine, fortunately.

    Thank you for your support,

    All the best

    David




  • 8.  RE: Vm windows 11 machine won't open ?

    Posted May 21, 2024 12:30 PM

    I'm glad that you were able to use data recovery software to get those files back. You might want to revisit the backup strategy for that VM and/or treat it as ephemeral (e.g. making sure that any data you create in the VM gets synced to OneDrive or a shared folder on the Mac host where it can be backed up).

    As to why it happened here are some thoughts: 

    • Did your backup drive become disconnected at some point and needed a file system repair?
    • Could you be running anti-virus software that scanned and deleted the files due to false positive?
    • Hardware problem on that backup disk?


    ------------------------------
    - Paul (technogeezer)
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