Recover Data From Virtual Machine – Virtual machines (VMs) came into play with the increase in hardware virtualization and software emulation technology. They allow you to run several operating systems (OS) on the same hardware simultaneously, without infringement of the host OS.
But just like virtually everything with advantages has got disadvantages, VMs are not running short of it. Things like unnecessary shutdown, software breakdown, human-related errors to mention, but a few can lead to heavy, or mild data loss in VMs, corrupting the virtual disk, and making it unreadable.
Like the physical disk, the virtual disk contains folders, files, logical volume, file systems, etc. These files are arranged in the corresponding operating system’s folder, VMware uses VMDK, Virtual box from Oracle uses VDI, Virtual PC, or Hyper-V, which are Microsoft based VMs use VHD & VHDX.
Some VMs like Virtual box can support other formats like Microsoft’s VHD, VMware’s VMDK, and some other formats.
How To Recover Data From Virtual Machine
There are several ways of recovering data from a virtual machine:
It is imperative that you turn off your virtual machine at this stage if you have some files you want to recover, running the virtual machine can cause further damage to the logical drive (the VM’s drive) and also overwrite more data.
Overwriting a data simply means adding a new data over an already existing one, that the file is no longer visible doesn’t necessarily mean that it is completely gone except when overwritten or that the drive housing the file is inaccessible due to read errors.
- UFS Explorer Standard Recovery
- Ensure that you download the compatible version for your PC (x86 or x64).
- Open and install the downloaded file and make necessary adjustments.
- On the software, click Open, and then select an image file or virtual disk.
- Select your VM’s virtual disk and scan for lost data.
- Search for your desired files, and folders. You can sort it by criteria, and also preview them. You can also find files faster using the quick search and advanced Find in this folder feature.
- Click Define selection and select your desired files.
- Copy your files to the host operating system or to an external drive if you have any connection with the aid of the Save current selection.
- R-Studio Technician License
- You need to create or download the R-Studio Emergency ISO image to begin.
- Mount the created ISO from your VM’s virtual CD/DVD drive.
- Boot your VM with the CD/DVD as the startup drive.
- You can change the boot order if yours doesn’t boot from the CD/DVD.
- Your VM will boot into the R-Studio Emergency edition.
- Follow the link to R-Studio’s complete guide https://www.r-studio.com/Emergency_File_Recovery.shtml
- R-Studio Local License
This version of R-Studio creates an image of the drive, saves the image on a different location, and recovering the file from the image. Unlike the Technician license edition, the Local License saves Emergency ISO image as RSAE.iso.
- Mount the created ISO from your VM’s virtual CD/DVD drive.
- Boot your VM with the CD/DVD as the startup drive.
- You can change the boot order if yours doesn’t boot from the CD/DVD.
- Connect to the VM running R-Studio using their very own description https://www.r-studio.com/Unformat_Help/r-studio_agent.html
- From the R-Studio create an image of the VM’s drive. Save the image on a different location like a network drive or an external USB drive.
- Open the image with R-Studio, and recover the data from it. This explains it further https://www.r-studio.com/Unformat_Help/diskimages.html
- AnyRecover
This company has their slogan as ‘anything is recoverable’. They boast of being able to recover any file format from all devices. The software is not rocket science in terms of usability. Best of it all, you use the trial version of the software to confirm that your files are recoverable before purchasing it.
How To Use AnRecover
- Open the downloaded tool, and select your desired recovery mode.
- Select the affected location to recover your data from.
- Select the file type.
- Click Scan to start the recovery process. Once done, preview and select your files to recover.
With the constant increase in technology comes susceptibility, to avoid more data loss on your virtual machine always backup your data. If a crash occurs, you can copy back the data and continue as nothing happened.
Is there anything we missed out in this guide? Kindly drop your comment and suggestions.