🛠️ How to Recover VMware Virtual Machine Files When the Parent Disk is Deleted, Removed, or Corrupted 💾

🚨 Error Message Example:

File not found: 449_win-000004.vmdk

This file is required to power on this virtual machine. If this file was moved, specify the new location.

If you've just moved the file, the solution is simple: browse and select the missing file.
However, if the file was deleted or corrupted, you'll need to follow a few extra steps to recover your data.

🛠️ Tools You’ll Need:

🔹 QEMU Windows Binaries – Get them here
🔹 TestDisk – Download here

📂 Step 1: Navigate to Your Virtual Machine Directory

Locate the folder where your VMware virtual machine files are stored.

📝 Step 2: Create and Edit a New VMDK File

1️⃣ Make a Copy

Find the first .vmdk file (e.g., 449_win-cl1.vmdk).
This file should be very small (2–3 KB).
Copy it and rename it to fixed.vmdk.

2️⃣ Edit the File

Open fixed.vmdk using a text editor.
Find and remove the following line:
```
parentFileNameHint="F:\vms\449_win\449_win-000004.vmdk"
```
📌 Note: The path above is just an example—your path will be different!
Change parentCID to mark the disk as standalone:
```
parentCID=ffffffff
```
If ddb.adapterType is missing, add:
```
ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
```
Save the file.

🔄 Step 3: Convert the VMDK to a Raw Image

📌 Important: Open Command Prompt (cmd) in the same directory where fixed.vmdk is located.

Then, run the following command:

"c:/full/path/to/qemu-img.exe" convert -f vmdk -O raw "fixed.vmdk" "fixed.img"

🕐 This process may take a few minutes depending on the file size and disk speed.

🛠️ Step 4: Extract Files Using TestDisk

📌 Important: You must open a Command Prompt as Administrator (elevated cmd prompt), and navigate to the same directory where fixed.img is located.

Then, run the following command:

"c:/full/path/to/testdisk_win.exe" fixed.img

Follow these steps:

Select: Proceed ➡️ Press Enter
Choose Partition Type: [Intel] Intel/PC partition ➡️ Press Enter
Select: [Analyse] to check for lost partitions ➡️ Press Enter
Choose: [Quick Search] ➡️ Press Enter

✅ If all goes well, you should see a list of partitions:

📂 Step 5: Recover Your Files

1️⃣ Create the Recovery Destination

Open Windows Explorer, and create a new folder where you want to save the recovered files.
📌 For convenience, it should be in the same directory where fixed.img is located.

2️⃣ Select the Partition Containing Your Data

Example:

P HPFS - NTFS  82  57 40  7832  95  7  124506112

Press P to list files:

3️⃣ Browse and Select Files

Navigate to the folder you wish to recover using the arrow keys.
Press c to copy all files within that directory.
TestDisk will ask you to choose a folder to save the files.
Select the folder you created earlier and press c again to start the recovery.

🎉 If all goes well, you should see 0 failed and a confirmation of the recovered files!

✅ That’s It!

You’ve successfully recovered your VMware virtual machine files! 🎉

💾 Save this guide in case you need it in the future.
Happy recovering! 💻✨

x011/recover_vmware_vmdk_missing_parent_disk.md