Ways to Recover Lost Data from Virtual Machines

Read time 9 minutes

Virtual machines have gained significant popularity among businesses today, primarily because they offer various advantages such as simplified maintenance, support for multiple operating systems, independence from physical hardware, and more. These virtualized environments store their data within Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) files to ensure safety and flexibility. However, this data is not immune to potential risks, including corruption and data loss. Data loss can occur due to user errors or unauthorized activities, both of which can disrupt the integrity of the Virtual Machine database file and hinder its proper loading.

In all of these scenarios, data recovery becomes paramount, especially when the lost data is critical for business operations. Before delving into effective data recovery methods for Virtual Machines, it’s essential to understand the potential causes of data loss within these virtualized environments.

Different Causes for the Loss of Data from Virtual Machines

We can consider the following reasons as responsible for the loss of data from Virtual Machine.

• Intentional/accidental deletion
• Abrupt shutdown of machine or system
• Corrupted index files
• Faulty Hypervisor
• Formatting of drive
• Corrupted RAID
• Malfunction in hardware
• Corrupted hard disk

Two of the most widely used file formats for Virtual Machines, namely VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) and VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk), are susceptible to corruption and related issues, often resulting in data loss. VHD files essentially mirror the contents of a physical hard drive, including files and folders within disk volume partitions. On the other hand, VMDK files, short for Virtual Machine Disk files, serve as containers for Virtual Hard Disk drives utilized by virtualization platforms such as VMware Workstation and VirtualBox.

Recovering lost data from a Virtual Machine can be a straightforward process when you have a valid and up-to-date backup, as you can easily restore it through the VM’s web console. However, in cases where there is no available backup, alternative data recovery solutions must be explored.

When a file is deleted from a Virtual Machine, it becomes inaccessible for regular use but can still be potentially recovered, provided its sectors have not been overwritten with new data. To initiate the manual data recovery process, you can follow the steps outlined below:

• Create a new Virtual Server.
• Add a new hard drive to this server.
• Go to the Settings, select the created hard disk.
• Browse the location of the corrupted VHD file.
• Click on the Virtual Disk wizard. Here, click on the Compact option. Select the option “Convert it to a fixed-size Virtual Hard Disk”.
• Now, save the VHD file with another name.
• The file compression would be completed in some time.
• Copy this VHD file to the original server location.
• Mount the VHD file to the original server and check for the lost data.

The aforementioned manual approach for recovering lost data from a Virtual Machine is possible but lacks reliability. There is no assurance that it will successfully retrieve the lost data. Therefore, you may consider giving it a try if you have the time; however, for a more straightforward and dependable solution to recover lost data from your Virtual Machine, you can explore an alternative method.

To recover data from VHD files, you can opt for Kernel for VHD Recovery. This tool is designed to efficiently recover all data from corrupted VHD/VHDX file partitions and store it in your preferred system drive location. To gain a better understanding of its operation, let’s delve into the step-by-step process:

1. Launch the Kernel for VHD Recovery tool on your system.
2. On the Welcome Screen, click on the Select option and add the corrupted VHD or VHDX file from your system drive. Select the scan mode as Quick Scan. (You can select other modes too, based on your requirement).
3. Select the VHD file hard disk from the left panel and click on Next.
4. Select the hard disk partition from the left panel, read its details on the right panel, and click on Scan to start the scan process.
5. Once the scan is completed, the whole content of the VHD file will get retrieved, and you can have a live preview of the selected file. After checking the preview, select the folder on the left panel and then click on the Recover option. Provide a saving destination on your system for the recovered VHD/VHDX file and click on OK.
6. The files will get saved, displaying a confirmation message.

Also, we describe a professional solution to recover data from VMDK files.

The Kernel VMDK Recovery tool is a valuable utility designed to facilitate the effortless recovery of various types of lost data from VMDK files. It operates by conducting a comprehensive scan of the VMDK file partitions and successfully retrieving the data within them. Below, you’ll find a detailed explanation of how this software functions along with step-by-step instructions for its operation:

First, visit the official website of the Kernel VMDK Recovery tool and then download the free version of the tool. Install it on your system, get ready with your VMDK file, and then follow the given instructions.

1. Launch the installed Kernel VMDK Recovery application on your system.
2. On the start screen, click on the Browse option to browse and add the VMDK file for recovery.
   After adding the VMDK file from the system drive location, click on Recover to start the process.
3. The complete information of the Virtual Hard Disk drive would be displayed. Click Next to continue.
4. Select the partition type for scan and click on OK.
5. Select the Virtual Hard Disk partition from the left panel, read its information from the right panel, and click on the Scan option to start the scan process.
6. The complete data within the VMDK file partition will be received. Select the folder from the left panel and view its files on the right panel. Find the lost files in the folder, select any file item, and view its complete preview alongside. Select the folders from the left panel and click on Recover.
7. Choose options in the Recovery Settings such as Sectors to read in a single attempt, Duplicate file settings, Deleted file settings, and then click on OK.
8. You can use the Find option at the top to search for specific files by any search pattern, then select the files, and click on Save Selected File option to save it from there.
9. Browse the desired folder for saving the VMDK file and click on OK.
10. The file will get saved at the location, and the confirmation message will be displayed.

Now, we can list the features of the Kernel VMDK Recovery tool.
Partitions Recovery: Recovers lost from corrupted VMDK file partitions.
Information about the drive: Displays complete details about the Virtual Hard Disk drive and partition.
Exclusive Preview: Detailed preview of the retrieved VMDK file items.
Find Filter: A filter option to search for files.
Recovery Settings: Multiple recovery settings – Sectors to read and desired actions on duplicate and deleted file items.
Saving Convenience: Easy saving of selected files to the desired location and an added option to create a new folder for saving.
Get the tool quickly if you want to recover lost data from your Virtual Machine without any extra effort.

Final Words

To safeguard your Virtual Machine data and prevent future worries, prioritize regular backups. For those who’ve already faced data issues, you have two options: free methods for repairing corrupted VMDK files or automated recovery solutions like Kernel VMDK Recovery.