Restore disk-image to a virtual machine?

Several of you here are experimenting with disk-imaging products. In the process, you restore the image to your C-partition, 'while holding your breath'. So I was wondering if one can restore a disk-image to a virtual machine, (thereby avoiding any risk to the C-partition)?

 

Yes.

With:
VMWare converter: see VMWare homepage
Terabyte: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=303
Storagecraft: I know its in there, just cant remember the link; this is close enough for VMWare and Storage craft: http://www.storagecraft.com/news/newsItem.aspx?ArticleID=48
I think there may be other options with ShadowProtect: wait for replies.

Going to try it ??
You're likely to get plenty of replies and interest with that question I hope

I dont know and am having trouble establishing whether any version of MS OS will be "activated" on a "new" machine: I'd like to know.

 

Longboard,
Those links pretty much confirm that it can be done, but just like with my cooking, I need a recipe!

Pete,
After reading many of your informative posts, I realize that it's second nature to you, but for most of us it's quite stressful.

 

Jo Ann,

Do you intent to restore a host image into a Virtual System in order to boot from it?
Usually the virtual hardware is different from your host hardware, so you would need to convert the image. But then you are not testing your original image anymore.

Converting host disks isn't actually that great... Better install fresh in your Virtual System.
I suggest that you restore the host image to a second hard disk in your virtual system and run chkdsk /f, to see that it's healthy.

If you just want to practice imaging/restoring, you could do that entirely in a virtual system.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I would like to do!

I don't believe I understand that. Why would the virtual hardware be any different than the host hardware?

Here again you have lost me (probably because my knowledge of virtual systems is about as expansive as my cooking ability without recipes).

Jo Ann

 

Perhaps a picture of differences is more helpful?



Bambina is the host system and vbox is the guest system.
Compare and find the differences.

 

wilbertni, I now see what you meant (I think)!

 

wilbertni, I now see what you meant (I think)! ...so, would I be on-track by summarizing that even if I restored an image to a virtual machine and then successfully boot from it, that would be little assurance of success on my physical machine?

 

If your Virtual System doesn't boot from the host image, that doesn't mean that something is wrong with the image.

 

That being the case, what would you say is the least-risk method to 'prove' the restorability of a test-image?

 

wilbertnl Like Jo Ann I am a bit puzzled by your reference to "converting" the image.
I can see that the hardware differences between the host and the VM are a problem, but then you suggest converting the image. Can you explain further, or have I lost the plot somewhere.

@Jo Ann. It is an interesting concept to test the restore in a VM, and if it can be achieved fully, then it would certainly take away a lot of the stress factor, but only if it is a "true" restore. Like you, I am hoping to get the "recipe" here............

It is a matter of having confidence in your imaging program, and unless you are using SP which has been proven to destruction by Peter, a VM is the way to go maybe.

 

If I may Pete,
There is one more real test: clone the host system drive, put in the cloned hard drive, play time!

Like Pete, I started w/ good o' Norton ghost, tested it, archived it and installed ATI. When using ATI, I make sure to have several bootdisks and several working archives that I can fall back on. Further, after every backup, I plug the image in, do a test run with it, and run an image integrity check with ATI. This is not "full proof" that the recent image will work, but I can always go back to the last one that worked. If worse comes to worse, I whoop out the Ghost disc.

While I understand that it would probably be reassuring if an image restores itself on a virtual machine, it would seem like you would run into a problem with the drivers. But fear not, I will test this for you by doing the following:
1. create an image of current system, put image on shared drive
2. boot xp vm, restore image on vm.
I'll report later.

 

Imaging and restoring within a vm works fine in my expeience. I've never tried to restore an image of my base system to a vm before. This is because the hardware emulated within the vm is different to my base system and would certainly cause problems.

 

I am interested in this, not so much as a way of testing images but to build up a new system alongside one that badly needs an overhaul. Would it be possible to do a fresh virtual install within the old system, get all the necessary software and data installed and then, when it is as I'd like it, restore the virtual image to a real drive? Or are there too many possible hardware issues which would make this unlikely to work?

I've got caddies in this particular system so it is not a problem to swap drives in and out for developing the system but I like the idea of having both old and new running alongside each other which would make it easier to see what was needed in the new system.

Graham

 

the best way is to buy a cheap harddrive.
asoming the images are on an external drive or dvd you can take out your main harddrive stick in the new cheap harddrive and restore to that.
if the restore works you can sleep better.
lodore

 

I would do a fresh installation of your Windows into a Virtual System and practice imaging and restoring from there.

Jo Ann,

I have been playing with computers for a while, and I learned most by making mistakes and fixing them myself.
Not the fact that nothing will go wrong matters, but what matters is that you know what to do when things do go wrong.

For you probably the safest would be to do nothing, but that doesn't guarantee you a happy ending at all...

Here is what I think: Any computer problem should not cause me more loss than time, I don't loose my address book, favorites, email, bank administation, documents, work, etc. I only need time in order to fix the problem.

Don't let the computer overwhelm you, Jo Ann, you are smart enough to understand how it works.

 

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/