Restoring an image in VirtualBox - HOW-TO for the different Windows-based image formats?

A virtualisation how-to is welcome for any Windows-based image format (*.tib, *.tbi. *.SNA, etc.)

Let's focus on the VirtualBox platform here to keep this particular thread neat. Hopefully, this thread would nail that specific topic down for as many image formats as possible.

SEPARATE threads could be open for a few other popular virtualisation platforms among the compilation here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_platform_virtualization_software

I would like to focus on VirtualBox running on the Windows enironment, but if posters want to deal with Windows alternatives for comparison sake, it's OK.

 

I will start with the restoration of a ShadowProtect image. Because it avoids line commands, ShadowProtect is the most user-friendly imaging software that I know for such a project.

First install VirtualBox from www.virtualbox.org.

Then, there are two ways to restore in VB.

1. Because the installation of ShadowProtect actually puts a right-click command in the Explorer shell, right-click on the image file in Windows Explorer or File Explorer, The right-click command says something like "Launch VirtualBoot..." VirtualBoot is part of ShadowProtect. It wiil take care of lauching VirtualBox and will also restore the image in VirtualBox. Either it or VB will take care of finding the necessary drivers necessary for the restore to run in VirtuaBox. (I think VB looks for the drivers.)

Unfortunately, almost at the end, my attempt failed. The process hung with this message:

"FATAL: Could not read from the boot medium! System halted."


2. From ShadowProtect's graphic user interface itself, one can convert the image file into a .VHD file, which VB can then load. (The way to do this in the GUI is to look for Image Conversion Tool, as I remember.)

That conversion produces a .VHD file practically as large as the original image. It took about an hour in my case. But from now on, one NO LONGER needs to go through ShadowProtect. Just start VB and load the .VHD file from VB.

Unfortunately, I still ran into the same problem:

"FATAL: Could not read from the boot medium! System halted."


The image I was trying to restore contains a Windows XP system that natively boots and runs well. I allocated 1024 MB of RAM to it in VB. It natively runs with less than 500MB just after booting.

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/a-good-hard-disk-repair-software.366595/page-3#post-2457605
If you're trying to restore your raid array I don't understand why you don't restore on a HDD/SSD instead.

 

Zapjb, I did restore the RAID 0 on an SSD. The SSD now runs the old PC (the RAID is dead now). So, that problem was solved.

Now the idea is to make the restore even more portable: to run that XP system simulataneous Win 8.1 on my main work PC. The idea is to have the apps of both OSes available at the same time on a single (more capable) PC.