The Windows 8 operating system provides extensive data backup capabilities, including management capabilities and functionality that allows. The concept of the system developers is this: functionality File History needed for convenient and quick everyday recovery of user data, the image of the system is created not so often and will allow you to completely restore the partition data (including system files) to a certain one with working OS parameters.

It is recommended to create a backup copy of the system image before making changes to the hardware configuration of the computer, when performing a system update, installing new drivers, etc. Having a backup copy of the system image will allow you to roll back to a working Windows state at any time if something goes wrong. However, when restoring from such an image, all available information on the system disk is overwritten by the image files. What should you do if you only need to restore some files from the system image?

Fortunately, this task is quite simple. The fact is that the standard system for creating a system image backup in Windows 8 is based on the concept virtual disks (Virtual Hard Drive). Those. images are recorded and stored as virtual disk files in the (Virtual Hard Drive) format. Such virtual disks can be easily mounted using standard Windows 8 tools and worked with them as with regular system disks. By mounting such a disk into the system, the user will be able to restore individual files and directories from the system image backup.

Connect a VHD disk with a backup copy of the system image

System image backup is usually performed to a separate physical disk or network folder. Therefore, first of all, you need to connect the media with a backup copy of the Windows 8 image to your computer (or connect a network folder).

Open your computer management console Computer Management and go to Disk Management Manager Storage->Disk Management(the same console can be called from the WinX menu by pressing the key combination Win+X and select item Disk Management). To mount a virtual vhd disk, select Attach VHD in the menu Action.

In the window that appears, click the button Browse and specify the path to the vhdx file. This file is stored on the disk containing the system image backup in a directory named in the following format :\WindowsImageBackup\\Backup xxxx-xx-xx xxxxxx. In our example, the full path to the vhdx file is as follows: F:\WindowsImageBackup\Oberon8\Backup 2013-08-14000203.

This directory contains two vhdx files, select the larger vhdx file (in our example, the file size with the image is about 120 GB).

Note. If, when performing a backup, an image of not only the system disk was saved on the computer, but also other disks, then this directory may contain more than 2 vhd files, and it is not at all necessary that the maximum size disk will contain an image of the system disk. You can understand vhdx disk image files only by their contents, for which you will have to mount them all in the specified way.

Once the virtual disk is mounted, it needs to be assigned a drive letter. To do this, right-click on the disk and select the menu item “ Change Drive Letters and Path»

In the window that opens, click the button Add and assign the drive any letter, for example G:.

After this operation, a new disk will appear in the system, to which the letter G:\ is assigned. Open it in Explorer or any file manager and find the files you need to recover.

Advice. User documents (photos, videos, music and other documents can usually be saved in the user profile in the G:\Users\(user_name) directory.

After you have found and copied the necessary files, you can disconnect the external disk, as a result of which the virtual vhd disk will also disappear from the system.

Individual files from the system image can be restored in exactly the same way in Windows 7.

Read, how to restore a Hyper-V virtual machine that has been deleted or the contents of a Hyper-V virtual machine disk. Which built-in tools of the virtual machine or third-party programs to use to restore it. Programs for creating virtual machines are designed to create on one computer, in addition to the main operating system, one or more virtual machines with their own independent operating systems and disks, space for which is allocated on the main disk of the computer.

There are many third-party virtualization programs, but the most popular among users are VMware Workstation and Oracle VirtualBox. To enable virtualization of its own operating systems, Microsoft also developed a tool – Windows Virtual PC. But, Windows 10 already introduces a new generation virtualization application - Manager.

Content:

Hyper-V Manager is easy to use, but its only drawback is the ability to create virtual machines only with Windows operating systems.

Support for virtual machines using the Hyper-V tool is available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions. By default, it is not activated and to use it, the tool must be activated and connected.

To do this:

Hyper-V virtual machine system files

Unlike other virtual machine managers, Hyper-V does not store all virtual machine files (system files and virtual disk file) in one folder. They are stored in different places:

These folders are set by default by the tool, but you can change the location of these folders if desired.

It should be noted that the main files responsible for the configuration and data of the virtual machine, and thus for its performance, are:

• *.vhdx– virtual machine disk file. Has the name that was assigned to the virtual machine when it was created. Default location:
  C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual hard disks
• *.vmcx– file of virtual machine configuration parameters. Default location:
  C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines

If these files are restored, it is possible to restore a working virtual machine, including all files from its disk.

How to recover a Hyper-V virtual machine that has been deleted

Virtual Machine Export/Import Function

In case a user uses the Hyper-V virtual machine to work with important data or it is valuable to him for other reasons, Microsoft provides the ability to create a backup copy of the virtual machine. The Export and Import functions of a virtual machine using Hyper-V Manager are designed for this purpose.

To export a virtual machine:

Moreover:

To import a virtual machine:

Recovering a virtual machine with Hetman Partition Recovery

If for some reason a virtual machine is deleted or lost from the user’s computer or other storage medium and needs to be returned, this can be done by restoring the disk and configuration files of the virtual machine, and then importing them into Hyper-V using the Import virtual machines function.

To do this:

How to recover the contents of a Hyper-V virtual machine disk

As we have already stated, all files that are saved on the virtual machine disks are located in .vhdx virtual disk files. Hard drive data recovery program Hetman Partition Recovery has the function of mounting virtual disks and restoring data from them.

If for some reason your virtual machine has lost its functionality, and important files were stored on its disks, they can be restored. To do this:

How to recover a Hyper-V virtual machine disk file from the virtual machine itself

As a result of the experiments, it was discovered that files that were deleted or lost inside the virtual machine cannot be restored.

Efficient VHD recovery

VHD recovery software quickly recovers your important data from damaged virtual hard disks or VHD files. It allows users to select a damaged VHD file from the system directory and scan the file for errors.

Dual scanning mode

This VHD recovery software has two scanning modes so that the damaged VHD file can be scanned in an intensive manner. The Standard mode scans the VHD file if the damage is minor, and the Advanced mode if the damage in the VHD file is severe.

Add custom volume

This feature is available in advanced scan mode to recover complete data from damaged VHD file. If any of the volumes is not in the list, you can add it manually by clicking the "Add Custom Volume" button to create a new volume.

RAW recovery

VHD recovery tools provide users with RAW recovery features. If users want to recover some types of files that cannot be recovered using other recovery methods, it is highly recommended to perform RAW recovery. By default, JPG, PNG GIF, BMP, ZIP, RAR and MP3 formats are supported.

Adding new signatures

Using the RAW recovery mode provided by VHD Recovery, users are allowed to add new signatures to a new or existing file before starting data analysis from the selected volume.

Supported File Systems

VHD Recovery Software supports all popular file systems created by various operating systems such as: FAT, FAT16, FAT32, FAT64 (exFAT) and NTFS Windows, HFS+ Mac and EXTX Unix.

Multi-recovery mode

Data recovery from a damaged VHD file is performed in three modes: Standard Mode, in case the level of the problem is minor, Advanced Mode, if the level is serious and cannot be fixed in Standard Mode, and Deep Mode, which works when in both other modes VHD File Recovery fails.

Recovering a Formatted Disk

If the selected volume is saved in any FAT file system and the drive is already formatted, you should select the advanced recovery mode as it supports formatted drive recovery. When recovering a VHD formatted disk, a different recovery algorithm is used than when recovering a regular disk.

Tree Structure Preview

Users can check the recovered data in the tree structure view given in the left pane, where users can expand it to view the files stored inside it. The right pane will show the selected file properties. Users can check/uncheck the files and folders they want.

Comparison of trial version and full version

Product Features	Free version	Full version
Support for corrupted VHD files saved on hard drives and dynamic drive types
Setting options for the selected volume, i.e. FAT, NTFS, etc. enabled
Supports all popular file systems of various operating systems
Support for recovery from formatted disk in case of FAT file system
Save recovered data	Preview only
24*7 Technical support and 100% security
Price	FREE	$99

Business Solutions

If using an online recovery service is not possible, you can download one of the following utilities:

In addition to the ability to recover information at home, they also provide unlimited capabilities for recovering large numbers of files, professional support and many other options useful to corporate users.

Video guide to using the OfficeRecovery Online service

“Due to a RAID controller failure, we lost the ability to boot our ESXi server. It seems that although the RAID 5 hosting the VMDKs was okay, when the RAID 1 boot drive crashed, it caused the VMDKs to corrupt.

We used your tool to pull about 6GB of user data out of the VMDK. Worked like a charm.”

Director, IT Infrastructure

“After a power outage one of my VMWare servers wouldn't boot. I was able to recover the data with MediaHeal and was back in business in just a few hours. Really it took longer to find the right recovery tool than it did to get the server recovered.”

“I just purchased MediaHeal for Virtual Drives and it worked perfectly. I had to email and tell you how much I love your product and will be telling everyone I know how awesome this product is. I was able to recover some corrupted VHD files without any problems. Thank you for saving months of data in hours.”

About OfficeRecovery for Virtual Drives Online

OfficeRecovery for Virtual Drives Online recovers damaged virtual drives (.vhd, .vmdk, .ova, .xva).

Supported virtual disk formats:
VMDK, VHD, IMG, OVA, XVA with FAT or NTFS file system

The recovered data is saved in a new user-selected location to avoid damaging the original data.

After the file recovery is complete, you can evaluate the demo results and register to receive the results for free or purchase them immediately. If the file could not be recovered, you can order its analysis by our experienced team of specialists.

Examples of use

The service for repairing damaged virtual disks can be used when the virtual disk does not open in applications and you see errors or warnings during opening.

In order to quickly recover a damaged vhd, vmdk, ova or xva file, upload a virtual disk/image to our cloud recovery service using the form on this page.

It is important to note that if the recovery process is successful, you will end up with ready-to-use virtual disk/image data. You can get fully recovered virtual disk/image data by choosing paid or free options.

Standard features:

• Support for virtual disks created using Xen, Citrix XenSource (Citrix XenServer, Citrix Xen)
• Support for VMDK disks created using QEMU and Sun xVM VirtualBox
• Support for binary disks or partition dumps (RAW, IMG)
• Restoring damaged file systems (FAT, NTFS) of virtual disks
• Support for VHD disks created using Microsoft VirtualPC, Sun xVM VirtualBox
• Support for VMDK disks created using VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VMware Server, VMware ESX Server
• Support for virtual hard disks (*.vhd) of fixed, differentiated and dynamic types
• Supports the following types of virtual machine disks (*.vmdk): monolithicSparse, monolithicFlat, twoGbMaxExtentSparse, twoGbMaxExtentFlat, vmfs, vmfsSparse, streamOptimized
• Recovering VMDK snapshots
• Support for Xen Virtual Appliance VM Import Format (*.xva, *.ova) compressed and regular types
• Support FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS 1.0, NTFS 2.0

Description of file recovery using OfficeRecovery for Virtual Drives Online

Corrupt virtual disks are files that have suddenly become unusable and cannot be opened. There are a number of reasons why a virtual disk can become corrupted. And in some cases it is possible to fix and restore a damaged vhd, vmdk, ova, xva (Virtual Drives VMDK, VHD, IMG, OVA, XVA XVA with FAT or NTFS file systems) file.

If your vhd, vmdk, ova or xva virtual disk suddenly becomes corrupted or unopenable in the program in which it was created, do not despair! You no longer need to buy expensive software to restore just one damaged virtual image. OfficeRecovery for Virtual Drives Online presents you with a new online service that will help you recover a damaged virtual drive instantly. All you need to do is simply download the damaged vhd, vmdk, ova or xva file using a browser, evaluate the quality of the recovery demo results and choose the solution that suits you best.

OfficeRecovery Online for Virtual Drives supports virtual images VMDK, VHD, IMG, OVA, XVA with FAT or NTFS file systems. The recovered data is saved in a new user-selected location to avoid damaging the original data.

OfficeRecovery for Virtual Drives Online offers free and paid options to get complete recovery results. The free option means that full results can be obtained absolutely free within 14-28 days. All you have to do is simply sign up for free results after the virtual disk recovery process is complete. If you need to get a recovered vhd, vmdk, ova or xva file immediately, instantly, you need to choose a paid option instead of a free one.

What to do if there is no recovery data identified in your virtual image? You can request a non-refundable analysis of your file by our experienced technical team. In some cases, data recovery is only possible manually.

VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) is a file format used by Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machines to emulate a hard disk drive (HDD). A VHD file, like the physical hard drive itself, will contain a boot record, disk partitions, file systems, files and folders. A VHD file is usually used as a virtual machine's logical disk. However, it can also be connected directly to Windows 7 (or later Windows).

VHD files, like data from any physical hard drive, can be lost (damaged, accidentally deleted, subjected to a virus attack, etc.). Because of this, the issue of data recovery from VHD disks (images) seems extremely important. R-Studio offers several methods for this.

Case 1: Virtual Hard Disks are in good condition and can be connected to Windows OS

Mounting the VHD file directly to the host operating system requires Windows 7 or a later version of Windows.

1. Connect the VHD image to the system via the Windows Disk Management utility.

Rice. 1: VHDs connected to the computer

After successful connection, the disk partitions will be assigned letters. In R-Studio they will be presented as regular disks.

2. Process connected VHD disks in R-Studio in the same way as other disks.

Rice. 2: Connected VHD drives in the R-Studio Drives panel
Click on the image to enlarge it

Case 2: Virtual Hard Disk files are damaged and cannot be connected to the system

This sequence of actions can also be used if the version of Windows OS does not allow you to connect a VHD disk directly (for example, Windows XP, Windows Vista or an earlier version of Windows).

1. Open VHD files as disk images. You may need to change the file type to "All files" in the Open Image File dialog box to see VHD files with the default .vhd extension.

Rice. 3: VHD disk files opened in R-Studio as disk images
Click on the image to enlarge it

2. Process open VHD disk files in R-Studio as regular disk objects.

Case 3: Virtual Hard Disks are on a disk with a corrupted file system and cannot be accessed directly

1. Scan the disk (logical volume or entire hard disk) on which the VHD disk files were located. In the Scan dialog box, select the appropriate file system for the partition you are looking for (in our case, NTFS).

2. Find VHD disks among the recognized partitions. They will be either red or green.

Rice. 4: VHD disks as recognized partitions on the host disk
Click on the image to enlarge it

You can also identify a partition by its file system, size, or other disk parameters.

3. Double-click on the recognized partitions to open them and restore data. If necessary, you can perform a deeper analysis, that is, as for any other disk objects, create copies of images, etc.

Case 4: Virtual Hard Disks found as recognized partitions require deeper analysis

1. Determine the exact offset and size (in sectors) of the partition being analyzed on the Properties tab.

Rice. 5: VHD disk and its parameters
Click on the image to enlarge it

Note: You can double-click the parameter values ​​(offset and size) to copy and paste them into Notepad for later use in the Create Region dialog box (in step 2).

2. Use the parameters obtained in the first step and create a region on the host disk. Make sure that the Sectors unit is selected in the Create Region dialog box.

Rice. 6: VHD disk as a region on the host disk and recognized partition
Click on the image to enlarge it

Conclusion

R-Studio allows you to search for lost partitions, restore and copy data from VHD files. Methods for recovering files and analyzing a disk depend on your specific situation. If you have Windows 7 or a later version of Windows and the VHD files are not damaged, then you can scan the VHD disk just like a regular logical volume. In other cases, more complex methods of searching and recovering lost data are used.