How to Repair Corrupt or Damaged VMDK File in VMware

VMDK is the virtual disk image file used to store virtual hard disk drives for using in virtual machines like VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Sun XVM, QEMU, etc. It is primarily used for the services of cloud computing and virtualization. VMDK or Virtual Machine Disk File stores the VMware virtual machine hard disk content.VMDK file is the direct competitor of Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk(VHD) and VHDX file format. Even though they are of great help but it happens that the VMDK files get corrupted easily. Repairing of these files are pretty difficult.

Causes for corrupt VMDK file

• Virus: In this type of corruption, virus come in the system through any external source, i.e. a malicious software or any other file.
• Unexpected File Termination: Sometimes user closes the file before its saving process, which leads to damaged VMDK file. Opening of such VMDK file in the future cannot be possible.
• Forced System Shutdown: It happens that sometimes power system shutdown unexpectedly during saving process. Due to this volatile nature, the files are damaged.

Methods to Repair VMWare VMDK files

For applying basic repair methods on damaged or corrupt VMDK files, you first need to know how these files are made up of. A VMDK file is chiefly made up of two types of files, namely-

• VMDK
• *-flat.vmdk

VMDK plays the role of a plain text pointer for the *-flat.vmdk and where the * is indicated as the VM Server’s name. If any .vmdk file is damaged then follow the methods below to repair your VMDK file in VMware.

Method 1: Boot the Machine to Restore Corrupted VMDK File

• Take the backup file of the original VMDK file.
• Create the pointer of that file in the system.
• Change the fields and then save the changes.
• Now the boot the virtual machine to fix the damaged file.

Method 2: Using command prompt to Repair Damage VMDK File

• Press Windows+R keys and enter cmd and click OK button.
• Navigate to the VMware installation file.
• Enter the command vmware-vsdiskmanager.exe
• Press Enter button.

Method 3: Using professional software

Another easy way to repair corrupt or damaged VMDK file in VMware is by using third-party software known as Aryson VMDK Recovery Software. This software effortlessly repairs corrupted VMDK file. It is smartly programmed and contains a powerful recovery algorithm that restores the entire VMDK data. Some of its features are:

• Efficient recovery of the maximum possible data from corrupt VMDK.
• It supports VMDK files saved in Fixed disk and Dynamic disk types.
• It supports VMDK files which are split, SPARSE, & FLAT as well as descriptor.
• The software features two scanning modes, standard, and advance, for different levels of corruption.
• It supports both partition tables, i.e., Master Boot Record (MBR) & GUID Partition Table (GPT).
• Custom settings option is enabled for a selected volume before recovery.
• It repairs VMDK file and Open VMDK File in VMware.
• Supports file systems of all popular OS, such as FAT, FAT16, FAT32, FAT64, NTFS, HFS+, and EXTX.
• RAW recovery mode to perform powerful recovery of corrupt VMDK files.
• It features three different recovery modes: Standard, Advanced, and Deep for a successful recovery.
• Allows the user to preview recovered files and folders; shown in a tree-structure view.
• It features auto-search for searching for files in the tree-structure by simply entering their names/file types.

Steps to follow to repair Corrupted VMDK File

• Open VMDK File Recovery Tool
• Select disk type and browse the corrupted VMDK file.
• Click Next button.
• Select the scanning mode and other options and then click Next button.
• Select the volume from the list and other custom settings.
• Choose one of the recovery mode.
• The selected volume will be scanned.
• Select the files or folder to preview the files and click on the save button.
• Choose the location where you want to save the files and click OK.
• In few seconds, saving will be done.

Conclusion

The manual method of repairing the corrupt VMDK might seem very simple but it isn’t so. The result produces various options like cylinder, sectors which a normal person can’t understand. One needs to have technical expertise to understand these terms. Hence the best way to recover data from damaged VMDK file is to use professional software like Aryson VMDK Recovery Software.

About The Author:

Harshita Sachdeva

Harshita Sachdeva, a professional technical writer at Aryson Technologies, specialize in delivering clear, hands-on documentation for data management, migration, and recovery solutions. With a meticulous, reader-first approach, I break down complex technical processes into simple, actionable content - helping IT professionals and decision-makers tackle challenges efficiently.