VMFS Recovery™

Recover data from damaged or formatted VMFS disks or VMDK files

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Last updated: Feb 20, 2024

VMDK Recovery Tool

VMDK files contain every information about virtual machines. However, due to pretty several reasons, the VMDK files may get missing, which implies that the VMs – which files are saved in VMDK format – won’t be accessible anymore.

However, losing your virtual machine's VMDK data shouldn't knock you off your feet because you can restore the files in excellent form and continue using your virtual machines as usual. To ensure greater recovery effectiveness, the recovery must be performed utilizing a professional tool.

VMFS Recovery is the go-to VMDK Recovery Tool for advanced PC users looking to recover their virtual machine files from any VMware host server. This software tool is compatible with all Windows OS and Windows Server versions; plus, it can read and recover from any disk!

DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | VMDK Recovery Tool

You never can be TOO careful not to lose important files; even if you’re too careful, how about sudden power outages or surges, OS crashes, hard disk failures, and many other unpredictable data loss scenarios? What are you going to do when such situations hit you? Well, the answer is simple, use the best VMWare tools to perform a recovery – data recovery.

As long as you’re saving files to a computer system, it is important to have a handy data backup/recovery tool; it’s even more important to have a data recovery tool when you work with virtual disks and virtual machines, as you need to also backup every single data/file in the virtual environment.

Tip: Learn more about VMDK file format here!

VMFS Recovery is a professional VMDK Recovery Tool that lets you get away with any virtual hard disk data loss scenarios, including VMware delete flat file recovery. It recovers the core files needed to get damaged or corrupted virtual machines working again. Also, the app can read inaccessible VMFS volumes and let you mount them.

The VMFS Recovery tool by DiskInternals can recover virtual machines and virtual disk data along with the VMFS metadata; this software has been constantly updated for the past 18 years, and it’s trusted by IT experts. Learn more about what is data backup and recovery!

VMFS Recovery VMDK recovery tool features

Hereunder are the best notable features of the DiskInternals VMFS Recovery VMDK Recovery Tool for Windows OS.

Smooth Recovery Process	DiskInternals VMFS Recovery VMDK Recovery Tool comes with a built-in Recovery Wizard that guides you every step of the way. The Recovery Wizard makes the entire recovery process smooth and seamless, even when the user is not a PRO.
Designed To Clearly Read VMware VMFS File System	This software is practically designed to read and recover files from VMware’s VMFS file system, and that makes it the perfect tool for recovering data and files for your virtual machines hosted on VMware’s virtual platforms – vSphere or ESXi.

Recovers Information From Corrupted Or Healthy VMFS-formatted drives	One impressive function of DiskInternals VMFS Recovery VMDK Recovery Tool is its ability to read and access corrupted VMFS-formatted drives. This means that, even if the virtual drive isn’t mounting, you can recover your files.

Recovers VMDK Images on VMware vSphere, ESXi/ESX Servers	VMFS Recovery can read and access VMFS partitions created on vSphere and ESX/ESXi servers. It supports VMFS3, VMFS5, and VMFS6 and can recover files/partitions up to 64 TB in size while also supporting Unicode file names in VMFS5 and VMFS6 and multi-level folders.

Recovers VMFS Drives Stored On Corrupted And Inaccessible Hard Drives	One of the main reasons people choose DiskInternals VMFS Recovery is due to its high success rate, even in recovering files from damaged drives. To engage the full capacity of the program, use Full Recovery mode to scan the corrupted disk; this scanning mode automatically examines the current state of VMware VMFS datastores, disks, volumes, RAID (if used), and reads VMDK images as well as VMFS structures (where possible).
Automated Recovery Includes Step-By-Step Recovery Wizard	A built-in Recovery Wizard is available to help you through every step you need to take to recover your VMDK files; the Recovery Wizard is very intuitive and easy to understand. Also, there are two recovery modes to choose from: Fast Recovery Mode: It is advisable to try this mode first, as it’d save you so much time while recovering virtually all files lost from the selected disk. Full Recovery Mode: This mode launches a deeper scan to repair the bad sectors and fix corrupted data stores on the selected disks, then recovers every file that has been lost on the selected disk.
Virtual Drives Can Be Mounted As Local Disks Accessible By Windows Explorer	With DiskInternals VMFS Recovery, you can mount virtual drives as local (physical) drives and access them from Windows File Explorer to preview all your files in a comfortable manner.
All Features of DiskInternals RAID Recovery are Here	DiskInternals VMFS Recovery comes standard with the support of RAID recovery tools. It supports recovering files from VMFS drives stored on any RAID array type: RAID JBOD, 0, 1, 1E, 0+1, 1+0, RAID 4, RAID 5, 50, 5EE, 5R, RAID 6, 60.
Recovers Remotely In Online Mode (No Shutdown Is Required)	Another good feature of DiskInternals VMFS Recovery is that it can seamlessly launch data recovery on remote servers. The Recovery Wizard lets you follow a smooth path to complete your data recovery.
Recovers VMDK Images Stored On Disks Formatted by VMware ESX/ESXi Server	This data recovery program can recover VDMK image files from already formatted disks with up to 90% probability.
Recovered Files and Folders are Exported to Local or Remote Locations (Including FTP)	When the scan is complete, and you confirm that you have found the files you seek, you can choose to recover them to a local disk or remote storage location via FTP – your choice.
Windows Restrictions Are Bypassed In The Recovery Process	In order to ensure near-perfect data recovery, the DiskInternals VMFS Recovery tool bypasses Windows OS restrictions during every recovery process. However, the program doesn’t tamper with your system’s privacy and security settings.

The DiskInternals VMFS Recovery software is an ideal VMware VMDK recovery solution with up to 99% efficiency tested with various data loss scenarios. This program is very easy to use, thanks to the built-in Recovery Wizard, and offers so many advanced features for FREE.

FAQ

How to use this tool to recover corrupt VMDK files?

DiskInternals VMFS Recovery is a tool designed to help recover data from corrupt virtual machine disks (VMDK files) used in VMware environments. Here are the general steps to use DiskInternals VMFS Recovery to recover corrupt VMDK files:

1. Download and install DiskInternals VMFS Recovery on a computer with enough free space to store the recovered data.

2. Launch the program and select the physical disk or logical volume containing the VMDK files you want to recover.

3. Choose the "Scan" option to start scanning for recoverable VMDK files.

4. Once the scan is complete, the program will display a list of recoverable files. Preview the files to make sure they are the ones you need.

5. Select the VMDK files you want to recover and click on the "Recovery" button.

6. Choose the destination folder where you want to save the recovered files.

7. Wait for the recovery process to complete. Depending on the size of the VMDK files and the speed of your computer, this process may take some time.

8. Once the recovery is complete, you should be able to access the recovered VMDK files and use them in your VMware environment.

Is there a file size limit for this tool to recover VMDK files?

The file size limit for VMware VMDK Recovery Tool to recover VMDK files is dependent on the license type of the software. The free trial version of the software has a limit of 1GB for file recovery. The paid version of the software does not have any file size limit for file recovery.

What type of VMDK files does this tool support?

VMware VMDK Recovery Tool supports all types of VMDK files, including monolithic, split, and sparse VMDK files. Monolithic VMDK files are stored as a single file on a physical disk, while split VMDK files are split into smaller files of a fixed size to accommodate specific storage constraints. Sparse VMDK files are used to optimize the use of physical storage space by allocating storage space dynamically as data is written to the virtual disk.

Can this software fix corruption errors of VMDK files?

Yes, VMware VMDK Recovery Tool is designed to fix corruption errors of VMDK files. The software uses advanced algorithms and techniques to scan the corrupt VMDK file and identify and fix various types of corruption issues. This includes fixing errors related to missing or damaged VMDK descriptor files, restoring corrupt header information, and repairing issues with the file allocation table. Learn more on what is VMware data recovery and how to conduct it professionaly.

How to restore VM from a VMDK VMware?

To restore a virtual machine (VM) from a VMDK file in VMware, follow these general steps:

1. Create a new virtual machine in VMware with the same hardware configuration as the original VM.

2. During the new VM creation process, select the option to use an existing VMDK file as the virtual disk.

3. Browse to the location of the VMDK file and select it.

4. Complete the remaining steps of the VM creation process, including selecting the operating system and installing VMware tools.

5. Power on the new VM and verify that it is working correctly.

How do I know if VMDK is corrupted?

Here are some common signs that a VMDK file may be corrupted:

1. The virtual machine fails to start or boot, or the operating system crashes during the boot process.

2. The virtual machine displays error messages related to the VMDK file, such as "Disk descriptor could not be read" or "The file specified is not a virtual disk."

3. The VMDK file appears to be missing or inaccessible.

4. The virtual machine is running slowly or experiencing performance issues.

5. Files or data stored on the virtual disk are missing or corrupted.

6. The VMDK file has a size of 0 bytes or appears to be smaller than expected.