Top Tips to Recover Deleted VMDK from Datastore

What is VMware Workstation and VMDK File?

VMware Workstation is a hypervisor that allows users to run multiple operating systems on the same device. You can use the virtual machine to operate Linux on Windows PC or even mac OS. This functionality is of great importance for running and testing applications in different environments.

These Virtual Machines act as a container for virtual hard drives. It stores all the data of your virtual machine. If these files get corrupted, you cannot access your Virtual hard drive data. Sometimes, you delete some files with the .vmdk extension. It will again make you unable to open the Virtual machine files.

Let us first explore some reasons for the VMDK file corruption.

Reasons for the Corruption of the VMDK File

Before learning how to recover deleted VMDK from VMWare datastore, we should first know why the VMDK file gets deleted or corrupted. Like any other file type, there are various reasons for VMDK file corruption. We will discuss some of the most prominent reasons for the corruption of VMDK files.

• Attack by malicious programs can cause data loss and corruption of various files in your system. It is one of the major reasons for the corruption of VMDK files.
• Some applications hinder the working of VMware applications. They block some parts of the program which damages the VMDK file.
• The abrupt shutdown of the system affects every computer program. Therefore, it might be the reason for VMDK file corruption.
• The corruption of VMDK is also caused by the failure of storage media. If the hard drive containing the VMware files gets crashed, your VMDK file will also get corrupted.

These are a few reasons that cause VMDK file corruption. Now, it is time to learn how to restore deleted VMDK data from datastore.

How to Recover Deleted VMDK from VMware Datastore Manually

Backing up your data prevents you from losing your valuable data. It enables you to restore your data in case of accidental data loss. You can also recover your deleted VMDK file from the backup. It helps you to recover your complete VMware data to its original state.

Follow the below instructions to recover and restore deleted VMDK from VMWare datastore.

• First, open the Control Panel in your system.
• Now, go to the System and Security Click on the File History option.
• Select the Restore Personal Files option and locate the Virtual Disk image of the desired VMware.
• At last, choose the older version of the desired folder and press Restore.

The above method is feasible when you have created a backup of your Virtual Machine. However, if you do not have the backup of your VMware data and just have the corrupted VMDK file, you cannot undelete VMDK from datastore easily. You should better opt for the professional VMDK recovery tool.

Best Way to Restore Deleted VMDK from Datastore

The best solution to recover deleted files from VMWare datastore is the professional DRS VMDK Recovery Tool. It enables you to repair corrupted VMDK files created by VMware Virtual Machine or Virtualbox. This utility has multiple file recovery modes to recover data from severely corrupted files. Moreover, it supports various partition tables and file systems. Therefore, it is an ideal solution for all users.

Features of VMDK Recovery Tool

• It recovers data from both Fixed and Dynamic disks.
• You can check the preview of your recovered VMDK file content.
• Supports distinct file systems: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, RAW, and many others.
• Provide multiple file recovery modes: Standard, Advanced, and Deep.
• It allows you to save a disk image of the desired VMDK file.
• Widely compatible with all versions of Windows OS.

Steps to Recover Deleted Files from VMWare Datastore

• Download and install the DRS VMDK Recovery Tool. Run it as administrator.
• Choose the Disk type (Fixed Disk or Dynamic Disk) and browse the corrupted VMDK file. Click the Next button.
• Now, tick the Save Disk Image option and assign a suitable location to the disk image file.
• After that, select a particular scanning mode and click on the Next button.
• Now, choose the disk volume and other options. You can also add a custom volume. Click Next to proceed further.
• In the next steps, tick the desired VMDK file recovery mode and hit Next.
• After completing the recovery process, you will see a preview of the complete VMDK file content. Select the items you want to recover and press Save.
• Choose the destination for the recovered file and click OK.

Conclusions

I hope this article has provided you with all the necessary information regarding how to recover deleted VMDK from datastore. We explained about VMware Workstation and VMDK files. After that, we described the core reasons for the corruption of VMDK files. Then we show you a free solution to restore deleted VMDK from datastore. At last, we suggest the best VMDK file recovery tool to recover your Virtual hard disk file even from a severely corrupted file.