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Windows Virtual PC in a Black hole
Hi. I need help please. Just migrated (late) from XP to Win7_64 pro and needed MS VM to run 4 large XP apps. I didn't want the virtual drives on my SSD C_Drive so created them on my 500Gb G_Drive.
I installed, checked and ran the apps in XP VM all o.k. The G drive contained 2 folders:
Windows XP mode (Tutorial, Key.txt, VXPEULA.txt, Windows XPMode base.vhd (about 1Gb))
and Windows XP virtual Machine ( windows XP mode.vhd (11.2Gb), Windows XP Mode.vmc, Windows XP Mode.vmc.vpcbackup, Windows XP Mode.vsv (1.5Gb)).
All was working fine but I couldn't figure out why my 11.2Gb of apps had grown so much, then learned about the XP base version. I wanted to be able to backup and restore my virtual drive. I shutdown VM (no hybernation!) and copied all the above files to a remote drive.
Then I evoked the VM MERGE option hoping I would see one VD file (which I did) but when I clicked on the desktop XP Mode link I got 'One or more files missing ... create new etc.
XP VM now broken, so I thought copy back the above 2 folders to the same location on G_Drive and try again - same message. So it appears links have been broken and whilst I have copies of the original VM folders I have been unable to restore my original XP VM. Although 'Create New' makes a second set of files.
I had a look in Windows system and feel sure there were entries under Virtual Machine which are no longer there. The desktop VM startup link is still pointing to %SystemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\VMCPropertyHandler.dll,LaunchDefaultVM
I have backups of my VM installation (but excluding what was in Win7 system folders).
Can I restore my XP virtual PC from the saved backup files, which would be a rescue route for the future.
I have read many sources which describe the MERGE option, but the last line is usually a few words about restoring linking. If that is my problem, then my working XP VM is still in the black hole I don't know how to get out from!
Thanks.