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Edgar Cole
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Is it possible to create a virtual machine using a USB-connected disk drive?

On my Dell Mobile Precision M4700, I'm running Windows 10. I have an external disk containing a boot image which I would like to run in a virtual machine. I am most familiar with VMware's player, but I'm not averse to using Microsoft's Hyper-V.

In the partition table presented below, it is the device identified as Disk 3 that I'm trying to configure as a virtual machine. I've tried setting it up myself, using both VMware and Hyper V, but have not succeeded. Each time I try starting the virtual machine, I get the startup repair screen. I'm not even sure of an independent method for determining whether that device is bootable. I thought of using BCDEdit to configure the boot menu, but I don't have any experience with that tool. Even if it is bootable, I guess it's possible that the hypervisor applications just don't like booting from USB-connected devices.

If anyone can tell me whether what I'm trying to do is feasible and if so, how to do it, I would appreciate.

Partition table
Hyper-VVMwareVirtualizationWindows 10Acronis

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Edgar Cole

8/22/2022 - Mon
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

So the USB external disk, does not exist as a virtual machine disk, just files and folders, e.g. there is no virtual machine disk, either VHD or VMDK ?

So what you are really wanting to do, is pass through the disk to the virtual machine, "as is".

does the external hard disk, contain a boot image what is it?

VMDK, VHD or Acronis Image ?

You may have to complete a conversion on this VM, to create a virtual machine.
Edgar Cole

ASKER
The disk contains a Windows 7 partition that was restored from an Acronis True Image full system backup (.tib) file. As such, I'm assuming the disk is boot-able. I just haven't had a chance to verify that.

To answer your question, I do have VHD and VMDK versions of the disk image, but those didn't work either. Actually, I thought that the physical disk might work better, since nothing gets lost in the translation.
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David Johnson, CD

first confirm that the disk is indeed bootable. in your bios options or your boot up screen you have the option to set a boot order, try booting from the usb drive.
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Edgar Cole

ASKER
It appears that the image I created on an external USB drive by restoring a True Image backup will not boot! Never before have I failed to get viable images from True Image backups! I always validate the backups, and that was no different this time.
Edgar Cole

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By the way, if I gave the impression that I was trying to boot this image on a different computer, I apologize. That is not the case.
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Edgar Cole

ASKER
Yeah, that's what I get for using Google! I pasted the command syntax from a site on the Internet. I guess they hadn't proofread it, and I didn't know any better. Thanks for the clarification on the bootrec command.

I must confess that, while waiting for your response to my previous comment, I ran the recovery console. When it told me that it could see the USB drive and offered to repair it automatically, I accepted. After about 20 minutes, it finished. Now when I start the system, the Windows 7 partition on the USB drive is presented as one of two from which I can boot. Unfortunately, it takes me directly to the screen which offers safe mode startup options! No matter which one of the options I choose, I always get a blue screen and the cycle starts over again.

I'm not giving up, however. I don't know whether it will help, but I'd still like to get to the command prompt and use the command sequence you suggested.
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David Johnson, CD

it might have to do with the way the external usb drive is presented to windows.  if it is presented as a removable drive it simply will not work. Windows 7 needs to boot from a fixed drive.

What you could try is create a vhd on the usb drive, mount the vhd, restore to the vhd,

A walkthrough is available @ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/knom/2009/04/07/windows-7-vhd-boot-setup-guideline/
Edgar Cole

ASKER
Yes. I started a process to convert the hard disk to a virtual one about 3 1/2 hours ago. It still has about another 90 minutes to go.
Edgar Cole

ASKER
Unfortunately, I can't vouch for any of the strategies suggested by the experts. Before I was able to finish testing, I stepped on and broke the external drive containing the original Windows 7 partition. What I can tell you is that, even though I managed to get the USB drive containing Windows 7 to show up in the multi-boot screen, it wouldn't boot. Also, none of my attempts to create viable virtual disks succeeded. When I use those discs to create virtual machines (both Hyper V and VMware), they wouldn't boot. Those images were huge, and so I kept deleting them. Before I could create a new one, I accidentally destroyed the source. :-(
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