virtualbox.org

after a recent little scare i tohught id better check i can recover with my automated backup strategy in case my machine dies (again),but permamently.
i copied the vdi file
with VBoxManage clonevdi /home.....win2000.vdi /mnt/backup/win2000b.vdi

Ive installed Virtualbox on another machine and then tried to import win2000b.vdi (new ->existing->win2000b.vdi )

then when i try to run it I get a 'disk read error. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete' message .

So can i back up a vdi like this or do i need to run some backup software within my windows VM ?

With 2.1.0, the clone command is bugged. You can for a normal backup, just use the OS copy functionality. If you want to test the VDI, either unregister the existing one, or change it's UUID with VBoxManage internalcommands setvdiuuid <filename>.

i *think* i am testing the VDI.
I'm copying it to a different machine that has VBox installed and then trying to import the copied win2000.VDI on the backup machine .It starts to open win2000 and then fails with a disk read error message.
So on my backup machine there is no Virtual Disk to unregister ( or im not understanding something )

You can then just use the OS copy method. No need for the clone command. You need to use Clone if you want to run the image twice on the same Host. That will prevent any issues about "already registered".

is the OS copy method just importing the backed -up VDI to the new machine ?
ive tried that ( after changing he permissions of the backed-up VDI and I get the BSOD with the disk error unreadable message