Clone Windows 7 VM

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
Post Reply
kinsio
Posts: 1
Joined: 14. Nov 2010, 05:27
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE Mandriva
Guest OSses: Win7

Clone Windows 7 VM

Post by kinsio »

Hi,

I have a Windows 7 guest running on my Windows 7 host. Now, I tried to clone this Windows 7 guest VM and run it on my MacBook pro. I have tried the following different steps, but I am not able to run the cloned Windows 7 guest on my Mac. When i started the Windows 7 guest VM on my Mac, I get the Windows Error Recovery screen and prompt me the option to repair it. I did try to repair it but have no success. any ideas?

These are the approaches that I have tried to clone and they don't work

Approach#1
1. Copy the VDI from my Windows 7 host to my Mac host.
2. Assign a new UUID to the VDI image that I copied from Windows on the Mac host
3. Create a new VM on Mac and map the VDI image
4. Start the VM and fail [Windows Error Recovery screen because hardware changed]

Approach #2
1. Copy the VDI from my Windows 7 host to my Mac host
2. Create a new VM on Mac
3. Map the VDI to my new VM on Mac
4. Start the VM and fail [Windows Error Recovery screen because hardware changed]

Note: The only different between approach#2 and approach#1 is that I created a new UUID in approach #1
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux
Location: /dev/random

Re: Clone Windows 7 VM

Post by Sasquatch »

Did you also copy the VM settings from W7 to Mac? That is vital, as Windows barfs really quickly when hardware changed. You also have to keep in mind that the machine UUID is different which will make W7 think it's on a different machine and will request reactivation. You have to copy the original machine UUID and set it as hardware UUID for the clone to avoid this.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
Post Reply