windows xp guest and ext usb HD

[eyeman]

Mpack

Your CloneVDI created a clone of my .vmdk VM on my external HD, once I figured out how to install and use it..great software.

I would like to ask how to set up the new VM that will use the external HD instead of taking up all that disc space on my Mac. Can you give me some direction? The settings I tried either give me a "no bootable media found" or I get a BSOD loop. Both my new VDI clone and a copy of my working XP VM (vmdk) are resident on my external USB HD. The original vmdk files are on the desktop of my Mac.

thanks again
Todd

[mpack]

I hope you remembered to set the "Compact" option in CloneVDI, otherwise your disk may not be much smaller than before.

Setting up the a VM around the clone is described in the CloneVDI release notes which came with the software, but all you really need do is use the "Storage" section of your VM to select a new hard disk, from its new location. If you have conflicting UUIDs then you need to release the old conflicting hard disk first.

My goal was to get your VDI clone small enough that you could run it from the internal drive. Whether VDI or VMDK, performance running from a USB drive will be terrible, as I've already said.

[eyeman]

Don

Thanks for the reminder re: compacting. i am running CloneVDI once again, using my ext HD as the destination. I will look at the final size of the clone, move it to the MacBook Pro HD, release the old VM disk and install the clone.

Thanks for your patience with me..this is new ground. I look forward to running a more efficient setup for the Windows XP guest without having to constantly worry about the Mac remaining free HD space.

I am an eye surgeon by profession..can't help you with computer issues, but PM me if you need advice regarding your eyes

Thanks again
Todd

[eyeman]

Don

The finished clone was 51Gb after compacted cloning, as opposed to the 56Gb original vmdk file. So, it's a gain of 5gb of HD space. Since you say that the performance from an ext HD would be poor, I will use the clone on the Mac and be happy with that

Todd

[mpack]

Compacting will have ensured that unused sectors from the disk image are not stored in the host VDI file, so it sounds like you have 51GB of real data there, which is IMHO quite a lot.

Perhaps you might take a look at what big files are simply not needed and could be deleted (and I assume you regularly empty out your wastebasket so that deleted files are REALLY deleted). Also look in your temp folder (<user-doc>\Local Settings\Temp), as a lot of crud can accumulate there. Ditto for restore points: there's a lot of info to be found on the web on discovering where all your disk space has gone, and as long as you make sure to have a clone standing by as a backup, there's no danger in deleting that stuff. It is most "cost effective" to identify the largest files or folders on your drive - tools can be found online which help with that search.

Apart from data which can be completely deleted, seldom used data from your guests system drive could be moved to a shared folder or second virtual drive, either of which could be located on your external drive. These files could then also be deleted from your system drive and the drive compacted with CloneVDI again.

I would have thought that a 20GB system drive, or smaller, was quite achievable.

[eyeman]

Don

Good advice...I am using 2 utilities I dl'd to clean up the drive a bit.

Todd

[eyeman]

Don

I put the compacted clone on my Mac HD, removed the original VM (vmdk) to my ext HD, and set up a new VM. When I try to boot up, I get the following error:

FATAL: int13_harddisk: function 42: cant use 64 bits lba

Any idea?

Todd

[mpack]

No, I don't understand that message: it can't be caused by cloning. I suspect you have changed the VM settings because XP can't handle 64bit LBAs, so it couldn't have been working like that before. If you create a new VM around a Windows clone you must make sure that all settings are the same as before, and do not use any EFI BIOS setting.

[eyeman]

Don

I didn't change any of the VM settings, but continued to get the same error.

I did some research on the Vbox forums and found a way out of the error...I used my Windows XP CD to boot off and do a repair. The error msg is now gone. However, when I boot off the HD, I get a BSOD loop. Not sure where to go from here, other than to reinstall my old VM and pray

Thx
Todd

[eyeman]

Don

When I switched from IDE to SATA, it worked. I had tried SATA (as I have used in the old VM) before, but was still stuck on the Int13_harddisk error...but after doing the repair,a nd then going back to SATA, Xp booted successfully


Sorry to trouble you so much

Todd