virtualbox.org

Basically I have a virtual disk image file that I took from my desktop,

is it possible to run this hard drive (Windows 7) on my laptop as I do not have access to my desktop anymore?

If so, how simple/easy is it to do this?

Help is very much appreciated!

You're being rather vague.

What do you mean "a virtual disk image that I took from my desktop"? Do you mean that it existed as a VDI file on your desktop, or that you converted your physical disk into a virtual image? And if the latter, what tool did you use?

What format is the file (what extension does it have)?

If you mean you half-inched an XP mode VHD from your work desktop then no, it's almost certainly a differential image and not usable away from the original PC. Even if you had the full image, XP mode activation would fail on the wrong host.

I had a virtual machine on my desktop, and I copied the .vdi file to my laptop.

I still want to use the .vdi file that has windows 7 on it on my laptop.

Sorry if I wasn't clear before.

The best way to move a VM is to move the entire VM, not just the disk part. You can create a new VM around the existing VDI quite easily, but since the VM signature changes Win7 will see that as a hardware change and require to be reactivated.

Do you wish to stop using that Windows 7 VM on your desktop? I ask because it's likely that Win7 would have asked to be reactivated regardless, and that may invalidate the activation of the desktop. Whether it does this may depend on the terms of your Win7 license.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I do not require to use the VM on the desktop again.

Basically I have my laptop right now with the VDI file and I just need the files etc on it. Is it possible to reinstall the whole vm on my laptop and have the same windows image?

The VDI file is just the disk part. Is there some reason why you are ignoring the rest of the VM?

The best way to move a VM is described in Howto: Move a VM. If you follow the recommended procedure then it will preserve the VMs hardware recipe and also preserves such things as snapshots.

If you've already scrapped your desktop along with the other VM files and only the VDI file remains then you can indeed create a new VM around this disk, though this can create several problems due to failing to get the hardware recipe the same. Plus of course Win7 will definitely need to be reactivated. However, the disk contents will of course be preserved, assuming you did not use snapshots in the lost VM.