How to import an existing Windows 2000 into Virtualbox

[scottgus1]

Windows cannot access \\PhysicalDrive0

One other thing. mind the syntax, It looks like you're missing a .\

CloneVDI now recognizes when you have used a Windows disk device name as the source filename (for example, "\\.\PhysicalDrive0"

[Stofken]

the .\ was entered in the GUI, but the Windows alert dropped the .\ part
I currently don't have physical access to the Windows 2000 pc/disk.
The output in cmd is

Disk 0 | Online |  232 GB | Free   0 B
Disk 1 | Online |  232 GB | Free   0 B
Disk 2 | Online |  931 GB | Free   0 B
Disk 3 | Online | 3216 MB | Free 960 KB

[scottgus1]

I currently don't have physical access to the Windows 2000 pc/disk.

Isn't the whole point of this thread to figure out how to clone the Windows 2000 disk? What have you been attempting to clone with CloneVDI?

[Stofken]

Yes, that's the goal. And in order to understand the Clone tool, I was trying to create an image of my own Windows 10 pc, but as I can't even make that work

[scottgus1]

OK, I missed that you said you were trying a different disk earlier. The CloneVDI release notes say:

On some Windows hosts you may also need to run
CloneVDI with elevated privileges ("Run as administrator") since this feature requires
CloneVDI to have sector level (read only) access to the source drive.

Did you do this? Also, did you try cloning a different disk besides the drive you're booting the PC from?

[Stofken]

On some Windows hosts you may also need to run CloneVDI with elevated privileges ("Run as administrator") since this feature requires CloneVDI to have sector level (read only) access to the source drive.

This worked on my Windows 7 machine. Now I see "Validation result: Ok" Drive size 232.88 GB File system: NTFS, Unknown (27). Cloning my boot will take about 1 hour.

Now for the MergeIDE action, does this change anything to the source drive? Is there any chance the source drive might become unbootable because at this point there is no exact clone of the disk to restore. So if MergeIDE does something wrong to the disk, I am f***d.

Any advice on how to duplicate the source disk before I start any imaging?

[mpack]

Now for the MergeIDE action, does this change anything to the source drive? Is there any chance the source drive might become unbootable because at this point there is no exact clone of the disk to restore. So if MergeIDE does something wrong to the disk, I am f***d.

Default answer: if you have concerns before doing anything on your PC, then make a backup. Which backup tools work in Windows 2000? No idea. I'd try Macrium Reflect Free first (*), after that I'd try booting from a rescue CD. You'll also need to consider what you'll write the backup to.

In answer to the initial question: MergeIDE adds registry entries to the source OS so that XP/Win2k will recognize a greater range of IDE disk controllers, rather than only the one it was installed on. This prevents the stop 0x7B BSOD you see when the Win2k/XP VM tries to boot and doesn't recognize any disk controllers present. XP dates from a time when disk space was not infinite, and also didn't envisage disk imaging and VMs, it typically didn't install drivers for hardware not present. Adding dormant info to the registry shouldn't affect the source PC, only the PC that needs the info.

(*) Apparantly Macrium Reflect no longer supports being installed on Windows 2000, hardly surprising of course.

[Stofken]

Apparantly Macrium Reflect no longer supports being installed on Windows 2000, hardly surprising of course.

I will order an USB to IDE cable and attach the drive to a Windows 10 computer and make the clone with Macrium Reflect Free or run Cobian Backup 9 from the W2K machine.
However, when the original disk might become corrupt, the Free version of Macrium does not seem able to restore the clone, I'll need the home version with ReDeploy at least. So a backup would be useless if it cannot be restored, false sense of security.

[mpack]

the Free version of Macrium does not seem able to restore the clone

? I'm not sure what you're saying there. Backup software that can't restore one of it's own backups is probably the very definition of useless. In any case I've used Macrium Reflect Free lots of times for both backup and restore, including "restoring" a physical image into a blank VM using a USB rescue disk (mapped to the VM using the VISO feature). I'm a big Macrium Reflect fan, so I reject the very idea that better software exists for the task.

[scottgus1]

I also use Macrium all the time and have restored successfully.

Hwever, this from a Macrium forum:

Macrium Reflect has never supported Windows editions previous to Windows XP

I suspect, though, that a Macrium restore CD made on an XP PC might work to boot the Windows 2000 PC to the restore CD boot environment.

Even if you use Macrium to get an image into the guest environment, you will still run into the hard drive controller glitch that MergeIDE fixes. Here's a suggestion about how to run MergeIDE on the original PC without changing the original OS:

Get another hard drive that the original PC can use. Use Macrium booted from a restore CD to clone the original hard drive to the new hard drive. Disconnect the original drive and boot the new hard drive. Run MergeIDE on the OS on the new hard drive. I would also uninstall any custom drivers for hardware, such as special network cards, video cards or mice, and unnecessary software the W2000 has on it now. Shut down and remove the new hard drive. Replace the original hard drive. Now the old W2000 PC is back to the way it was with no changes, and the new drive has a cloned copy of the OS with the MergeIDE edits.

Here's a way to get the W2000 physical drive contents into a virtual drive that Virtualbox can use:
Attach the new hard drive to your Windows 10(? 7 or later will work) PC via USB. Install Macrium on your PC. In Disk Management on your PC, Action menu, click 'Create VHD'. Make a VHD, not a VHDX. I would use fixed-size, since dynamic VHD's have a design flaw that can make the VHD fail with complete data loss if there's a disk error at the right time. Make the VHD the size of the USB-attached disk, plus a few GB. Once the VHD is mounted and you have a new drive letter for it, use Macrium to clone the USB-attached drive to the VHD.

Now unmount the VHD from your PC. Make a Windows 2000 guest in Virtualbox. Here you have a choice. You can use the VHD as the main guest disk, or you can use CloneVDI to make a dynamic VDI copy of the VHD and use the VDI as the guest disk. Virtualbox is compatible with VHDs, but is completely at home with VDIs. I would clone to a VDI, and keep the VHD as a backup.

Boot the W2000 guest, recognize new hardware, and go from there.

[Stofken]

a Macrium restore CD made on an XP PC might work to boot the Windows 2000 PC to the restore CD boot environment.

Unfortunately, I have no access to an XP machine.

Get another hard drive that the original PC can use.

The old Compaq only accepts one IDE drive, which are no longer in shops. I have found an IDE to SATA converter but cannot predict it will work.

Use Macrium booted from a restore CD to clone the original hard drive to the new hard drive.

I guess both drives have to be attached at the same time, so the new drive will have to be attached via USB to SATA cable.

[scottgus1]

I have no access to an XP machine.

OK, I guessed that an XP source for the restore CD would have been more certain to be compatible with the old W2000 PC, but If I remember right you can download a XP-style restore environment from Macrium when you make the restore ISO to burn to CD. No actual XP PC needed, then.

IDE drive, which are no longer in shops

Not quite gone yet

The old Compaq only accepts one IDE drive

You may be able to attach the other IDE drive to the W2000 PC using a USB to IDE adapter, make the clone with the Restore CD, then switch drives. You will quite likely have trouble getting the guest to boot if you can't run MergeIDE on the W2000 OS or manually make the registry changes that MergeIDE makes. So you should really think through how to get these registry edits made.

FWIW some google-fu shows there may be ways to edit the registry of a not-running OS. If you can't copy that W2000 OS to another drive, you might be able to edit the registry of a clone copy on another drive and make the edits MergeIDE would have done.

[Stofken]

First of all, thank you for your extended patience
I will look for an extra IDE drive as the one you showed does not ship to Belgium (Europe)

[mpack]

Hwever, this from a Macrium forum:

Macrium Reflect has never supported Windows editions previous to Windows XP

I'm pretty sure that simply means that you can't install Macrium Reflect on Win2K, not that you can't boot from a rescue disk and both backup and restore Win2K or XP partitions. Win2K is using NTFS, there would be nothing unusual about the filesystem. The Win2K and XP filesystems are nearly identical (only two years apart after all), I can't see why Macrium would limit their own customer base arbitrarily.

Also, someone will have to remind me why the operating system used by the rescue CD has to match the OS on the main disk being backed up or restored, because I'm struggling to think of why that would be the case. Backwards compatible yes, the same: no.

[scottgus1]

not that you can't boot from a rescue disk and both backup and restore Win2K or XP partitions

I'm banking on the same thing, that a Macrium Restore CD ought to be able to read the W2000 disk & clone it.