Top 03 Tricks To Recover Data From Corrupt VHD Files

VHD files corruption aka Virtual Hard Disk file corruption may ruin your day in a very bad way. It makes your data inaccessible by corrupting it and to recover data from corrupt VHD files is a little bit complicated.

So have you ever created or used a Virtual Hard Disk file?
Or have an idea where we use it?

If not, with this article I will help you to understand what exactly a VHD file is and also its uses. We will also discuss, the various reasons for VHD file corruption and finally my top picks or Top 04 Tricks To Recover Data From Corrupt VHD Files.

So keep reading

What Is VHD File?

So now the biggest question is “What is VHD file?”

VHD files are basically created by Microsoft Virtual PC to represent Virtual hard disk drive. In a VHD file, you can save any type of content that is present in your hard disk drives like disk partitions, boot records, system files, and various other files and folders. You can save and store all these mentioned files in VHD format. Actually, VHD files use a logic disk by Virtual machines.

In various Windows version, primarily the versions launched after Windows Vista VHD files have been used to back up your system images. In Windows XP and earlier version, NT-Backup was used to backup our system data which was later replaced by Backup & Restore Tool.

At that time, even by now there are two types of backup you may go for. One is file back up and the other one is system backup. There is a small difference between them and that is if you are looking to back up some specific files then it will be stored or saved in ZIP format. However, if you are planning to backup your entire system data, then the backup tool in your respective Windows will create a disk image and will be saved in VHD format.

I hope now you know, what is VHD file

So now let’s see,

How To Create VHD File?

If you have a little bit of idea about Virtual disk and all, it is very easy to create a VHD file. But if you are new o this world the No Worries. I would be telling you how to create a VHD file.

1. Right-click on your “My Computer” and click “Manage”
   

   

2. Now go to “Computer Management Windows” and click on “Disk Management” under “Storage”
   

   

3. Go to “actions” – then click on “More actions” – scroll down and go to “disk management” – And finally click on create VHD in the options.
   

   

4. Now after creating the VHD file. Now browse a location where you want to save it. Also define the format for the VHD file.
   

   

5. Within a few seconds, your VHD file will be created at the mentioned location.
   

   

Creating VHD Files Using Backup & Restore Tool

There is one more way to create VHD files and that is by using Backup & Restore Tool. You may follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Click on “Start” and in the search bar type and search for “Backup and Restore”
2. Now go to “Control Panel” – then “Control panel items” – Now under “Control Panel Home” click on “Create a system image”
   

   

3. Browse and locate the destination where you want to save your backup file.
   

   

4. Now select and choose the drive that you want to backup. And click “Next”
   

   

5. In the final step, confirm the details and click “Start Backup”
   

   

So here were the two procedures through which you can create VHD files. But do keep in mind, this process will take several minutes or even hours depending on the size of your backup file.

Note: These VHD files are also very prone to corruption due to various reasons like virus infection, software malfunction, storage media failures, improper system shutdown and much more. If corruption happens, it may make your data inaccessible and may put your data at risk of losing.

So now the question is how to recover files from corrupt VHD???
So let’s see the techniques through which you can recover and restore corrupt VHD files

How To Recover Files From Corrupt VHD Or Restore Corrupt VHD Files

In the last part, I will share with you my top 03 techniques which I always prefer to recover data from the corrupt VHD file.

Technique 01 To Repair VHD file Manually

This is the first technique which I always use to recover files from corrupt VHD. In this technique, I create a Virtual machine, add the VHD files and then compact it. You may follow the below-mentioned process..to do the same

1. For that, first, you have to create a new Virtual Server and have to add a new hard disk.
2. Now go to Settings and locate the hard disk that you have created just now. And then browse the VHD file
3. Now compact the files by selecting the “Compact Option” in the  Virtual Disk Wizard. Make sure to select the “ Convert it to a fixed-size virtual hard disk” option before compacting the files.
4. Now you can save these files in a new location with a new name.
5. As soon as the files are compacted successfully. Copy it and sync it with the old server and run it.

Technique 2 To Recover Data From Corrupt VHD File Manually

If the above technique doesn’t work then I download Microsoft VHD Tool. It allows the user to run the system as an admin with the help of the following below command:

VhdTool.exe /repair <BaseVhdFileName> <FirstSnapshotAVhdFileName> [/quiet]

Technique 3 To Repair VHD File

And the last technique that I use to recover files from corrupt VHD is by using a good VHD Recovery Tool.

Why?
Because most of these tools are good in recovering corrupt VHD files.
There are many vendors which provide these type of tools to recover data from the corrupt VHD file. But being a user and a consultant, I always refer my clients to use:

Software Name: VHD Recovery Software
Version:3.02

Download Now

I always prefer this tool because of its simple GUI and its ability to recover files. It can successfully restore your entire corrupt data with ease. Plus there are some features which are yet not seen on other tools. Plus this VHD Recovery software is known for its reliability, accuracy and for fast recovery. You may give it a look as they have a free version too…which you can download and check how the tool works and even can evaluate it.

Note: I never suggest anyone to go for a tool first, unless you are not sure about the manual techniques. Most of the times, these manual procedures works great but in some scenarios, they don’t work as per expectations. And this is the time, you should look out for a software

Hope you liked the article….