Macro Linz » How to convert a physcial computer to a virtual machine
"I recently got a new replacement laptop for work. I had a lot of stuff on the old laptop after 2+ years of use and so I didn’t want to have to rush myself in remembering everything in one or two passes before formatting it to send back to the office. There are always things I forget when I’m mostly focused on moving data files over: files in “hidden” places like IM logs and non-file based data such as product keys, configuration info, settings for programs and other stuff. So I decided the best thing to do was make it into a VM and take my time about reinstalling and configuring the new laptop to match.
After some Googling I found a forum conversation on ArsTechnica about how some people did it. I had been planning to use Symantech Ghost but the version my company supplied was old and I didn’t want to shell out another $70 of my own. Someone mentioned in the post that you could use NTBackup, a free, already-there backup application on Windows XP. He said it was actually a preferred method because NTBackup is actually there to provide recovery services from backups made on different hardware. There would be no tweaking of drivers necessary on the new VM.
So I tried the P2V using NTBackup and it worked well. My last attempt (out of 3) was relatively painless. The first two failed because of miscalculations on my part. Since I had trouble finding information on how to do it and I generally need more detailed steps than the hardware gurus give me, I thought I’d document the process here in case anyone else has the same challenges I did.
…"
Very cool… I’ve used the Ghost method and while I was able to get it to work, it was a pain (Tips for migrating a physical computer to a virtual machine (part 4)).
Once I get my hands on an external drive I’m trying this method out…
(via MAKE: – HOW TO - Convert a physcial computer to a virtual machine)
Related Past Post XRef:
Tips for migrating a physical computer to a virtual machine (part 4)
Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT) Guidelines
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit Beta
How To Sysprep a Virtual PC Image
No comments:
Post a Comment
NOTE: Anonymous Commenting has been turned off for a while... The comment spammers are just killing me...
ALL comments are moderated. I will review every comment before it will appear on the blog.
Your comment WILL NOT APPEAR UNTIL I approve it. This may take some hours...
I reserve, and will use, the right to not approve ANY comment for ANY reason. I will not usually, but if it's off topic, spam (or even close to spam-like), inflammatory, mean, etc, etc, well... then...
Please see my comment policy for more information if you are interested.
Thanks,
Greg
PS. I am proactively moderating comments. Your comment WILL NOT APPEAR UNTIL I approve it. This may take some hours...