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Troubleshooting the Importer

This section describes known issues with the importer.

Importer Installation Issues

Importer Installation Wizard Interrupted —

Installation can fail with a message saying that the installation was interrupted.

The following are possible workarounds.

  • Verify that you do not have a previous installation of the importer.

    • If you have a previous installation of the importer, use the Add/Remove Programs control panel to remove the previous installation.

    Remove any references to Virtual Machine Importer from the registry entry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.

  • Delete any previous failed installation source files or folders from your Temp directory, or move the Temp directory to another folder during the installation.

    • Virtual Machine Migration Issues

    Changes to Virtual Hardware —

    Most migrated applications should function correctly in the VMware virtual machine because their configuration and data files have the same location as the source virtual machine. However, applications might not work if they depend on the specific characteristics of the underlying hardware — such as the serial number or the device manufacturer.

    When troubleshooting after migration, keep in mind the following hardware changes:

  • The CPU model and serial number (if activated) may be different after the migration. They correspond to the physical computer hosting the VMware virtual machine.
  • The Ethernet adapter is different (AMD™ PCNet™ or VMXnet) with a different MAC address. Each interface's IP address has to be individually reconfigured.
  • The graphics card is different (VMware SVGA card).
  • The number of disks and partitions is the same, but each disk device has a different model and different manufacturer strings.
  • The primary disk controllers are likely to be different from the source machine's.
  • Applications may not work if they depend on devices that are not available from within a virtual machine.

    • Importer Fails to Import Virtual Machine or System Image with More Than Six PCI Devices —

    The importer supports migration of only six PCI devices. If you have a virtual machine or system image with more than six PCI devices, the importer does not import all of them.

    Workaround: Remove the default audio controller or another virtual PCI device you don't require before you import a virtual machine or system image with the importer.

    Virtual Machine or System Image Shared Folder Settings Not Migrated —

    The importer does not support the migration of shared folders.

    Workaround: Recreate shared folders in your VMware virtual machine after migration.

    Windows NT4 Ethernet Adapter Not Migrated Correctly —

    If your virtual machine or system image does not have an AMD PCnet-PCI-II compatible Ethernet adapter, it can migrate improperly.

    Workaround: After you import a Windows NT4 virtual machine, install a new virtual Ethernet adapter, and then install VMware Tools.

    Failed to Impersonate Client —

    After you select the .vmc or .sv2i file, the wizard could finish with the error: Failed to impersonate client before deleting drive letter.

    Workaround: Not available.

    No Keyboard or Mouse in Imported Virtual Machine —

    After you import a virtual machine or system image to VMware, the mouse and keyboard do not work in the new machine. The mouse and keyboard are not available in the guest operating system, but they are available in the BIOS.

    Workaround: Reset the virtual machine.

    Importer Reports Error When Converting Virtual PC Disk Files with Duplicate Names —

    During the import process, the importer writes all the Virtual PC disk files to the same target folder. If the Virtual PC virtual machine has virtual disk files (*.vhd) of the same name on different paths, the import process fails when it attempts to write target virtual disks with duplicate names into the destination folder. The completion panel of the VMware Virtual Machine Importer Wizard displays the message: The Virtual Machine Importer encountered a problem while copying the disks of the source virtual machine. The log file shows the error message The file already exists.

    Workaround: Ensure that each source .vhd file has a unique name:

    1. In Virtual PC Console, remove the disk you wish to rename (set the hard disk value to None).

    2. Rename the.vhd file corresponding to the disk you just removed.

    3. In Virtual PC Console, add the renamed disk file.

    4. Close Virtual PC Console.

    The importer should successfully convert all the disks.

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