Different Ways to Fix VHD File is Corrupted and Unreadable Issue
Summary:- Do users want to fix the VHD file that is corrupted and unreadable? If your VHD or VHDX file got damaged and unreadable then read this guide carefully. In this write up we are going to describe a few simple solutions through which users can repair VHD files without any issues.
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“Yesterday I tried to create a new disk at the same location and afterward, attaching the newly created VHD file to the virtual environment. Unfortunately, VHD file or directory is corrupted and unreadable and I was unable to read that file correctly. Thus is there any way through which I can easily get back my corrupted .vhd file. Please suggest me a quick and reliable solution for the same.”
VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) is a file format used to create the virtual environment. At times, the users have restricted to mount a VHD file on the Virtual machine and view an unreadable Virtual partition algorithm. Because of this, they might fail to open the Hyper-V attachments, and the data have become inaccessible too. There are so many reasons why a situation arises that a file directory is corrupted and unreadable. It is quite difficult to figure out the exact reason for this error.
Therefore, in the upcoming section, we are going to discuss a complete solution to resolve the VHD File is corrupted and unreadable issue. Before this, let us know the causes of why the VHD file becomes corrupt or unreadable.
Reasons Behind VHD File or Directory is Corrupted and Unreadable Error
There are several reasons due to which the .vhd file becomes corrupted and unreadable. Here are some major causes that are mentioned below:
- Due to Hard Drive Failure:- Hard disk storage may become corrupted or damaged due to the manufacturer’s fault.
- Due to File Sharing Over a Faulty Network:- Multiple errors occurred while transferring data on hardware that is faulty. The disconnection of a storage device during the creation or export of a virtual hard drive will also cause an error.
- Errors Due to Many Antivirus Programs:- Antivirus or encryption programs that can hamper the operation of the virtual machine. So, you can avoid installing antivirus or exclude virtual machine-related directories from the antivirus scan.
The above-stated causes can make the VHD file or directory corrupted or unreadable. Thus, to fix this type of issue you just follow the manual approach.
Fix VHD / VHDX Corrupted Error Manually
Microsoft renders an inbuilt utility by which users can easily repair the VHD files and open a file in that inbuilt email program. Let us explain various steps that will help to overcome VHD file or directory corrupted or unreadable issues:
- Firstly, you need to mount a .vhd file under the parent partition, and after that, type CHKDSK to repair it.
- Then, you can check the integrity of the VHD file by using Hyper-V virtual machine
- After this, add the VHD file to the IDE controller and hit on Inspect option
- You can also merge any VHD and AVHD file (This file can be created by default in the exact location where the VHD file is also located). You have to check that it can be opened by Windows 7, server 2008 (for the Virtual machine)
- At last, you can download the free Microsoft VHD tool containing the “repair” option that originated to undo the expanding mode on-base VHD when multiple VHDs are available.
How to Repair corrupted or Unreadable VHD File With Virtual Machine
As discussed above, the VHD can also be used by VM machines. So, users can be reading it in a virtual machine to understand whether it can work generally. Follow the below guide:-
- Generate a new virtual machine if users do have not any VM Machine on their computer.
- Attach the VHD to the VM. Users can do that by hitting on the VM Settings option.
- Once done, hit on the Virtual Disk Wizard and choose compact.
- Check the box next to convert it to a fixed-size virtual hard disk.
- Finally, save the VHDX or VHD file at the preferred destination on your PC.
Fix Hyper-v File or Directory is Corrupted & Unreadable with Windows PowerShell
- Open Windows PowerShell as an admin.
- Enter Mount-VHD-path e:\VHD\VHD.vhd –Readonly and hit Enter.
- Enter Optimize-VHD-path e:\VHD\VHD.vhd –Modefull and hit Enter.
- Enter Dismount-VHD-path e:\VHD\VHD.vhd and click Enter.
Drawbacks of the Manual Approach
There are numerous flaws while performing the manual solution to fix the VHD file is corrupted and unreadable error. Go through the following steps, it will also work to fix the .vhdx file corrupted and unreadable issue:
- This manual procedure is very lengthy and time-consuming.
- This method will often not be able to fix VHD file corruption.
- Required technical knowledge
Professional Way to Fix Corrupted VHDX/VHD File
To overcome all constraints of the manual solution, thus users can take the help of the trusted solution named as SysTools Hyper-V Recovery Software. Users can free download this application on any version of Windows. It is designed in such a way as to save and extract files from corrupted VHD images. It has the potential to extract formatted or deleted partitions from VHD files. This software also generates an instant preview of all data from a single and multiple partitioned virtual hard disk (VHD).
Moreover, it has a user-friendly interface and it can be freely accessed by any normal user in just a few seconds. In fact, the technical or non-technical person will be able to run this application without any obstacles.
Working Steps to Repair Corrupt VHD or VHDX File
Just follow the steps listed here to extract files from a corrupted virtual machine .vhd file or .vhdx file.
- Download and install the tool on your system
- Click on Open to browse the corrupted VHD file.
- Navigate to the location and browse the corrupted virtual machine .vhd file. Here you can browse the VHDX file as well. The software is capable to extract data from corrupted .vhdx and .vhd file.
- Now the tool will Scan the corrupted virtual machine and list all the files and folders in the software panel.
- Save all files on your machine at a physical location.
Note: – Now users have all their data files in healthy state from inaccessible, corrupted and unreadable virtual machine VHD or VHDX file. Now simply create new virtual machine in Hyper-v and move all files and folders from your physical device. Now users have a healthy and corruption free VHD or VHDX file. They can easily Mount the new VHD or VHDX. The above manual solution is free to fix VHDX file corrupted and unreadable. It requires technical expertise to perform. If you are novice to virtualization, then don’t opt the manual solution to fix VHD file corruption error.
Time to Conclude
In this blog, we have covered some different methods that will help to fix the VHD file is a corrupted and unreadable issue. Users can choose either manual or automated solutions. Both techniques are explained in a better way. However, the manual method has some drawbacks, thus we advise you to opt for an alternate solution. With the help of this application, users can easily resolve corruption issues within a few minutes. It’s time to get rid of the hyper-v the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable error.