Microsoft KB Archive/825110

= You cannot start from a virtual hard disk that is linked to a physical drive =

Article ID: 825110

Article Last Modified on 12/12/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 5.2
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 5.1
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 5.0
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 4.3
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 4.2
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 4.1
 * Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 4.0

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SYMPTOMS
When you try use a virtual hard disk that is linked to a physical drive to start a virtual machine, you may not be able to start from the linked virtual hard disk.



CAUSE
This behavior may occur if you remove and then re-create the link to the physical drive. When you link a virtual machine to a physical drive, a link file is created that must not be changed in any way. The link file has the .vhd extension, and is found in the location that you specified when you created the virtual hard disk. The link file contains a link to the physical disk and a copy of the boot sector and partition sector that the virtual machine uses. When you install an operating system to a partition under Virtual PC, the real boot sector on the partition is not modified. However, if you create a new link to the volume that the virtual machine uses in Virtual PC, you create a fresh boot sector and partition sector. As a result, the virtual machine cannot find the operating system that you have installed on the virtual machine because the boot sector does not point to the correct partition sector.



WORKAROUND
To avoid this behavior, back up the link file after the operating system is installed on the physical drive, or after any program is used that might change the boot sector. The link file is small. Therefore, you can copy it to a 3.5-inch disk, to a network share, or to another backup media such as CD-ROM. Or, you can use any standard backup mechanism, such as NTBackup, to create a backup of the file. If the link file is damaged or lost, you can replace the link file with the backup copy of the file. If a backup of the link file does not exist, you cannot fix or replace a damaged link file.

Keywords: kbprb KB825110

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