A virtual machine is data inside data: guest file systems living in VMDK, VHDX or qcow2 containers, on datastores, on disks. When a VM is deleted, a snapshot chain breaks, or the host storage fails, recovery has to work every layer honestly — and the Princes Street bench does VMware, Hyper-V and their kin as standard.
$ edr connecting…
Deleted VMs are the classic: a virtual disk removed from a datastore is a huge file deleted from a file system — recoverable like any deletion if writes stop fast, and thin-provisioned disks make speed matter double. Broken snapshot chains strand a VM across a base disk and orphaned deltas; recovery re-threads the chain or reconciles the layers into one coherent disk. Corrupted containers — a VMDK descriptor gone, a VHDX header scrambled — leave the guest intact inside a wrapper the hypervisor rejects. And host storage failure stacks the whole problem on a RAID or SAN recovery first. The bench works from images at every layer, so a wrong turn can’t cost you the original.
Sometimes you need the VM itself, bootable, to slot back into the host; sometimes you only need last year’s accounts out of a guest that’s otherwise disposable. Say which at intake — the recovery targets it. Containers are repaired and validated, guest file systems (NTFS, ext4, XFS and friends) are opened natively, and the deliverable is your choice: intact virtual disks, or the folders that mattered, verified and returned. Tell us the hypervisor and version with the first call; it saves a round-trip.
Often, if writes to that datastore stopped quickly — a deleted VMDK is a deleted file, and the space isn't reused instantly. Power down or freeze the datastore now, note the VM's name and rough size, and get the underlying storage to the bench.
Stuck, not gone, usually: the chain of base disk plus deltas has lost its thread. Recovery reads the chain directly, reconciles the layers in the right order on copies, and hands back either a bootable disk or the guest's files. Stop retrying consolidation — each attempt can write over evidence.
Yes — once the container is repaired, the guest file system inside opens natively and individual folders extract cleanly. It's the faster, cheaper shape for 'we just need the finance share' jobs; say so at intake and the quote reflects it.
A free diagnostic first, always — then a fixed written quote before any work begins. No surprises on the invoice, because there's no invoice until you've approved the number.
Getting a device onto this bench only takes two moves, and the clock on your free look starts the moment it lands.
Strip out cables, caddies and power bricks — none of it helps — wrap the device so it can't shift in transit, and either post it insured to 83 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 2ER or bring it in yourself. Tuck a note of what happened in with it, and enclose the shipping form if you've printed one.
Arrival gets confirmed, the diagnostic runs at no cost to you, and the call that follows names the fault and states a fixed price. The bench stays idle on your device until you say go.
Free diagnostic, written quote before any work, and virtual disks copied read-only before any repair is attempted on the guest or the host.