Moving old Computer to Hyper-V

Recovery to new VM is generally done this way - create an Acronis rescue media (with Universal restore, the Premium version will do it), create new VM with an empty disk, boot the VM with the bootable media and restore with checked 'use Universal Restore' options supplying necessary drivers (for SCSI disk controller).
What can go wrong -
if linux-based media of True Image fails to work in Hyper-V VM, or doesn't have necessary drivers (e.g. network, so that it can access the backed up image) you can create a WinPE-based one.
If the physical machine had its SATA disk in AHCI mode, it won't work in hyper-v (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/systemcenter/en-US/089c4f94-… )

Hallo Fedor

Thanks for your answer. How can I exactly create a new VM with an empty disk? And how can I boot the VM with the bootable media? I have now knowledge about VM's...

Best Regards
Chris

Hallo Fedor

Thanks for your answer. How can I exactly create a new VM with an empty disk? And how can I boot the VM with the bootable media? I have no knowledge about VM's...

Best Regards
Chris

Creating a new VM is more or less the same in all hypervisors - for hyper-v you may start here - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772480.aspx . To boot the VM from bootable media , create the media as an .iso file and specify this file in hardware setting of the VM for CD-ROM device.

Thanks again for the answer but I'm really newbie to this and I don't understand it at all. First I don't understand the whole thing: Is a virtual machine an OS on a seperate volume? Then: How I connect the Hyper-V that it starts the OS? Do I have to point to like a starting-file on this volume?

And specific for Acronis: Which steps I have to take to create a new VM, best like: You have to click first here and than here and than there. The same for booting the VM. How can I make a .iso file step by step? And where I get to to the hardware-settings of the VM - I never saw any hardware-settings for VM anywhere.

Sorry I'm working since 1983 with computers but I don't have any knowledge, what excactly virtualisation means and I cannot imagine it clearly

Thanks for your answer!

A virtual machine emulates only hardware. To start anything on the empty VM you have to boot it from CD (or PXE but it's another story), and to boot it from CD you can point it to .is file on the host machine. As for Hyper-V specifics (how to make a new VM and where are HW properties) - can't help here. Saving created Acronis media as .iso file is offered as one of steps in Bootable Media Builder (or WinPE Media builder)

Ok. thank you very much - I think I got the idea now. I created now a VM with an empty disk (a virtual one, hope that's allright), made a bootable DVD with an .iso image and so I was able to boot the VM and start Acronis from the Disk. But now, when I want to recover, I walked into another problem:

My .tib File is on an external disc and I don't have access from the VM to the USB. I tried to do a remote desktop connection, but I should enter a computer-name, which I don't know. The other way I tried is to search in the VM-Settings under SCSI-Controller, but there I don't see any phyical Drive. And if I go over the virtual Drive Option I see the disk, but than I should open a file and I don't see the .rdp-File I stored there.

How can I get access to the USB-Port so I can recover from my external harddrive?

Thanks for your answer.

It's Hyper-V specific too. I'm not sure if it's possible to connect external USB disk in this way at all or not. It'd try to use network first (host-only, which is visible only to host and guest) and create a newrok share on the SUB disk.

Problem is that I have only USB-Disks and no network-able disks. The only way I can bring a disk into the network is with my fritz-Box via W-LAN. For the 400 GB I have on my .tib it is definitly to slow. Is there no other solution to recover my windows7 in all?

You can connect the usb disk to the host machine, enable shared access to ti and us it from inside VM if bootable media can detect the network card.

Halle Fedor

Thanks for your advice. Now I'm a step further! Now I connected the usb-disk via the fritz.box one time with ftp and one time with Network - Workgroup - Fritz!NAS. In both cases I could choose the .tib File. Great!

Then I went further in Recovery and have choosen "Acronis Universal Restore" as Recovery-Method and then I have choosen the folder with the drivers, which also worked without problems. (The Drivers for Hyper-V are on a USB-Stick, which I got connected to the fritz.box with the same USB-Hub as the USB-Harddisk) So long, so good.

Then I went to Recovery-Source, choose C and D (do I have to choose the MBR too?). And than at the next page "Setting of Partition C" I wanted to choose "Neuer Volume-Speicherort", means the place, where I want too put this partition on the hard-disk.

At the moment I have an empty virtual disk made with Hyper-V of 200 GB located at the recommended save-place in C:/.../.../Hyper-V/something and as well not located disk-Space of a 600 GB.

Both aren't showed in both Ways (FTP and Workgroup), there it is only showing, that he can't see anything. The only thing I can change there are the showed columns...

How can I tell now to Acronis, where it should place the partitions? The virtual harddisk is already connected as empty disk to this virtual machine, but I don't see it as a place, where I can place my partition. And the not located disk-space I don't see at all also.

Do I have to make an additional connection? Maybe one with Remote Desktop Control? If yes, how I can do that excactly? Or is there another way to connnect to Hyper-V? If no, how I get this place on the harddisk to be showed in this screen?

Thanks again for your answer!

Best Regards
Chris

Maybe you need to initialize this disk first ( in bootable media - "add new disk" in tools ) It should be then selectable as a physical disk on the VM, with no reference to its location on the host machine.