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I was using a Windows 10 x64 virtual machine for some time (mainly to try out some unnecessary or potentially dangerous programs) on a Windows 10 host with VMWare Workstation 12. Now it gets stuck at the "Welcome" screen. Problem is, I left some code in there.

I tried to mount the virtual disk (Edit virtual machine settings - Hard disk - Map), but without success. It shows several volumes of which the one (by far the biggest one) gives an error when mounting ("There was a problem trying to map the virtual disk volume") and the smallest one looks like it contains the files, but:

    1. it only shows as having 16 MB,
    1. the files I want are in C:\Users\User, and Windows displays permission error when trying to access it. Permissions cannot be changed, not because the volume is mounted as read only (as I would think), but because "owner cannot be displayed" and if I try to change that, "Can't open access control editor".

Is there any way I could get files back from the virtual machine?

PS. It would suffice if I could boot into the VM, in safe mode or something, but F8 or SHITF+F8 at boot does not work.

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Download a live Linux DVD such as Knoppix, and attach the ISO image to the VM and boot to it. If the disk itself isn't corrupted, you should be able to read it. Alternately, you could attach the disk to another working VM and try to read it that way. Based on your description though, it sounds like the disk itself (or at least, the partition) is corrupt. In that case, you're probably out of luck.

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  • Good suggestion. However, I have a Lubuntu iso, but I was not able to boot from it - the VM ignores it
    – comodoro
    Commented Dec 1, 2016 at 13:11
  • That sounds like a separate problem, probably with the VM configuration. The boot order probably specifies HDD first and then CD. You might have to change the boot order in the virtual BIOS settings.
    – Charles Burge
    Commented Dec 1, 2016 at 17:00
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I was able to finally bring up the Windows 10 repair screen, where most options did not work (auto repair failed, no system restore points found, insufficient disk space to return to previous build). But it was possible to enter command line. From there, I copied the files I wanted to a hidden "recovery" partition, which could be mounted using the aforementioned "Map" option. The partition was small, but sufficient for my files.

I also suspect something could be done with the "rescue drive" option, but I did not have one handy.

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