A VM deleted, a virtual disk gone corrupt, a snapshot chain broken, or a datastore that’s down — across VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox and beyond, we bring virtual machines back. It happens in two layers: the virtual disk file comes first — its descriptor, headers and snapshot chain repaired — and then, mounted, the guest file system and everything inside it is recovered.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/vmfs → Host: VMware ESXi · VMFS · VMDK → Status: VM DELETED — removed from inventory → Client: confidential · Guildford GU2 8XH $ bdr engineer-working → Datastore: scanned · blocks intact → VMDK: rebuilt from datastore → Guest: NTFS mounted · files back $ bdr verify → ✓ virtual machine — 1.4 TB → ✓ SQL databases — restored → ✓ VM recovered — data back
Has a machine stopped booting, a snapshot chain come apart, or a datastore started throwing errors? The moment that happens, stop writing to it. Every snapshot you consolidate, every merge you retry, every hour the host stays up risks laying new data over what we came to rescue — and booting a machine against a damaged datastore is worse still. Write down which VM, which disk files, which datastore, then leave all of it untouched and call us. The safest recovery is the one tried first.
Most of what lands on our bench here: machines deleted, disks turned corrupt, snapshot and checkpoint chains that came apart, and datastores stranded on storage that has failed.
No virtual machine is out of scope — VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox, Citrix, VirtualBox, the rest — in whatever virtual disk format. Whatever the hypervisor, we recover the disk file and the guest living inside it.
Nutanix, KVM, Oracle VirtualBox, XCP-ng, Citrix XenServer and Proxmox VE; Microsoft Hyper-V; VMware ESXi, vSphere, Workstation and Fusion · QCOW2, VDI, VHD, VHDX and VMDK · CSV, NFS and VMFS datastores · thin-provisioned disks, checkpoints and snapshots.
Send the virtual disk files in for a free diagnostic — with the hypervisor, the format and what happened — and an engineer scopes them, confirming the exact figure in writing before any work begins.
Walk us through it — which hypervisor, which disk format, what went wrong on which machines — and an engineer weighs it up and returns a quote in writing, usually inside 48 hours.
Before anything else, the disk files — be they VMDK, VHDX, VDI or QCOW2 — are copied read-only, so all the work happens on that copy and your originals stay untouched.
If the array, NAS or SAN below has failed, or a physical drive wants bench work, that comes first — the drive repaired and imaged, or the array rebuilt — so we start from clean disk files.
Next the disk is put right — grain tables, headers and descriptor — and any snapshot or checkpoint chain that broke is folded back into a single consistent disk.
The repaired disk is mounted, and out comes the guest file system with everything on it — Linux or Windows, application data, Exchange and SQL databases, files.
Nothing is returned until the recovered virtual machines, files and databases have been opened and confirmed complete.
Back on fresh storage come your machines — or the data drawn out of them — ready to import and boot right away.
Post the disk files or bring them in. Diagnosis first, quote next — and most jobs run no fix, no fee.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch very soon. If it can’t wait, call 01483 901310.
What VM recovery costs follows a simple tier; you get the diagnostic free and the quote in writing before a single step is taken.
A selection of recent VM jobs — deleted machines, broken snapshots, corrupt disks and failed datastores. Identifying details stripped; every result verified.
Absent from the inventory, yet the VMDK blocks lingered on the datastore. The disk was carved back out and the machine recovered.
The AVHDX checkpoint chain had broken. Folded back into a single consistent disk, the machine came up and was recovered.
A power cut had left the datastore damaged. The VMFS was rebuilt and all six machines restored.
Damage sat in the VHDX header. The disk was repaired, mounted, and the SQL Server database inside recovered.
The migration had left the QCOW2 image inconsistent. We rebuilt it and recovered the guest along with its data.
A failed array had the datastore under it. With the RAID 5 rebuilt, the datastore and every machine on it were recovered.
Send the virtual disk files in for a free diagnostic with the hypervisor, format and what happened; an engineer assesses them and confirms the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
Getting your data back starts with getting the virtual disk files — or the failed storage holding them — to us. Send them safely, tell us the hypervisor and format, and once we've run the free diagnostic we confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the hypervisor, disk format and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering virtual machines.
Often, yes, provided you move fast. A deleted VM usually leaves its virtual disk blocks on the datastore until something overwrites them — so stop powering VMs on and we can carve the VMDK or VHDX back and recover it.
Usually not lost at all. A machine that won’t start almost always points to a corrupt disk, a snapshot chain that broke, or a fault on the datastore — rather than vanished data. The disk file is repaired and recovered first, the guest within it second.
Yes — routine work here. When a snapshot or checkpoint chain breaks (delta VMDKs, or AVHDX on Hyper-V), the data ends up split across files. We fold the chain back into a single consistent disk and bring the machine back.
Often, yes. The disk is repaired structurally — its grain tables, headers and descriptor — then mounted so the guest file system, and all it carries, can be recovered.
It runs on tiers: a single VM or virtual disk from £800 + VAT, and a full datastore or host carrying multiple VMs from £1,200 + VAT. Each starts with a free diagnostic and a written quote.
You always get a free diagnostic and a written quote first. For VM work and any underlying storage recovery a deposit is taken against that quote, with the balance due only on a successful recovery.
All of them — from VMware (ESXi and vSphere, Workstation and Fusion) through Microsoft Hyper-V to Proxmox VE, Citrix XenServer, XCP-ng and Oracle VirtualBox; formats span VMDK and VHDX, VHD, VDI and QCOW2. Whatever built it, the disk is repaired and the guest recovered.
Yes — both layers are covered. The failed drive is repaired, or the array/NAS/SAN rebuilt, to yield clean disk files; from there the machines are repaired and their data recovered.
Yes. Once the disk is repaired and mounted, the guest file system and what it holds — files, Exchange or SQL databases, application data — recover like any other volume, with repairs where needed.
Most VM recoveries wrap up within a few working days. A full datastore or host, heavy corruption, or an underlying storage failure that has to be rebuilt first will all stretch it out.
Copy the virtual disk files onto a drive and send that, or where the storage itself has failed, send the drives, NAS or server. Post it fully insured to the Guildford address, or drop it in weekdays, 9am to 5:30pm. For smaller VMs, ask us about a secure upload.
Free to diagnose, priced on a tier from £800, and no fix no fee on the majority of jobs — every virtual machine recovered disk and data, VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox and beyond. Get your recovery moving today.