VMDK Cannot Be Opened Directly For Writing: Resolved

Many people out there use the virtual drive for testing their software and program. Some also use it to store their data like photos, videos, software programs, media files, etc on it. A lot of them face some issues while working in a virtual environment. One of the common issue that users encounter is VMDK cannot be opened directly for writing. So, in this article, I’ve tried to resolve this issue using some basic hacks. Without wasting time, let’s get started.

The virtual drive is a crucial component of the VMware environment. It can be used to use multiple OS on a single platform. You can use it for various reasons like for using multiple OS on a single machine without affecting the parent OS, for testing your code or software, etc. But when you get this error, it creates the situation inconvenience for you. So before moving towards the solution let’s understand the reason for this blunder.

Why This Issue Comes in Existence?

There are multiple reasons for this issue, which I’ve listed below. These could be the reasons for your not working Virtual Machine:

• Any malicious entity like malware, virus, or trojan has attacked your Virtual Machine.
• There may be some corruption in the VM’s System Files.
• Write protection has been applied making it impossible to write data on it.
• Improper configuration of the VMware settings that required.
• The system is unable to locate the specific file to write properly.

Whatever the reason for this blunder what we need to do is to resolve this issue. So, let’s focus on its solution.

How to Fix VMDK Cannot be Opened Directly For Writing Issue?

If you are having this issue then you can opt for the following recommendations:

• Restart the Virtual Machine environment by closing it.
• Backup the data and restart the VMware on your system. Check if the issue persists.
• Then, Enable the multi-writer flag on the host client. Follow the below steps to do so:
  1. Right-click on the VMDK file and select Edit Settings.
  2. Now navigate to Options > Advanced > Edit Configuration and set the parameter to multi-writer.
• Rename the VMDK file and restart the system.
• Listed below are the steps that work in case of cannot open the VMDK file.
• To begin, launch a text editor and open the *.vmx file. Next, locate the line that says something similar, as indicated: ide0:0.fileName = “XXXXXX-000001.vmdk” or scsi0:0.fileName = “XXXXXX-000001.vmdk” or both variations
• After that, rename it abc.vmdk.
• The virtual computer should now start up correctly after you restart it. However, the computer will boot to an older state because the snapshot file is absent.

If still the issue is not resolved then there is a possibility that your VMDK file is corrupt. Use the below method to recover VMDK data and remount it.

Perform VMDK Recovery without Losing Data

Losing your data can be chaotic so try to use the VMDK Recovery utility for safe and secure recovery. The utility performs the recovery in a manner that all the data remains exact. It maintains the integrity of the VMDK data file and removes the corruption in no time. You can use this utility by following the below-mentioned steps:

1. Download and launch the tool to solve issues in the virtual disk.
2. Select the disk type and VMDK file to recover.
3. Now, choose the recovery mode and give the starting & ending sectors to recover.
4. Opt for the volume to reset and file system then click on the Next button.
5. The tool will scan all the data and generate a preview of the data.
6. Select the data to recover and click on the Save button.
7. Soon all the data will get saved in a new VMDK file without any corruption.
8. Replace this file with the original VMDk and reboot the system.

This will remove the blunder and your VMware or virtual machine will work as normal now.

Sum-Up

The data stored in the Virtual Machine could be crucial. So, it’s important to fix VMDK Cannot be Opened Directly For Writing issue to make the probability of zero data loss. You can opt for the above methods if you face the issue VMDK Cannot be Opened Directly For Writing. I’ll recommend it.

If you facing some other issues with your Virtual disk, read here: How to solve issues in Virtual disk.