In addition to its own image formats, HDClone also has the ability to create dynamic VM images for use in virtual machines.
The following formats are offered: VMDK (VMware), VHD/VHDX (Virtual PC) and VDI (VirtualBox). They only contain actually used areas of the source and therefore are typically much smaller than BitImages – similar to a SmartImage. Due to their technical characteristics, VM Images are slightly larger than SmartImages. Moreover, their final size cannot be precisely calculated in advance. This may lead to a deviation from the originally predicted size during the creation.
| Important: The use of VM-Image is recommended when it comes to sound disks and file systems only. Otherwise, create a FullImage or BitImage. If you are not absolutely certain whether your media or file systems are sound, we strongly recommend checking the file system health prior to starting the imaging process. |
VM-Images created with HDClone can be used as virtual drives in virtual machines. For further information, please refer to the manual of your version of VMware, VirtualPC, or VirtualBox. From Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 on, you can also mount VHD/VHDX images as virtual drives using the Windows Disk Management tool (diskmgmt.msc).
Miray Virtual Disk can mount all image formats on Windows as virtual drives. This allows you to access the files and folders stored within without opening the image in a virtual machine.
| Note: A virtual VM-Image drive mounted with Miray Virtual Disk can be read AND written, but changes are not stored directly in the image. To create a new image, including all changes made, you can use the virtual drive. |
