Backing up a live Windows machine has always been tricky. In the case of
a VMWare "document" which contains the config and virtual C drive, that
can be many multiple GB. So while TM (time machine) can make a good
backup, if your virtual C drive is, say, 10GB by the time TM has backed
up 5GB the first part it backed up might have changed. The end result is
the backup is no longer a snapshot in time. Not only that but every time
Windows does the littlest change it would trigger many GB of files to be
backed up again because they have been modified. TM generally runs once
an hour so you could easily burn through a couple hundred GB of TM
backups in a day or two. That means all the other little files get
starved for space and the FIFO (first in first out) method TM uses would
trim the oldest backups leaving you with very little distance into the
past to restore from. What might make more sense is to get the Windows
side all set up the way you like and make a single copy of that or
snapshot and then exclude the VM files from TM. You could then set up
your Windows box to share a single folder to the Mac side and use that
for documents, which would get picked up by TM.
CB
On 2/23/16 9:10 AM, Phil Halton wrote:
VMware recommends that you do not use Time Machine to back up your virtual
machines. This is because you will be backing up a file in an active state at
random intervals and thus you cannot count on it to be in a correct state for
reinstalling. That is, you will be backing up windows in an active state which
will not serve as an adequate back up. In fact, it will corrupt your VMware
files. In time machine you can exclude certain files and folders from the back
up and that is what is recommended. I have my time is sheen set to exclude the
virtual machines folder in my documents folder, which is where your virtual
file is stored. To back up your Windows VM, copy it to an external hard drive
when VM is powered down. Then it can be reinstalled as a correct back up when
needed.
Sent from my IPhone
On Feb 22, 2016, at 8:25 PM, Ramy Moustafa <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello all:
finally, I got my MacBook pro with El capitan and windows 7 in VMware fusion.
now I need to be sure that I can reinstall my windows any time I will
need to do so, because I depend on backups all my life.
if I will use the time machine, will it back up the VMware? and
windows or what?
excuse me but am very very new on the mac world.
--
Ramy MoustafaSaber
Music instructor @:
Faculty ofmusical education
Music arranger and Sound engineer @:
Harmony Recording Studio
https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyRecordingStudio.eg
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