Failed to lock the file! VMWare virtual disk (vmdk)

Posted by Ivan

/ March 12, 2008 / 297 Comments

I copied one of my Windows XP virtual machine running on a VMWare Server 1.02 system locally to my workstation. After the files were copied I opened the vmx file with VMWare Workstation 6 and received the following error below after trying to start the virtual machine. The virrtual machine contained one snapshot on the VMWare Server.

Cannot open the disk ‘C:\VM-machines\Windows XP-001\Windows XP Professional-000001.vmdk’ or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Reason: Failed to lock the file.

Locate the virtual machine in Windows Explorer and delete any .lck folders

Start the virtual machine. If boot process will fail, try to Map the virtual hard disk to Z:\ for example.

I then disconnect the virtual hard disk and tried again. The virtual machine boot without any problem and my snapshot was still valid. Deleting the .lck folder saved me a lot of work.

February 5, 2011
Björn

Thanks a bunch!! Saved me hours of work.
February 12, 2011
mihai

This rocks man!
March 16, 2011
Jimmy

Saved my ass, thanks!
March 24, 2011
Brownguy24

WOW This saved me from recreating the vm i thought i had lost.. thanks a bunch!! :D, although i have to ask.. what are the folders with the .lck for anyways? and is there any effect in the long run if they are removed?
April 10, 2011
Mike

hey thanks a lot. i salvaged the vm image from a bad raid 0 array and i thought its a gonner
April 11, 2011
Steve

Worked for me after a BSOD. Thank you
April 12, 2011
Moha

So thanks
April 14, 2011
sri

Thanks a lot.. 🙂
April 25, 2011
hari

Thanks a lot..
April 27, 2011
WindowsPistha

Saved my work ! Thank you !

Instruction can be improved a little better. Thank you !
April 29, 2011
mahesh

Sir !
it is good idea my machine is working nice.
Thanks s lots …………!
April 30, 2011
AZEEM

Thanks buddy… It really worked out without any problem. Saved a lot of work, don’t have to re-do the whole stuff of doing the re-installation of VM.

Many many thanks.
May 6, 2011
Huviel

Thank you for that tip !

I was dealing with this problem for hours !

Thx !
May 12, 2011
Neelanjan

Thanks a lot. It saved me from a big trouble 🙂
May 13, 2011
Techdude27

Thank you very much !!!

Your solution solved my problem with my virtual machice..
May 16, 2011
Vassy

Many thanks for the author of this article !!!
May 18, 2011
Praveen

Thanks for this time saving article !
May 19, 2011
Anett

Thanks a lot, I could solve my problem without my husbands help! He will be very proud of me!
May 27, 2011
Mike

Thanks a ton, much appreciated.
June 2, 2011
alex

it is work!!!!!!! Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 3, 2011
francesco

grazie mille!!!!!!!!
June 7, 2011
Brian

Thank you! i was stuck all day not being able to get into my work VM!
June 9, 2011
Hugo Brasil

Oh SURE!!! Excellent! Tku
June 11, 2011
andre

Nice worked greate thanks you saved me hours
June 29, 2011
Emilio De Andrade

friend
Thank you, I was desperate. Your tip saved my job.
June 29, 2011
Ivan Versluis

Hi Emilio,

You are welcome.
July 5, 2011
Lex

Saved my day! Thnx.
July 12, 2011
Danish Chaudhary

Thank you so much, It works for me.
July 19, 2011
Eloi

GREAT! thnks a lot!! : )
July 23, 2011
san

Oh man, saved my whole nerves and life! Thanks!
July 25, 2011
Rap

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Huge relief.
July 26, 2011
Ivan

Hi Rap,

You are welcome. I am happy I could help you out here. Take care!
July 30, 2011
A.Jesin

My physical machine was unresponsive and I had to reset it. After that when I tried opening the Virtual Machine I was receiving the same error, but just deleting the *.ick folders solved the problem thanks a lot.
August 2, 2011
Virus Handler

Thanks a lot. You have saved my project!!!
August 3, 2011
Bjorn

Thanks! saved my ass too 😉
August 3, 2011
fhiyll

Brilliant, thank you
August 5, 2011
Timo

Thanks! That is a tip that is worth it’s weight in gold your a champ in my book!
August 5, 2011
camila

Thank u!!!! Is working great now!!!! You saved my weekend! I was desperate when i saw that mensage.
August 6, 2011
Ashish Kohli

Simply Great…
August 6, 2011
Deepak

Thanks a ton !!! Deleted .lck folder, works fine now.
August 12, 2011
Noman Mansoor

Thanks Boss.
August 30, 2011
Hernan - Cruceros desde Cartagena

Thanks Friend , easy and simple to implement
August 31, 2011
Kenan

Thanks man, I was worried lol
August 31, 2011
Catracho

Gracias! Thanks for you’re help, I Almost cried for this vm
September 3, 2011
Aydın

:Thanks for your help.Tuttuğun altın olsun adamım
September 12, 2011
Brett

That it is actually a nice beneficial bit of info. I’m glad that you shared this valuable information along with us. You should keep informed similar to this. Thanks for sharing.
September 15, 2011
Amit

Thanks Alot bro
u saved me. It was scary.

thanks a lot for sharing with such a solution with easy to understand.
September 16, 2011
Nick

THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU SAVED ME ATLEAST 5+ hours of work!
September 21, 2011
s@if

Tks a bunch… this saved a lot of time…
September 22, 2011
zypher

Thanks a lot bro!