Question : P2V Fails using VMware COnverter standalone client

Hi Experts,

I am in need of some assistance.....

I am trying to P2V a Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 machine that is failing.  It goes offline randomly and although there are plenty of symptoms in the Event Viewer the cause of the crashes does not appear.  So the idea is to P2V the machine and then test all of the hardware on the source server and do a fresh SBS 03 install and then migrate the data from the VM to the newly built SBS 03.

I have attempted to P2V this machine three times over the last two nights but it fails at 95%.  I have had a look at the conversion log and see the following error:

Error 1450 (error loading hive: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service (1450))

I saw a MS KB which mentioned this could happen with windows 2000 machines and the reolsution was to increase the size of the swap file, which I have done but that has not resolved the problem.  I have read the VMware KB below but am unsure on how to go about
"running the configuration from a different virtual machine, which bypasses the problem with the registry"

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1013547

I also read a post in a VMware community that mentioned someone had seen this problem adn their workaround was to use the converter built into VMWare workstation rather than the standalone client, I tried this yesterday but this also failed at the same point.

If anyone has seen this error before and managed to find a fix? or has anyone followed the resolution provided by VMWare? please could you let me know how to resolve this?

Your time is much appreciated.

Answer : P2V Fails using VMware COnverter standalone client

No...that's not entirely correct Ian...it's actually random at best. I've P2V'd a dozen DCs with no issues; some posters on here have done the same...and some....well...as noted above. :)

That being said, here are a few suggestions to attempt:
- Make sure all processes are turned off that can be, including I/O processes/services; nothing writing to the server -> A/V, updates, Web Services, AD, etc.
- When going through the Conversion wizard, do NOT configure it to auto install VMware Tools or power-on
- Try doing a chkdsk /f and defrag before doing the P2V
- If you're P2V'ing to a NAS LUN, that 'may' not work...try doing so to local storage
- If you're adjusting the drive sizes, try not to do so (shouldn't matter, but let's try that here)
- Or, you can try Vizioncore's product (http://www.vizioncore.com/products/vConverter/features.php); or Platespin's (http://www.platespin.com/Products/powerconvert/)
- If all else fails, take an image of the source using a trial of any imaging software (Symantec Backup Exec Sys Rec, Acronis True Image, etc.), then use the Converter Standalone tool to convert the image

Let me know if any of these work for you...

Regards,
~coolsport00