It was empty.
If the large -flat.vmdk file is missing from the datastore browser, standard VMware tools cannot bring it back. You must act quickly to prevent the physical storage blocks from being overwritten. recover deleted flat vmdk file
The cursor didn't move. It just sat there, blinking. Copying 2 TB of data block-by-block takes time. I watched the network throughput graph. It was steady. 80 MB/s. 90 MB/s. It was empty
Recovering a deleted file is a critical task, as this file contains the actual raw data of your virtual machine. While the smaller .vmdk descriptor file can be easily recreated, losing the -flat.vmdk is more serious. The cursor didn't move
Accompanying the missing file was a ticket submitted three minutes prior by an intern named Kevin. The subject line read: “Accidentally named the VMDK wrong, tried to fix it. Sorry.”