A community-maintained project, , can be compiled for Windows using the Windows Driver Kit (WDK). This method does not require a pre-installed driver.
7-Zip’s \\.\PhysicalDrive trick is a lifesaver when you cannot install any software.
on your Windows machine and create a virtual machine (often running ESXi itself or a Linux distribution with VMFS 6 support). By passing the physical disk through to the VM, you can access the datastore natively and share files back to the Windows host via network protocols. Key Technical Considerations VMFS Recovery™ - DiskInternals mount vmfs 6 windows hot
Doing so will overwrite the VMFS 6 partition table, corrupting the metadata and making virtual machine recovery significantly more difficult. Methods to Access VMFS 6 Data on Windows
When you only have a Windows PC and the physical disk, you can attempt to use an open-source VMFS driver. This is for . Critical Warning: The official vmfs-tools package for Linux officially supports versions up to VMFS 5, with no guarantee for VMFS 6. For VMFS 6, you would need vmfs6-tools on a Linux system. A community-maintained project, , can be compiled for
Since native tools are not an option, you must use software engineered to parse the VMFS 6 file structure. These tools generally fall into two categories: read-only mounters and data recovery suites. Method 1: Diskinternals VMFS Recovery (Recommended)
Since Windows lacks native support, you must use specialized software that acts as a bridge. These tools allow you to "mount" the volume in a read-only state to recover files. on your Windows machine and create a virtual
The VMFS 6 volume must be physically accessible to the Windows machine (e.g., via SAS, FC, or iSCSI LUN mapped to the Windows host).
Here is a comparison of the primary methods:
Mounting a partition directly in a Windows environment is not natively supported, as VMFS is a proprietary file system designed for VMware ESXi. While older versions like VMFS 3 could be accessed with legacy drivers, modern VMFS 6 requires specialized third-party tools or a Linux-based bridge for access. Summary of Access Methods Third-Party Recovery Software