# Create image file from physical windows server **URL:** \ **Category:** SLES Virtualization\ **Created:** [February 10, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/create-image-file-from-physical-windows-server/22193 "2012-02-10T16:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![System1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@System1](https://forums.suse.com/u/System1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/create-image-file-from-physical-windows-server/22193/1 "2012-02-10T16:30:39Z")
Hi, Running SLES11sp1\_64 with Xen virtualization. Besides using Platespin, is there an alternative way to create/migrate a Windows server to an image file that I can import into my virtual environment as I want to virtualize most of my Windows 2003/2008 servers. Regards John ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/create-image-file-from-physical-windows-server/22193/2 "2012-02-16T15:30:37Z")
John, It appears that in the past few days you have not received a response to your posting. That concerns us, and has triggered this automated reply. Has your issue been resolved? If not, you might try one of the following options: - Visit [http://www.suse.com/support](http://www.suse.com/support) and search the knowledgebase and/or check all the other support options available. - You could also try posting your message again. Make sure it is posted in the correct newsgroup. ([http://forums.suse.com](http://forums.suse.com)) Be sure to read the forum FAQ about what to expect in the way of responses: [http://forums.suse.com/faq.php](http://forums.suse.com/faq.php) If this is a reply to a duplicate posting, please ignore and accept our apologies and rest assured we will issue a stern reprimand to our posting bot. Good luck! Your SUSE Forums Team [http://forums.suse.com](http://forums.suse.com) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/create-image-file-from-physical-windows-server/22193/3 "2012-02-24T15:17:18Z")
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Use the ‘dd’ command. Boot to a Linux LiveCD (windows just cannot handle practical things like this) and do something like the following (You’ll need a separate drive to which you can write the data; also note that this is insanely slow): dd if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/bigdrive/windows.raw bs=1048576 When done you may be able to use this file as an actual disk image or you could boot into a new virtual machine with a LiveCD and restore it by reversing the parameters. There may be more-efficient uses of ‘dd’; Google would know. Good luck. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.18 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - [http://enigmail.mozdev.org/](http://enigmail.mozdev.org/) iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJPR43eAAoJEF+XTK08PnB52AAP/i+8Hh3DBsbsP+BNqH2BCMBy F8XnqpKDI5b4NvGFone6RT2Y2naIhPpIinoFPmYMXLuP6G4gmlqD31qLkDlh9c1e h838i+i+YSMe5vOYuWsKJHNPXguRIXrizrEv3InvTcFg/kIt6+uXr7162Ve5YOFg 1kjw6vb4ne9L3Yr8bOtuc6MavgY6eMihhhHrMKtJButudvTJM7G6T7cRBOdh0Xng 3UvSuQxCEC8T2u1fq9W/tb18RNm7GpE9Z8CfVcdZ0nvPgB8aSly0eooVbmy9K6Re jSDyANfbGlQBiUFIpnbU15fqj47cSX6IhVDh5HYRi8x407/laRXzZdFYTZ9Z+X04 eFOWMXVxLMb1cIuMn8wUOTMnRf1H9zVmg1w7gTAb5XNpHbfbz9exHQ1ZJ4L8wZu+ cZSzRlSfzD8kK1ZEA5Oief3cqBSIL0YqRCXjn8hEJPPHVOq89vLZodUxCeQCqURh W55fG+JeurxwPs/zygjmFcajVBZagXPkLWty/SsXMnCIXwd6gSqSPXWCfLk9LBfz ITtTgzpIV7rG8VaB1AVx8Dt+1wxLICTxGHUosUMNJBrHqSUCK5KdbaX2HNKBrUQI lTXZqonDDWtmzZA1Jvkukj/zwAHbG0fXQ22CiGLiMFcDjgPQT9fYaPYSZg7sfbj3 viUXMkCfby3QUG91B2BI =Cc74 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----