How to copy or clone a virtual machine from Virtualbox to another PC

In this article we show you the different alternatives that Virtualbox offers to copy or clone a virtual machine on another pc . This program allows you to create virtual machines, which consist of software that simulates the functions of a physical computer. For example, it allows you to emulate Windows 10 using VirtualBox on your computer with another operating system. To do this, you will need to install Windows 10 on a virtual machine .

You can run programs and other processes or activate physical computing resources, such as USB ports, for use in your virtual machine.

You can also open files or run potentially malicious programs; if so, your virtual machine will suffer the damage, but your main operating system. Next, we show you different ways to copy or clone a virtual machine to take it to another computer with VirtualBox, and in case you need to download it, you can visit its page officielle directly .

Copy or clone your virtual machine from Virtualbox to another PC

If you want to transfer your virtual machine to another computer, you can use one of these three methods that Virtualbox offers you.

Use the import and export wizard

One of the most remarkable advantages of this assistant is that it copies the virtual machine in a format that can be read by other virtualization software, so that you will have no problem using it on other computers.

To get started, go to your Virtualbox program and display the File menu on the top bar. Select the Export virtualized service option.

This action will bring up a new window where you need to select the virtual machine you want to export. Once selected, you can press the Expert mode button if you want to make any changes to the preferences of the service or the format in which you want to save the file.

If you do not want to make any changes or are not very experienced in this area, you can press the Next button to use the default options.

Once you press the Export button, a bar will appear where you can see the progress of the export. At the end you will have the file which contains a copy of your virtual machine.

With the option Import from the Virtualbox program, you can copy the file to another computer. With the Expert mode button, you can make changes to the network if you want.

Make a clone of your virtual disk

You can clone your virtual disk using Manager. The advantage of this method is that the VDI format used in Virtualbox is kept and, moreover, the process is a little faster compared to the export wizard.

To get started, you need to open an administrator window or cmd commands from your computer. Likewise, it is possible to open the CMD command window in Windows 10 within a folder . In this window, write the instruction c:\Program Files\Oracle\Virtualbox.

Once in the folder corresponding to Virtualbox, write : 'VBoxManage.exe clonehd (indicates the location of the disk) \ (disk name) \ Virtualbox VMs \ (machine name) \ (virtual disk name) .vdi' '(location where you want to copy it): \ VB-HD \ (disk name) .vdi.

When you press the Enter button, the process starts with a percentage counter. At the end of the cloning, you can find the copy in the folder you chose to store it. You can bring it to another computer and boot this virtual machine from USB using Virtualbox.

Copy your virtual machine

With this last method , neither the ID of the disk nor of the virtual machine is corrupted, so it is not recommended to copy it to the same computer.

Even so, it is very useful to recover your virtual machine at from a backup if you have access to the computer where it was originally located.

The best way to use this method is that all the files of your virtual machine are stored in the same folder, in this way its efficiency is guaranteed.

To do this, navigate to the location where your virtual machine or its backup copy is stored and copy it completely to another hard drive to transfer it to another computer.

Go to your new computer and copy your virtual machine folder to the Virtualbox root folder. Run the program and go to the Machine menu.

Select option Open and find the folder you copied , when opening it, select the .vdi file. You can now start your virtual machine. Remember that you need to properly shut down and register your virtual machine. To do this, we teach you how start, stop and save the state of virtual machines in VirtualBox .