File .vmx not found error when trying to create a VM snapshot after removing an independent volume

Question

I had had a Windows VM having a second virtual drive configured as an independant volume placed on a second datastore on a VMWare ESXi 5 server.

Then I have removed the second drive by removing it in the guest Windows Volumes Management and then removing (with deletion) it in the VM properties in vSphere client.

Now the machine seems perfectly operational (I can still start, use and stop it) but I get false "File thevmname.vmx not found" error when I try to make a snapshot (the file is on its place and seems ok, I've checked).

How to fix this?

I have never done any cloning/copying/migration or whatever special yet. There is a related question but it doesn't seem the same case.

Solution

The solution I've found is here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1005336

The strange part is that the VHD I've removed to break the snapshots was created as independent initially.

Still glad to know better solutions.

Comments

[Simon Catlin]

Are there any existing snapshots in play? Does vCenter allow you to migrate the guest's data to another datastore? Does a clone succeed?

[Gargaroz]

There are snapshots already. I have never migrated or cloned anything within this server yet. Moreover, I don't know how to migrate a VM to a different storage - couldn't find such an option in vSphere client.