: You can manually recreate the descriptor file using the VMware Knowledge Base guide or by looking at the .vmx file to find the disk geometry. 2. Professional VMDK Recovery Software
| Measure | Purpose | |---------|---------| | (Veeam, Commvault, or native VMware backup) | Primary recovery method | | Enable VM snapshots carefully – don’t keep for >72 hours | Avoid snapshot bloat & consolidation risks | | Use vSphere Recycle Bin (via third-party) | Soft-delete for VMDKs | | Restrict datastore delete permissions via RBAC | Prevent accidental admin deletion | | Monitor datastore free space – overwriting is highest risk when space is low | Protect deleted blocks | | File-level backups inside guest OS (e.g., VSS for Windows) | Granular recovery of specific files | vmdk deleted file recovery