vmware-mount.exe /y Z: "C:\Path\To\vmname-000001.vmdk"
Mounting a delta VMDK is a powerful trick for emergency file recovery without powering on a VM. Always work unless you fully understand the snapshot dependency tree. mount delta vmdk
guestmount -a vmname-000001.vmdk -m /dev/sda1 /mnt/vm vmware-mount
Some Delta VMDKs may not mount directly if they depend on the parent disk. OSFMount may require you to point to the parent VMDK first. mount delta vmdk
Sometimes a delta file won't mount because its small text descriptor file ( .vmdk ) is missing, leaving only the large binary data ( -delta.vmdk ).