Read First: Installing Windows 11 in a Virtual Machine on Windows 10 to test software compatibility

I recently Installed Windows 11 in a Virtual Machine on Windows 10 to test software compatibility, I installed it onto a 10TB spinning magnetic drive and regretted it (it was super slow).  I purchased a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSD so I could move my Games and Virtual Machines onto it.

After a bit of Googling people said it was near impossible to move Virtial Machine (or that you had to detach disks and go through many steps to move Virtiual Machines).

This is not true.

Source and Destination

I had Virtual Machines stored on M:\VirtualMachines (10TB Western Digital Gold Magnetic Spinning Hard Drive) and I wanted to move them to G:\VirtualMachines (Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Solid State Drive).

I also had ISO Images Stored on “B:\Installs\700 Viruial Machine OS Installs” and I wanted to move them to “S:\Installs\700 Virtual Machine OS Installs”

How to Move Oracle Virtual Machines

Shutdown your Oracle Virtual Machines and close Oracle VirtualBox

Open Windows Explorer and Navigate to “C:\Users\simon\.VirtualBox” (but chnage Simon to your username).

The 2 files we need to edit are “VirtualBox.xml” and “VirtualBox.xml-prev”

Edit the files and chnage the paths

Change the ISO paths and or Virtual Machine Paths.

Now you can start the VMs from the new drive. Set Solid State if the new drive is a solid state for extra performance.

You can also searhc for “*.vbox*” files and review Virtiual Machine Settings also as they are just XML files

Enjoy