Mount Vmfs 6 Windows Hot May 2026

Solution: VMFS 6 stores metadata in the first 2 MB. If the disk was partitioned with GPT or MBR, the driver may not find the VMFS header. Use a tool like gdisk to set partition type to 0xFB (VMFS). Alternatively, mount the entire disk, not the partition.

| Tool | VMFS 6 Support | Hot mount allowed? | Notes | |------|----------------|--------------------|-------| | OSFMount (Passmark) | No (VMFS 5 partial) | No | Read-only for older VMFS | | StarWind V2V Converter | Yes (read-only) | Yes | Can browse/mount as virtual disk | | DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | Yes (read-only) | Yes | Forensic tool, not live r/w | | VMware Virtual Disk Dev Kit (VDDK) | Yes (read/write via SAN) | No – requires ESXi quiesce | Use over iSCSI/FC, not recommended hot | | UFS Explorer Professional | Yes (read/write) | No – must unmount from ESXi | Supports RAID reconstruction |

No reliable, production-safe tool allows true “hot” read/write of the same live VMFS 6 volume from Windows. mount vmfs 6 windows hot

If you only need read-only access to copy files:

For most Windows admins: Use StarWind V2V Converter’s hidden VMFS mount feature. It is free, requires no reboot, installs in seconds, and just works with VMFS 6 datastores from ESXi 8.0.

For power users: 7-Zip’s \\.\PhysicalDrive trick is a lifesaver when you cannot install any software. Solution: VMFS 6 stores metadata in the first 2 MB

Avoid: Trying to use old VMware DiskMount, Linux WSL with vmfs-fuse (requires reboot for WSL2 kernel updates), or any tool that says "VMFS 5 only".

Short answer: No. Windows does not include a native driver for VMFS 6. Disk Management will recognize the physical disk but show it as “Unknown” or “RAW.” To mount VMFS 6 on Windows hot, you need third-party software. If you only need read-only access to copy files: