I virtualized a Windows Server 2008 R2 server using image files (as VMware Converter was taking too long--was going to take 10 days). The virtualized server works fine except for one thing--the USB Controller driver will not work in Windows so I cannot read files from external USB drives. I have files from the physical server that need to be copied to it via USB drive, because the images are from 3 weeks ago so don't have all the current files. When I try to remove and reinstall the USB controller in Device Manager, I get "Windows was unable to install your USB Controller". I have searched and searched on the web and I cannot find a USB controller driver for Windows Server 2008 to download and install. Such a download doesn't seem to exist. And I can't find this error anywhere on the web either, for Windows Server. I went to the website of the USB drive I'm trying to use with this server, www.buslink.com and downloaded the USB driver from there. When I run it (it's an exe), it flashes a window open for a second, then disappears and nothing happens. Maybe it won't run since it's not the right driver for Windows Server 2008. But how do I get a USB driver for Windows Server 2008 R2?
I know there is nothing wrong with the USB setup on the VMware server, as I have this same USB drive working on another VM, and I had USB drives working on this VM when I was restoring the images (which were on the USB drives). It's a Windows issue caused by virtualizing and I'm baffled as to how to fix it, not having found any clues on the web. The server is ESXi 5.1.
My workaround for this is I copied the files to another VM on the host and am copying from there to the Windows VM, but that's going to take 18 hours. It must be doing it over the network. I'd like to do it faster.
I know this is more of a Windows than VMware issue, but was wondering if anyone else had encountered this after P to V, and if so, how did you fix it? It's not an option to install Windows Server from scratch as there are applications on the server that we don't have the information or software to reinstall.