VM Converter software allows a user to image any physical machine whether local or remote, and make it a virtual machine without the host computer ever having to be shut down.

This would be a very handy tool, if a server administrator wished to test the latest Microsoft Update or if they had to upgrade from Server 2003 to server 2008. It allows users to test changes to thier software on there "Virtual" production computer.

It also convert other virtual machine formats such as Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server or backup images of physical machines such as Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery or Norton Ghost to VMware virtual machines.

It would be possible to use VM Converter as a backup or disaster recovery plan. With the cost of hard drives not being as expensive as they once were it would be possible to convert your server multiple times giving you many restore options.

Here is an image of my converted home pc.

Starting VM Converter

Creating a machine from the local one

Configure the new machine

Created Machine

Running VM of host on host