Virtualbox Error Cannot register the hard disk because a hard disk with UUID already exists solution

Cannot register the hard disk '/some/path/windows-marking.vdi' {f54def00-2252-43f5-9178-0998636cad61} because a hard disk '/other-path/windows-marking.vdi' with UUID {f54def00-2252-43f5-9178-0998636cad61} already exists.

Result Code:
NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057)
Component:
VirtualBoxWrap
Interface:
IVirtualBox {0169423f-46b4-cde9-91af-1e9d5b6cd945}
Callee RC:
VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80BB0001)



What causes the error?

This is common if you are restoring a virtualbox VM or let's say you had the .vdi file on a certain partition whether remote share or just another partition.  For example I wanted to move my .vdi from HDD to my SSD partition and got the error above.
 

And no, removing the original .vdi from VBOX won't fix it.  It stores the UUID in the .vbox config file and it cannot be edited directly because VirtualBox will just overwrite any change (I tried to just remove the UUID of the old HDD but the change got overwritten).
 

How to solve the error?

Virtualbox has a command that can assign your .vdi a new UUID which will fix the problem:

VBoxManage internalcommands sethduuid /some/path/windows-marking.vdi
UUID changed to: 4a8debca-b235-4478-8264-c2667a053930

Just change the path to the file in bold above to yours and it will create a new UUID.  When you go back into Virtualbox to add the Virtual Disk it will work.
 

VBOX error Cannot register the hard disk '/some/path/windows-marking.vdi' {f54def00-2252-43f5-9178-0998636cad61} because a hard disk '/other-path/windows-marking.vdi' with UUID {f54def00-2252-43f5-9178-0998636cad61} already exists.


Tags:

virtualbox, register, disk, uuid, solutioncannot, marking, vdi, def, cad, ns_error_invalid_arg, component, virtualboxwrap, interface, ivirtualbox, cde, af, callee, rc, vbox_e_object_not_found, bb, restoring, vm, partition, hdd, ssd, removing, vbox, config, edited, overwrite, overwritten, assign, vboxmanage, internalcommands, sethduuid, debca, bold, virtual,

Latest Articles

  • CDN Cloudflare how to set and preserve the real IP of the client without modifying application code on Apache
  • CentOS 7 fix Could not retrieve mirrorlist http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=7&arch=x86_64&repo=os&infra=container error was 14: curl#6 -
  • Ubuntu Debian How To Install Recommended Packages Automatically
  • How to set Linux Ubuntu Redhat Debian Command Line http https socks proxy for yum apt
  • How to resize a pdf without losing much quality in Linux Mint Ubuntu Debian Redhat Solution
  • qemu: could not load PC BIOS 'bios-256k.bin' solution
  • Proxmox How To Custom Partition During Install
  • Hyper-V Linux VM Boots to Black Screen, Storage, NIC Not Found Issues
  • Ubuntu Mint How to Fix Missing/Broken /dev and /dev/pts which causes terminal to immediately close exit and not work
  • How high can a Xeon CPU get?
  • bash fix PATH environment variable "command not found" solution
  • Ubuntu Linux Mint Debian Redhat Youtube Cannot Play HD or 4K videos, dropped frames or high CPU usage with Nvidia or AMD Driver
  • hostapd example configuration for high speed AC on 5GHz using WPA2
  • hostapd how to enable and use WPS to connect wireless devices like printers
  • Dell Server Workstation iDRAC Dead after Firmware Update Solution R720, R320, R730
  • Cloned VM/Server/Computer in Linux won't boot and goes to initramfs busybox Solution
  • How To Add Windows 7 8 10 11 to GRUB Boot List Dual Booting
  • How to configure OpenDKIM on Linux with Postfix and setup bind zonefile
  • Debian Ubuntu 10/11/12 Linux how to get tftpd-hpa server setup tutorial
  • efibootmgr: option requires an argument -- 'd' efibootmgr version 15 grub-install.real: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Operation not permitted.