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1 2 Previous Next 16 Replies Last post: Jul 15, 2008 8:06 AM by syanover  

How to boot from Windows CD in Corrupted Fusion Session posted: Mar 2, 2008 4:39 PM

Click to view jaswartz's profile Novice 5 posts since
Mar 2, 2008

While working away in a VMWare fusion session (Windows XP Home) that had been running fine for over a month on my MacBook Pro, I got the windows XP blue screen of death (out of the blue). On rebooting the session, I got the error message that the windows system file was corrupt or missing and to reboot with the windows setup disk and choose the -r option for repair.

Fair enough. I have the Windows XP setup disk (original from the manufacturer) but after sliding it into the CD drive and rebooting the corrupted virtual session, I continue to get the same error message. Frantically pressing every possible function key, escape key, etc. does nothing to get VMWare to boot from the CD. It continues to boot from the corrupted image file. I checked all the settings, the CD is connected for this session... etc. But I saw no option anywhere to tell VMWare to boot from the CD drive.

Can someone please help me with this. I have a lot of work tied up in that particular session file that will be for naught if I have to create a new image and start all over.

Thanks.

Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
Like an actual computer, a VMware virtual machine has a way to determine the boot order of devices - your virtual hard disk is probably given priority over the virtual optical drive, which is why just inserting the CD doesn't help. You need to change the boot order. To do this, you'll need to access the virtual machine's BIOS.

The problem you'll probably run into is that the BIOS flashes by really quickly - normally, this is a good thing since people don't normally need to access the BIOS. See A Power User's Guide to VMware Fusion for how to get into the BIOS more easily.
Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
This is more a Windows issue than a Fusion issue, but as a wild guess, did you use the Easy Install to create your virtual machine? The reason I ask is because XP doesn't ship with the SCSI drivers needed for our virtual hardware, but the Easy Install can provide the drivers. Since virtual SCSI drives perform better than virtual IDE drives, we do so. However, if you need to boot off the XP CD, it won't be able to talk to the drive because it's missing the drivers. You need to tell it where they are, and can get the floppy image from http://www.vmware.com/download/fusion/drivers_tools.html

Depending on your keyboard, you might have to use fn-F8 or turn off Mac keyboard shortcuts.

As a general rule, any time you're about to try something risky, it's a good idea to make a backup first. Assuming you're using a normal virtual machine, you can just copy it to create a backup.
Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
I have downloaded the SCSI drivers and am now trying to figure out how to use them during setup.

You need to point the virtual machine at the floppy image (go under Virtual Machine > Floppy > Choose Floppy Image..., select it, then connect) and tell setup to use the drivers.
Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
The only thing you need to do is unzip the file; Fusion knows what to do with the .flp image.
Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
Cool, glad to hear you're back up and running.
Click to view saltheart's profile Novice 5 posts since
Sep 10, 2007
I'm having the same problem (missing or corrupt system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys) because my macbook locked up hard while I had a vmware guest open. It wants me to repair this file by rebooting to the CD and selecting R to repair. When I do this it says "Setup did not find any hard disk drives in your computer". I tried downloading the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp but my computer apparently does not know what to do with it. In fact, it is associated with Adobe Flash Player. Any other suggestions?
Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,086 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
I tried downloading the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp but my computer apparently does not know what to do with it.

Did you attach it to the virtual machine's floppy drive?
Click to view WoodyZ's profile Guru 10,119 posts since
Apr 22, 2004
saltheart wrote: I tried downloading the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp but my computer apparently does not know what to do with it. In fact, it is associated with Adobe Flash Player. Any other suggestions?


Read the Documentation!

Have a look at: VMware Fusion menu bar > Help > VMware Fusion Help > Managing Virtual Machines > Configuring a Floppy Device

Click to view saltheart's profile Novice 5 posts since
Sep 10, 2007
I didn't have a floppy drive device and so I couldn't figure out how to point it at the .flp. Thank you very much for your help and pointing me in the right direction. I was able to get into the recovery console and do a chkdsk which solved my problem...and what an extraordinary relief. I thought I had lost everything, and time machine had not been making backups of the vm for some reason. I guess I need to manually copy it.
Click to view syanover's profile Lurker 2 posts since
Jul 14, 2008
I've tried what is suggested and get to boot from Windows CD, but then I get "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware" and things just sort of freeze there.

Does it just take a really really long time, or am I messing something up.

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