Can't Upgrade to Windows 8.1 on Fusion 5

[agoodpub]

I tried (many times now) to upgrade from Windows 8 to 8.1 using the download from the Windows store.  When it asks to restart it comes up with an error saying

Couldn't update to Windows 8.1

Sorry, we couldn't complete the update to Windows 8.1. We've restored your previous version of Windows to this PC.

0xC1900101 - 0x20017

Searching on google for that error I see several people getting that error (although not using vmware) and Microsoft's response is that it is a driver problem.  They say to make sure all Windows updates are done (I have done)

Anyone else got this and fixed it?

I'm using Fusion 5.0.3 on a 2012 Macbook Retina

(I have been able to update my Parallels Windows 8 VM on the same machine, but when I import the Parallells 8.1 into Fusion it juts goes into a reboot loop)

I have also got a running 8.1 preview in Fusion.

[whatistodaysOS]

OK, I am just weighing in here with my two bits worth. My deal is that my upgrade from Win 8 to 8.1 fails the same way everyone in this thread fails.  My original Win 8 install was an upgrade from Vista Business to Win 8 back at the beginning of 2013.  All was flawless except I lost all my non-MS apps grrrr! (which the install warned) and it has run fine on Fusion 5 which is where I am today.  But I agree with lingenfr that the problem is the upgrade to 8.1 runs into a "locked" Windows OS.  I think this is a VMware issue because I successfully installed this upgrade on an non-VMware ancient Dell Dimension tower with no problems except it was weirdly slow.  I expected that upgrade to fail miserably and it didn't.  So now VMware has fallen strangely quiet in this thread.  Has anyone had any success with a simple work around to get Windows to unlock.  I have a hunch the quick start setting in Win 8 may figure into the equation somewhere.  In my Win 8 version with VMware 5 the option of turning off the quick start option does not exist.  Therefore I don't know if it quick starts in the Virtual machine or not.  Has this thread moved to some other topic?

[mcg1969]

I've been searching threads on the Internet for these and similar error codes for days now. There are plenty of people receiving this exact error code who are not using VMWare. I'm afraid it is some sort of catch-all error for one of many problems that the upgrade process has not been specifically programmed to identify. Sure, I suspect there is a problem with VMWare's drivers, but it does them and us no good if Microsoft can't point us more precisely to the problems involved.

[dariusd]

Is there a particular error message that tells you the drive is "locked"?  If so, it might help if you could post the exact message or a screen shot.

Sorry if I haven't updated this thread for a few days, but I'd prefer only post when I have relevant and firm information to provide, and at the moment we still have very little in that department.

One interesting failure mode which we've discovered internally is that the 8.1 upgrade may fail cryptically if there is insufficient RAM assigned to the VM, but that led to a different error code (0x8007000E - 0x2000C).  Apparently its pre-upgrade checks are not terribly comprehensive...

We've noticed a strong-but-not-perfect correlation between the failure of the 8.1 upgrade with prior upgrades from "old" versions of Windows (i.e. fresh installations of Windows 8 are more likely to have a trouble-free upgrade to 8.1), but, again, nothing sufficiently concrete for me to post back here as any statement of fact.

And we continue to observe many folks reporting the same error code on physical machines, with no apparent rhyme or reason.  To be blunt, whatistodaysOS, I would not read much into your success with the Dell machine and failure in a VMware VM...  That's a small sample size when put into the same context as this Google search for affected users reporting the same problem on Microsoft's site.

Totally no offense intended... I'm merely trying to collect and help rationalize all the available data...

Cheers,

--

Darius

[mcg1969]

Fair enough, Darius, as long as the VMWare folks are trying, we can't ask for much. There are plenty of non-VMWare users struggling with this too. And for the record, my Windows 8 VM is a fresh install from an ISO.

[whatistodaysOS]

Hi Darius (and other contributors)

I take no offense at your comments and I agree my sample is really small.  To answer your questions, I don't have an error message to point about the locked Windows comment.  I can't get a screen shot because at this point in the install all functionality of Windows is gone.

Here's the process:

I go to the Windows store in Win 8.

The first store item is an offer to upgrade Win 8 Pro to Win 8.1 Pro...so I click that and immediately it opens a store window that asks me to click on a link to download the upgrade.  I click that and get a progress bar window that tells me it is doing things and after about 20-30 minutes it restarts Windows and I get a screen that asks me to pick the keyboard I want to use...I pick the US keyboard and it looks like it reboots and after a minute or so I get a totally blue screen with two icon choices on it.

The title says, "Choose an option"

The first option says, "Troubleshoot"

The other says, "Turn off your PC"...If I pick this one it shuts down.  If I start it now it grinds with a mostly black screen and then comes up with that banner telling me it can't upgrade to 8.1 and the original Windows will be restored.

If I open troubleshoot it give me three choices:

1. Refresh your PC - if I click this one it goes to a blue screen that announces "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again" and a "Cancel" button that takes you back to the previous blue screen.

2. Reset your PC - which offers to remove all your files - mmmm - NO - not going to click this one.

3. Advanced options with three more choices available after you click it:

a. System restore - not gonna click this

b. System image recovery - don't want to give this a shot either.

c. Startup repair - in a desperate funk I clicked this and threw all caution to the wind - next blue screen reports, "Startup repair couldn't repair your PC."  Well now, isn't that a fine pickle we are in?

Anyway, I am telling you this long story to explain where I got the idea the Windows drive is locked.

Hopefully this detail will add some grist to the mill and I do appreciate you are working on the issue.  Thanks

[lingenfr]

My system behaves exactly the same as whatistodaysOS. Like another poster, I upgraded from Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit. I am not too excited about hosing up my image, but if there is a way to "unlock" the drive, I would make a copy of my image and try it. At this point, I think it would be helpful if VMware could at least give us a set of testing procedures, etc. so that we could provide them with some useful data in a standard format for comparison. If they are already able to replicate the error and that would not be helpful, that is OK too.

[KMPbos]

Ditto this.  I created another VM, installed Windows 8, ran Windows Update, and then got the Store "Update Free" card.

I ran the update, and Windows 8.1 installed and seems to work.  (I didn't install VMware Tools in the interim - that seems like the one VMware-related difference between my new installation and the old.) 

So, it beats me.  Since I use these VMs primarily for testing, I may just keep the new one, but yes, it doesn't seem to just be VMware, and this "clean upgrade" worked for me as well (VMware Fusion 5).

[lingenfr]

I imagine, like some others, I don't have a clean install/upgrade option. Hopefully, VMW and M$ will figure something out.

[fianna]

Hi All,

MBP Retina 2013 16GB. Knocked myself out on this one for several days.  Tried all the other suggestions listed here, updates, remove AV and then some, including using alternate boot loaders/switches.

What solved it and allowed me to successfully upgrade was uninstalling my Paragon HFS software for windows. (reinstalled and works fine after the upgrade)

[KMPbos]

lingenfr, I hope so as well.  This isn't the first time I've had to rebuild a VM.  I'll keep the upgraded VM around for a while, and try a couple more times with the current 8.0 VM and post any progress that I make here.  If anyone from VMware support is interested, I'm happy to share any of my logs or configuration info.

[docangle]

I was having the same issue as everyone else, until I went into the 'Hard Disk' Settings and selected 'Advanced Options' and changed it from 'SCSI' to 'IDE' (Bus Type, don't use SATA, you will get a boot failure), hit apply, Started Windows 8 and Installed the 8.1 update without a problem.

[mthused]

THANK YOU!  This was the key for my Fusion 6 Windows 8 VM.  It had the same persistent failure and error code listed in the original message.  After changing the virtual disk bus type to IDE from SCSI, the 8.1 upgrade completed without further issues.  The VM still won't boot if switched back to SCSI however- looks like the drivers may need tweaking for 8.1...  I'm leaving it on IDE at this point.

[DRG2013]

Excellent! Thank you Docangle. This also fixed my problem and Windows 8.1 installed without a hitch. The only annoying part was that Fusion 6.01 made me remove my "SnapShot" first

and also had to do a "Clean up". This took nearly 35 minutes. No problem since your recommendation has fixed the problem. It is indeed a VMW issue as it appears eh?

Either way, Thanks again for the tip. You have solved a big problem for many of us.

Best Regards...

[agoodpub]

Thank you docangle!  This worked for me as well.

[jpoteat3]

The trick of changing the drive type to IDE has worked for me also. I was able to update to my copy of Windows 8 after making the change.

[mcg1969]

Great work, docangle! Here's another VMWare communities post that suggests also that the SCSI driver is at issue:

Windows 8.1 Upgrade (on SCSI) - Solution

[lingenfr]

Same here, this solution fixed mine.

[mcg1969]

Count me among the increasing number of folks for whom this worked! I didn't have to disable SQL Server, I didn't have to do a clean boot, I didn't have to disable non-Microsoft services, nothing. Just switched to the IDE driver and all is well.

[jbattermann]

Same here - switching to IDE worked for Fusion 6.0.1 & Win8 Pro > Win 8.1 Pro perfectly fine, too. Not sure about the impact of switching to the IDE drivers (is there a reason why per default it is SCSI?), though..

[whatistodaysOS]

Wow docangle, looks like you have helped a pile of us. That was a stroke of genius switching the disk mode. The reason I am writing in addition to chiming in with my thanks is to say that my changing from SCSI to IDE wasn’t difficult but it wasn’t as simple as changing the choice in the advanced hard drive dialog. The SCSI choice was greyed out and nothing it fiddle with would change that. So for anyone else that collided with this, here is what I had to do.

Go to this link and look at the video:

How to change a virtual disk from SCSI to IDE in ... - VMware Blogs<http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDIQFjAB&url=http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/2012/07/how-to-change-a-virtual-disk-from-scsi-to-ide-in-vmware-fusion.html&ei=5BJ5UrvHB4rqyQHakYHQAg&usg=AFQjCNE8fKxRTmxSF4mbymjv6_MWsDUAyg&bvm=bv.55980276,d.aWc>

This one helps people that might not be quite as advanced too because it shows you exactly what screens to look for and how to switch to IDE.

Once that was done Windows went off and did its own upgrade, I didn’t even have to click on anything after I opened the virtual machine.

Now I’m left with the nagging question. VMWare always said the SCSI setting gave you more flexibility and it should be the default choice for setup. Well, what now? What is the difference between functionality with IDE and SCSI? Is there another process (like reversing the procedure of that Blog video above) to switch back to SCSI after the O/S has been updated? Do we lose something if we just carry on with IDE?

Anyway, we are further ahead today than we were yesterday. I still am not sure whether this glitch issue rests with Microsoft or VMWare.

Great blogging everyone (except for the silence of VMWare)

whatistodaysOS