Any known problems upgrading Windows from 7 to 10?

[mikejm]

2 Mac's running Windows 7.

Mac OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite

VMWare Fusion 8.1.1

Mac OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan

VMWare Fusion 8.1.1

[wila]

Hi,

That should work just fine, but ... you'll have to use the "update via a downloaded iso file" method instead of using the update function from within Windows itself.

For more details, please see: http://www.mikeroysoft.com/windows-10-and-vmware-fusion/

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Wil

[licensedtoquill]

Do we know that the C1900101-20017 error message which Microsoft claims not to understand arises from trying to upgrade an OS which lives in a VM?

(Installation still fails immediately after CHOOSE KEYBOARD during the upgrade process)

[wila]

Hi licensedtoquill,

That C190... error is not specific for virtual machines, plenty of reports outside of Virtual Machines on that if you search online a bit.

Have a look at the suggestions for that specific error here:

How to: Troubleshoot common Setup and Stop Errors during Windows - Microsoft Community

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Wil

[licensedtoquill]

Here is what ms says:

Microsoft is aware some customers are unable to install Windows 10 due to error 0xC1900101 - 0x20017.

This error indicates a failure to boot Windows 10 occurred during the initial reboot of the upgrade, causing the system to roll back. The most likely causes of this error are:

• Incompatible antivirus or other security program or utility software
• Incompatible driver or hardware

In either case, the incompatible program or driver’s defect prevents booting to the intermediary environment necessary to perform upgrade actions. Unfortunately, due to the timing of this failure, there are often no logs, crash dumps or other diagnostic information available to investigate the issue easily, which makes it difficult to determine which, if any, of the drivers or system components are causing the upgrade to fail.

is there a workaround or how do i start the upgrade from the iSO?  if i try to open a new vm from an iso, will it install a new os in a new vm or will it find the windows 7 vm and upgrade it?

[wila]

Hi,

If you boot from a WIndows 10 ISO it will see your windows 7 and upgrade that. It should leave all programs and data intact.

What I would suggest to do is to take a snapshot before the upgrade and then boot from the windows 10 ISO.

Even better would be to make a full copy of the VM folder.

--

Wil

[licensedtoquill]

How do I boot from an iso in Fusion 8 please? It used to be easy and I have done it numerous times but now there are lots of confusing menus and lots of dead ends if one tries to do this? If I exit fusion right click the iso file and try  OPEN WITH FUSION to by pass all the annoying / confusing menus, it offer me a fresh install and tops immediately with a "no device drivers found" error message!

[wila]

Hi,

Sorry don't have access to Fusion at this moment, so will have to tell the steps from memory, but the workflow is like:

- WIth your VM running/selected

- open Virtual Machines drop down

- Look for DVD/CD option in the menu

- select the ISO file

- make sure the "Connect" checkbox is ticked

- reboot your VM

If CD/DVD is set to boot before the harddisk then it will boot straight into the Windows 10 installer

If you end up booting into Windows 7 again then in the VIrtual Machines menu go to "Settings" and look for something like "boot order" to select your boot device.

Select DVD

reboot

PS: Open With menu option in the file menu is actually meant for opening existing VMs. I wasn't even aware that it understood on what to do with an iso file.

hope this helps,

--

Wil

[licensedtoquill]

HEY,  i am really grateful to you for your help but I suspect VMWare has changed quite a lot in Fusion 8 and seem to like staying shtum on how to do it.

Your instructions are very easy to follow but  Rebooting just results in 7 starting up again . The dvd/cd box does stay on the screen confirming that I am still trying to run the .iso but it doesnt get beyond that. 

There is no boot order setting as such, there is a startup disc icon which is configurable to designate the iso and it even confirms that I want to restart into the iso, - and then it restarts 7!

(Naturally, trying to circumvent these steps by just running setup.exe results in a plethora of error messages when the iso starts concerning setup,exe and setup.dll and spwizeng.dll, and burning the iso to USB and running setup from there in windows just results in windows not being able to see any files on the drive: It pretends the drive must be corrupt)

[licensedtoquill]

actually I can get into install by changing bus type from SCSI to SATA. It gives  a warning about drivers but when Install starts, it stops quickly with a NO DRIVERS plethora of errors

[wila]

Hi,

The steps on using the reboot option and change the boot order option was easier to explain for me as the alternative I normally use myself.

What I normally do is change the boot order in the virtual BIOS. This means that on boot of your VM, when you see the text screen, you have to very quickly hit the Escape or Del key.

Then you can either change the boot order in the virtual machine BIOS to have boot from CD come before boot from harddisk OR you have select your boot device directly.

This involves either being VERY quick in pressing the right key at the right time or you have to tweak the vmx by hand in order to extend the boot delay.

I'm not sure I understand your setup errors. You should not get ANY errors.

Are you sure that the iso file you downloaded isn't corrupted?

Have you checked the md5sum/SHA1 hash?

--

Wil

[wila]

Ok, that explains at least some. Unfortunately I have no access to a windows 10 iso atm and cannot download it due to being on a metered connection.

Changing the SCSI type might help. I would expect Windows 10 to work on LSI, but not so much on Buslogic SCSI adapters.

Can you attach the vmx file from the Windows 7 VM to your reply here?

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Wil

[licensedtoquill]

Which is the VMS file please?  There is no vmx file on the mac side and about 6 with vmx in them in the VM?

I get the impression that this is a driver issue, - the setup only starts if I change the SCSI setting to SATA, possibly because there are no SCSI drivers in 10 setup for the VM (though this isn't why setup doesn't start) and as the VM works properly with SCSI designated, there dont seem to be any SATA drivers for setup to use, which is why I get the NO DRIVERS error message after 10 setup does start.

There is a suggestion that you can install SATA drivers in vmtools but no instructions on how to do this. You cant implement a tools program within the VM and uninstalling/reinstalling VMTools manually doesnt give an INSTALL SATA DRIVERS option!

[wila]

Hi,

Without a vmx file, the VM doesnt exist it is the VM hardware configuration file.

You can find it by selecting your VM bundle in Finder and then "right click" and select "Show package contents".

A VMware machine is stored in a folder that is displayed by Finder as a single file, which is why it might not be obvious at the first sight.

Instead of a .vmx file, a vmware.log file will be fine too.

Please note that by default Finder hides the file extension.

Just attach the file using the attach button in the bottom right of your reply window.

edit: Windows 10 doesn't need additional SATA drivers, the default "inbox" drivers work just fine. For SCSI however, the story might be different.

PS: Did you verify the download that it isn't corrupt like I asked?

thanks,

=

Wil

[licensedtoquill]

Not sure how to check or verify an iso file, isnt the fact that it opens and starts setup (it also burns the whole setup to an usb drive) sufficient?

I wonder what drivers setup says it needs if it isn't starting with SCSI and doesn't need SATA drivers?

[licensedtoquill]

Also, VMWare wont reply to this issue with a reference to a FAQ because they seem to want to pretend upgrading is simple. Look at these facile instructions:

1. Mount the Windows 10 .iso file in VMware Fusion/Workstation.
   
   
   • To mount the .iso file in Fusion:
     
     
     • Select Virtual Machine > Settings.
     • Click the CD/DVD drive.
     • Select Choose Disc or Disc Image and then select the .iso file you downloaded.
       
       Note: The file name is similar to Win10_English_x64.iso.
2. The Autoplay process should now begin within Windows. If not, double-click CD-ROM from the This PC shortcut on the left side of the File Explorer window.
3. Follow the Windows 10 installation prompts to complete the installation.

Not sure what MS have changed since but VMWare havent changed anything since they published this!

[wila]

Hi,

No the fact that you can open the iso and run setup does not mean that the iso isn't corrupted.

In fact these type of errors have been reported before when the download was corrupted which is exactly why I asked you to verify

Anyways.. presuming the iso is OK as I'm not able to quickly dig up a hash for you that matches your iso (too many uncertain factors on what file you exactly downloaded even though I saw a filename in your vmx file)

The vmx file you attached contains the details on the scsi adapter you are using: lsilogic

In theory that's fine, the problem is that it is a very parallel SCSI adapter and I've not been able to find if Windows 10 has a driver for that one, which could indeed prompt windows to install a driver during setup, which you then would have to find. LSILogic has been bought by avagotech and I'm not sure they updated that driver for Win10.. so...

My suggestion is to adjust the scsi adapter in the vmx file to the SAS version, which I know DOES work with Windows 10.

First step: Make a FULL backup of your VM by copying it to an external disk (can copy on the same disk, but external disk you can disconnect and prevent being able to destroy your original)

Next shutdown -not suspend- your VM

Then shut down Fusion as well.

Now replace your vmx with the version I attached.

See if you can boot and if you can then try to boot from the Windows 10 iso.

I do stress that it _is_ important to make a backup as I am not certain if windows likes the new scsi adapter and I do have no guarantees on this hack so be safe and backup first (time machine backups do _not_ count)

PS: in regards to your complaint about vmware's update steps. It actually is that easy if you hadn't used scsi, but plain sata disks for your virtual machine.

--

Wil

[licensedtoquill]

Interesting, though I never designated SCSI when I set up the 7 VM: that would go some way to explaining why setup wont run in the sense that it doesnt even start with scsi designated as hard drive in settings. (Whereas setup WILL start and give all sorts of install screens/steps with SATA designated)

(There are also instructions to uninstall tools and then upgrade the VM before running the 10 setup in 2126929 but they dont do anything either)

I have copied your file, opened package contents, deleted the vmx file and pasted the new one in. On reboot, the vm goes into 7 startup repair, telling me that it didnt start properly last time (which it did), tries to repair for 10 minutes or so and then  a black SUSPEND bar appears superimposed over the bottom of the screen. It wont repair and if I try to be a wiseguy, it goes into a short 7 startup loop.

i think i will dump this VM and restore from the backup!

I can restart and get into windows 10 install by pressing  a key just after boot up starts but setup still cant 'find its media drivers'

[licensedtoquill]

I see no one seems to have any idea how to overcome this problem but I am baffled as to why VMWare is so clueless: I just came across this error message: <Windows OS> does not support the LSI Logic SCSI adapter that VMware ESX currently uses for its virtual SCSI devices

Assuming this VMX message applies to users trying to use a windows VM in Fusion, does this implies that EVERYONE who installed Fusion or EVERYONE who installed Fusion during a certain period has the same problem and no one knows how to fix it? 

I also cant figure out why there are all these variables?  Users are using lots of macbooks which all have more or less the same hardware and surely Fusion inserts the same variables in all installations?  Since no one has used (eg) scsi hard drives since Mac OS9, where do all these references to SCSI hard drives come from?

[wila]

Hi,

Sorry still on the road, so not as easy to follow up.

The LSI logic adapter has AFAICR never been a default choice when installing Windows 7 in VMware Fusion (or I think any Windows version before that, but defaults might have been changed, others might know better)

In the past however it has been suggested to use the LSI adapter for performance reasons, I;ve got a few of those VMs myself.

The problem now is that your VM expects  to use that adapter now.

Personally the thing I would do is to clone the disk to a virtual sata disk by:

1. shut down the Windows 7 VM.

2. create a new virtual disk of the same size as your SCSI disk

3. boot from a linux live CD (sysreccd comes to mind)

4. clone the full scsi disk to the new sata disk and make sure the sata disk has the active partition set

5. disconnect the old virtual scsi disk

6. boot the vm

(and as usual make sure you have a good backup before starting with any of this type of method)

I would expect that to work as Windows has a driver for sata built in, but as things are changing it is possible that you have to fix boot.

Other people at the forum here might have a better suggestion.

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Wil