Windows 7 (PE) hangs when OS type is "other 64-bit"

[Maxnet]

I always thought that the "OS type" question during VM creation was only asked to set reasonable defaults for memory size, disk size and disk controller.

And therefore usually choose "other 64-bit", as we re-use the same VM for different operating systems later.

But today I noticed that when the "OS type" is set "other 64-bit" Windows PE hangs during "intializing hardware"

If I edit the .vmx file so that it says 'guestOS = "windows7srv-64" ' while leaving all other settings intact, it does work properely.

What specific workarounds does ESXi use when this setting is set?

Is it safe to always have guestOS at "windows7srv-64" instead of "other-64", even when having other operating systems installed, or can that introduce other conflicts?

[a_p_]

Depending on the guest OS you select, different "default" settings apply to the VM unless they are explicitly defined in the vmx file. I'm not aware of an official list of these defaults though.

see e.g. unexpected impact of guestOS = "vmkernel5"

André

[Maxnet]

Thanks for the reference to the other thread.

' monitor_control.enable_e1000_IMS_workaround = "true" ' that is mentioned there solves my hang!

Wondering if it is safe to have that setting permanently for all OS types.