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jaswartz
Contributor
Contributor

How to boot from Windows CD in Corrupted Fusion Session

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.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

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 for how to get into the BIOS more easily.

jaswartz
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks etung,

Once I figured out that the .vmx file was in a "bundle", I was able to locate it, open it, and add the line to delay the bios screen. I then got into the setup, changed the boot order, and successfully booted from the setup disk. Selecting 'R' for the recovery option, I then got put into the recovery console. But I noticed right away some behavior different from what is outlined in several places as to what happens next. First, I was not prompted to select what operating system I wanted to repair nor asked for any password. I was just dumped to the C prompt at C:\... Nothing runs from here....I can not run Bootcfg or chkdsk and even running cd reveals nothing in the directory. Its as if I am sitting at a C prompt with no disk at all to work with. I am still hesitant to do a reformat in hopes that there is something simple I am overlooking and that while in the recovery console session, the reason I am having problems is that it is not pointing correctly at the hard drive where the system is installed....

Actually, even when I sucked it up and gambled on a reinstall hoping my previous applications would be preserved, I could not even get past the users agreement because the function keys are not being translated to the Windows window.... so even if I wanted to reinstall I can't!

Any further help would be much appreciated...

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

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.

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jaswartz
Contributor
Contributor

I have had it installed for a over a month but it is likely I used the easy install program. On a hunch, because the windows startup program was telling me the disk volume was 4 gigs, I pulled off a failed USB drive that I had left on the machine. Sure enough, that was the device that the Windows setup program was pointing to because when I reran setup again, it failed to find any drive. So you must be right that the SCSI drivers necessary to mount the Mac hard drive were not installed initially. You are also correct, fn - f8 worked...

I have downloaded the SCSI drivers and am now trying to figure out how to use them during setup.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

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.

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jaswartz
Contributor
Contributor

Etung,

I really appreciate your continuing to follow-up on this with me. Without

your help, I would probably have abandoned everything by now. I feel I am

90% of the way there...

I get that I need to point the floppy disk at an image file, but I am

sorry to say I have no clue how to make an image file out of the SCSI

driver that you linked me to. What is the process for making a single file

into an image on the Mac hard drive that VMware or Windows can then read

when it comes time in the process?

Thanks again,

James

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jaswartz
Contributor
Contributor

Nevermind! Got it.... loaded the SCSI drivers and Windows setup does see the hard drive. Running chkdsk now and hopefully will be back in business soon. Thanks again for staying with me on this one and sorry for my novice questions.

James

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

The only thing you need to do is unzip the file; Fusion knows what to do with the .flp image.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Cool, glad to hear you're back up and running.

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saltheart
Contributor
Contributor

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?

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

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?

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

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

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saltheart
Contributor
Contributor

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.

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syanover
Contributor
Contributor

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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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

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.

It normally should not take that long on a Virtual Machine however I have seen it take a while on a physical system when there was defective hardware on the system and I'd assume that if something is corrupt in the Virtual Machine then it could cause it to hang as well.

I'd start by shutting down, not suspending, the Virtual Machine and close Fusion and reboot the Mac and then try it again and see if it hangs.

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syanover
Contributor
Contributor

I shut down the VM, closed Fusion, rebooted. Gets as far as "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..." then it hangs, the disc spins for a bit then everything gets quiet.

I'm running Fusion 1.1.3(94249).

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