Windows boots but won't fully load shell and prefs (e.g. no desktop, no start button, etc)

[sbsyncro]

I had everything working fine for the last few days, and now suddenly Windows won't boot properly. Here's the details:

Host:

Macbook Pro 2.4 Ghz w/4GB Ram and OS X (10.5.6)

Guest:

1. Installed Windows XP Pro, SP2

2. Installed SP3

3. Installed Office 2003 Pro

4. Installed Symantec AV (Enterprise Edition end point)

5. Internet Explorer updated to version 8

Rebooted several times, everything working fine

Then decided to twiddle with the Settings:

• Changed processors to 2 and RAM to ~3GB

Reboot would not work (hung at DOS pop-up for windows/system32/userinit.exe and never got the "tada" Windows music

1. Shut down guest OS

2. Changed settings back to 1 processor and 2GB RAM, rebooted

3. Booted up almost all the way - the DOS window flashed and then disappeard, and I heard the "tada" music

Unfortunately, none of the Desktop files, shared directories, or other UI elements show up. (no Start button or other way to interact with the OS)

Ctr-alt-del will bring up the utility dialog that allows logging out, shutting down, launching task manager, etc.

If I launch task manager, it takes several minutes to appear, but looking at resources, it does not look like anything is running short (plenty of RAM, and plenty of CPU)

I'M TOTALLY PUZZLED and this is annoying as *#$%&^ since I was just to the point of actually becoming productive! (grr, I don't miss Windows!)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

[sbsyncro]

Another bit of info:

When I tried to immediately launch task manager after rebooting (thinking I would try to run a new task and then launch Explorer.exe manually) I got the following error message (before running the new task):

"The NTDVM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction" with a bunch of gobbledy-gook after that (see picture for details).

I clicked "Ignore" and then used Task Manager to manually launch a new task, and then ran Explorer.exe

Lo and behold, Windows booted the rest of the way to the desktop, and it appears that I have full functionality now...

Any suggestions on how I can get the Explorer shell to load on its own rather than having to use Task Manager to launch it manually?

Thanks

[WoodyZ]

Just curious, since you spent all that time to build out your virtual machine did you may a backup of it so if something happens you don't have to do it all over again from scratch ? Also before going and tweaking things it can be very beneficial to take a Snapshot so if something happen as a result of the tweak you have a quick way out.

Additionally if you do not have a Mac Pro you are probably better off just using 1 virtual CPU and aside from that you should just arbitrarily switch from 1 to 2 because you didn't originally build out Windows XP with 2 and Microsoft doesn't support changing the number of CPU on the fly under XP.

Also I just have to laugh when when users give 3 GB of 4 GB RAM to Windows because it you really need 3 GB in Windows then you should just be running a PC not a MacBook Pro.

[WoodyZ]

Any suggestions on how I can get the Explorer shell to load on its own rather than having to use Task Manager to launch it manually?

Click Start > Run > type regedit and press Enter or click OK.

Navigate to:

 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

In the right pane under Userinit, make sure it only says the following:

c:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe,

Yes there is a trailing comma and also if Windows is not installed in c:\windows then it should reflect the correct path nonetheless.

[sbsyncro]

Just curious, since you spent all that time to build out your virtual machine did you may a backup of it so if something happens you don't have to do it all over again from scratch ? Also before going and tweaking things it can be very beneficial to take a Snapshot so if something happen as a result of the tweak you have a quick way out.

I guess I naively assumed that vmWare + Windows would be stable enough for me to at least get to a "baseline" install of OS + required utilities before I'd need a full backup. That was literally going to be my next step. Now I know better.

>

Additionally if you do not have a Mac Pro you are probably better off just using 1 virtual CPU and aside from that you should just arbitrarily switch from 1 to 2 because you didn't originally build out Windows XP with 2 and Microsoft doesn't support changing the number of CPU on the fly under XP.

Makes sense, but it would be nice if that was made clear in the "fast start" wizard and the accompanying documentation... So now it looks like I am hosed and have to go through the entire install process over again after deleting this VM?

Also I just have to laugh when when users give 3 GB of 4 GB RAM to Windows because it you really need 3 GB in Windows then you should just be running a PC not a MacBook Pro.

Thanks, I feel so much better now. The idea was that I was creating a VM that would occasionally be used 99% for Windows applications (perhaps even some gaming), and wanted to test the effects of shifting the amounts of ram around until I found the "sweet spot". I knew that this represented the absolute max, and was intended to establish performance benchmarks at that max. I assumed that I would have to dial it back down and find the balance point; I didn't realize vmWare + Windows XP would be so fragile when tweaking the memory allocation. (The documentation that ships with Fusion is pretty sparse.

[sbsyncro]

c:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe,

Yes there is a trailing comma and also if Windows is not installed in c:\windows then it should reflect the correct path nonetheless.

Thanks WoodyZ,

OK -I just verified the setting is exactly as you list here. Any other suggestions?

[sbsyncro]

Another update as I am reviewing and trying to trouble-shoot: I noticed that the vmWare Tools icon in the system tray has a red circle/cross through it. OPening up the services console, I see that the vmware physical disk service is started, but the vmware tools service is NOT (though both are set to automatic).

When I try to manually start the Tools service, I get an "Error 5: Access Denied" message. This is strange, because I am logged in as an Administrator....

Not sure if this is related to my other problems or not...

[sbsyncro]

after manually launching explorer.exe by using the Task Manager, I ran SFC /scannow in a DOS window.

After about 30 minutes, the scan concluded (spinning my WinXP Pro disk wildly the whole time) and things seem to be working now.

Apparently some system files must have become corrupted or got deleted.

[WoodyZ]

things seem to be working now. Apparently some system files must have become corrupted or got deleted.

That's good and at least you didn't have to rebuild from scratch. Glad you're back up and running normally.