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HansWurst07
Contributor
Contributor

Troubleshooter wanted! Guest system doesn't boot any more!!

Hi!

My host system crashed while the guest system was running. Since this crash the guest system doesn't boot any more. Problem is, since the last backup the guest system had been changed, e.g. I had increased disk space. Is there anything I can do? I would love to spare the time for making all the changes again.

Thanks in advance for any help!

HansWurst07

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Welcome to the COmmunity,

Is there anything I can do?

To be able to answer this question or help at all, you need to provide some details. What exactly happens if you try to start the VM? Any error messages? Any helpful information in the VM's vmware.log file?

André

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HansWurst07
Contributor
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Hi, André, and thanks for your quick reply!

When I try to start the guest system the booting actually seems to work. I can see the Windows XP booting picture, that is. Suddenly, though, the screen is blue with a message on in white letters. Alas, it's only there for a very short moment, so I can't read a thing. Afterwards, it starts all again from the beginning. This happens again and again in an endless loop until I power off.

The log files are so full of information, I wouldn't really know where to start. Are there particular lines which are of interest?

Cheers,

HansWurst07

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Are you able to boot Windows XP in Safe Mode (pressing "F8" when Windows starts booting)?

André

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HansWurst07
Contributor
Contributor

No, I'm not able to boot in safe mode. I've already tried.

I've been wondering if it is possible to do something like this: using the old vmdk-files with a new vmx-file.

HansWurst07

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

You can certainly use the .vmdk files with another .vmx file (although this may require manual editing files with VMware Player), but this won't help since it does not seem to be an issue with the VM itself, but more with the guest OS. If nothing else helps you can either try to add this .vmdk file as a second disk to another (helper) VM or use the disk-mount utility from the VDDK to at least be able to extract important files from the virtual disk.

In any case you should backup the current files now, unless you already did this.

André

HansWurst07
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, André!

There seems to be an issue with the guest OS, indeed. I've now found out that it wants me to start with an installation disk because of problems with a certain dll-file. Is such a start possible? Do VMs have a boot sequence just like PCs?

As to mounting the virtual disk, I've already tried to secure certain files like this, but it didn't work. I couldn't find the files I was looking for in the folder My Documents. There were only strange txt-files. Perhaps it's an access rights issue. What do you reckon?

HansWurst07

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

try to boot the VM with a Knoppix LiveCD - that should give you access to all the files


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Do VMs have a boot sequence just like PCs?

Yes they do. If you are fast enough to press "ESC" while you see the white bar after powering on the VM, you will be presented a boot menu.

Perhaps it's an access rights issue. What do you reckon?

I'm afraid this is less an issue with permissions, but more a partly corrupted file system. What you could try is to boot the VM from e.g. a Windows 7 DVD/ISO and - at the language selection - press Shift-F10 to open a command prompt. From there run chkdsk c: /f.

Before you do this, backup the current files to have a way back in case this makes thing even worse.

André

HansWurst07
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, all!

After changing the boot order I was able to start a live system. First, I started Knoppix. Still, I had no access to the files I wanted to have access to. There were still those strange txt-files. Then, I started BartPE. Still no access. But because of the said Windows message and André's last post I let chkdsk run. Afterwards, I had access to the files Smiley Happy

Unfortunately, though, the guest OS still doesn't boot properly, and I won't give it further tries. Anyway, many thanks for your helpful comments!

HansWurst07

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