XP SP3 Endless rebooting

[skyedog]

Using VM Fusion with a virtual machine running XP Professional I upgraded this to sp3. I now have the endless rebooting with a blue screen complaining about a missing entry point GDIGetBitMapSize in GDI32.dll. I now know this is the classic windows XP SP3 bug

Do I have any comeback from this or do I need to create a new virtual machine?

Are there any utilities that allow you to inspect & edit the disk contents of your virtual machine as the fix for this is to replace the gdi32.dll?

Can the virtual machine be repaired by booting to the windows xp cd?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

Skye

[MandarMS]

Try repairing Windows XP in Virtual Machine using Windows Installer CD

[skyedog]

Hi Mandar

I wasn't sure how to do this but I've figured that you disable mac os

keyboard shortcuts in Fusion & press F2 when vmware grey screen comes up.

Change the boot order to boot from the CD before hard drive then use

installer cd?

Is this the right path?

Thanks

Liz

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

If your Virtual Machine does not boot the Windows Install CD and or you cannot enter the BIOS by pressing the F2 key quick enough or select the Boot Menu quick enough by selecting the Esc key after clicking into the Virtual Machine display... To work-a-round either of theses you will need to add one or both of the following parameters to the target Virtual Machine's .vmx configuration file.

bios.bootDelay = "3000"

And/Or

bios.forceSetupOnce = "TRUE"

By default normal file based Fusion Virtual Machines are created in the "~/Documents/Virtual Machines" folder. Note: Depending on OS ver. and or Fusion ver. there may be a .localized after Virtual Machines although by default it is not visable in Finder.

~ Is your Home Folder

They are placed in a Folder (Bundle Package) with an extension of ".vmwarevm" which by default the extension is not visible in Finder.

Example: "~/Documents/Virtual Machines/Windows XP SP2.vmwarevm" would in Finder just look like an icon named "Windows XP SP2"

You can view the Package Contents of the "Windows XP SP2.vmwarevm" folder by right-click (or Ctrl+Click) the "Windows XP SP2" icon and select Show Package Contents.

To Edit the .vmx File:

You would right-click (or Ctrl+Click) on the "Windows XP SP2.vmx" file and select Open With > Other... then in Choose Application choose TextEdit.

[skyedog]

Thanks for the information. It's very useful for the next time & for my

understanding of how VM Fusion works. I found the virtual machine, inspected

its contents & looked at the VMX file

I did manage to get into the BIOS via F2 & change the boot order so it would

boot from the CD.

I set my virtual machine up as a SCSI disk so the windows setup wont allow

me to go into the recovery console. It says it doesn't recognise the disk

At the start of windows setup from the CD you can press f6 (I think) & load

a scsi driver

I have a USB floppy drive but is there a generic scsi driver I can use that

will read the disk?

From my windows days I have only used specific scsi drivers to a card

Skye

[WoodyZ]

Download the SCSI Disk Drivers and assign the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp to a Floppy via the Settings sheet for the target Virtual Machine. You cannot use a USB Floppy Drive in Fusion at this point in the process.

Have a look at: VMware Fusion menu > Help > VMware Fusion Help > Managing Virtual Machines > Configuring a Floppy Device

[skyedog]

Thank you for your help. I've now got into the recovery console & fixed the

dodgy dll

Cheers

Skye

[nut4wine]

Thanks, the thread helped me save my XP vm. The stupid lz32.dll was corrupted, so XP wouldn't boot. Using this thread to boot into the recovery console and then using the "expand" command, I was able to restore the file.