[WorksForMe] Windows crashes during updating Windows10, cannot start anymore

[wmuller]

This week I needed to update my only windows program on my Macbook. After done so Windows10 in VB asked tot install some updates.
During updating I got a blue screen and cannot get my Windows running again. All choices in the blue screens leads to nothing, even uninstall the update.
I tried to connect VB with a fresh Windows10 ISO file but as ITC is not my hobby and profession, this is not yet succesfull. I might do something wrong. The ISO file is on a 16GB USB stick which I cannot find in the VB.


Maybe someone knows what to do in this case.

[socratis]

First of all, do you think that attaching a 2153x1174 px picture would be the best way to show us what's going on? With 4 windows all stitched in one? You only need to focus in the area of interest and crop the image.

I see a "FATAL: Could not read from the boot medium! System halted."

This happens when 1) there's no medium to boot from, 2) the bootable medium is corrupted. Given the fact that this was a bootable medium, I think it's option 2 that's happening, and your (virtual) hard drive might be toast.

BTW, can you explain to me why you have a USB controller with the Win10.iso mounted? Wouldn't the CD Drive be good enough?

We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe or recreate the problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

[wmuller]

Sorry I did not see how to reduce the size of the picture. It's taken away now.
Attached I sent the log,

[scottgus1]

I didn't notice anything egregious in a quick scan through the log, and what appears to be a complete run of the Virtualbox guest. I did see this:

00:00:01.388674 File system of '/Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso' (DVD) is apfs
00:00:01.395122 File system of '/Users/lt3/Downloads/Win10_1903_V2_Dutch_x64.iso' (DVD) is apfs

Your guest has two CD drives, with (I think) the first one containing the Guest Additions ISO image. Eject the Windows ISO from the second CD drive. Remove the second CD drive. Point the first CD drive at the Windows ISO.

Now start the guest. You may see a "press any key to boot from CD...." Press a key on the keyboard within 5 seconds of this message appearing. The Windows installer OS should start. You may be able to repair the installed Windows, or might have to start fresh. Note that starting fresh may cause a loss of all your data in the guest. If you need to save this data, post back and we'll tell you how to get the data out.

[wmuller]

Note that starting fresh may cause a loss of all your data in the guest. If you need to save this data, post back and we'll tell you how to get the data out.

I like to save the data in the guest. Please explain me how I can find them and copy to a safe place.

[socratis]

00:00:01.467343 NumCPUs <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)
00:00:01.811175 CPUM: Physical host cores: 4

Your Host has 4 cores, you can certainly afford a 2nd CPU for your Guest, your Guest is going to be running much smoother.

00:00:01.317137 Installed Extension Packs:
00:00:01.317176   None installed!

Not a requirement, but a lot of benefits by installing the matching ExtPack, like USB2-3, Webcam, VRDP, PXE, PCI passthrough on Linux hosts, VDI Encryption. You have to download it and install it separately from the main VirtualBox program, due to its license.

00:00:01.467459 [/Devices/ahci/0/LUN#0/Config/] (level 5)
00:00:01.467461   BlockCache <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)
...
00:00:13.866085 AIOMgr: Host limits number of active IO requests to 16. Expect a performance impact.

Go to the VM Settings » Storage » select your SATA controller » Use Host I/O Cache: enable that.

00:00:01.467669 VMSVGA3dEnabled    <integer> = 0x0000000000000000 (0)
00:00:01.467669 VMSVGAEnabled      <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)
00:00:01.467670 VRamSize           <integer> = 0x0000000008000000 (134 217 728, 128 MB)

Go to the VM Settings » Display » Screen. Enable 3D acceleration. Increase the VRAM to the max 256 MB.

00:00:01.467749 [/USB/Msd/0/LUN#0/AttachedDriver/Config/] (level 6)
00:00:01.467751   Format    <string>  = "RAW" (cb=4)
00:00:01.467751   Mountable <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)
00:00:01.467752   Path      <string>  = "/Users/lt3/Downloads/Win10_1903_V2_Dutch_x64.iso" (cb=49)

I asked you previously, but I received no answer; you should reply to the questions asked. Why did you create a USB adapter and mounted your Win.iso there? I don't think the USB controller does what you think it does...

00:00:04.330332 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from Hard Disk...
00:00:04.333146 Display::i_handleDisplayResize: uScreenId=0 pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0 flags=0x0 origin=0,0

Your VM is trying to, and it's booting from the hard disk. Everything looks as it should.

At that point it's all over to the Guest, VirtualBox is done as far as booting is concerned. Which leads us to the clue that your Guest's "hard drive" has a problem. You can attempt to resolve/fix this by following a slightly modified procedure compared to what 'scottgus1' suggested:

• Eject the GAs ISO (VBoxGuestAdditions.iso) from the CD drive.
• Eject the '/Users/lt3/Downloads/Win10_1903_V2_Dutch_x64.iso' from the USB controller.
• Delete the USB controller. You don't need it.
• Mount the '/Users/lt3/Downloads/Win10_1903_V2_Dutch_x64.iso' to your CD drive.
• Follow the steps as described in the last post by 'scottgus1' to repair your Guest's hard drive. In particular try to fix the MBR.

I like to save the data in the guest.

If the above procedure doesn't fix the hard drive, then what you can do is to:

1. Create a new Guest. Install Win10 on it.
2. After the new Guest is completely setup, mount (as a secondary hard drive) the VDI of the 1st VM. Grab your data.

[wmuller]

I asked you previously, but I received no answer; you should reply to the questions asked. Why did you create a USB adapter and mounted your Win.iso there? I don't think the USB controller does what you think it does...

Someone at a Dutch forum advised it. I did not come around with that forum.

[socratis]

Someone at a Dutch forum advised it

Avoid that forum in the future...

[waldodunnam]

Ah......Let's talk about Windows 10 iso,how did you get it? How did you burn it to USB?

[wmuller]

Ah......Let's talk about Windows 10 iso,how did you get it?How did you burn it to USB?

Well, I downloaded it and copied the iso-file to a memory stick and burned it on a DVD. but ... see my next post.

[wmuller]

. [If the above procedure doesn't fix the hard drive, then what you can do is to:

1. Create a new Guest. Install Win10 on it.
2. After the new Guest is completely setup, mount (as a secondary hard drive) the VDI of the 1st VM. Grab your data.

Thank you all for the all reactions and advise.
I was studying the procedure 'socratis' advised me to follow to restore and save my data. It looked a bit complicated to me, but following the steps it might also work for me. Then I first tried to set the Virtualbox back to the situation of begin October when it was working properly. For that I could use a system-backup on my Time Machine. That was working good, so problems are solved, Windows10 is working in VirtualBox and did a fresh installation from a working version.
Thanks for help.

[socratis]

That was working good, so problems are solved

Glad you finally got it going. Marking as [WorksForMe].

[waldodunnam]

I am glad the problem has been solved, personally, i think you'd better create a bootable disc for your computer, so that you won't worry any more if you have a similar problem next time.
That is my method: [ModEdit; removed suspicious URL]
You can even search Rufus on Google.

[wmuller]

Thank you very much @waldodunnan. That's a good suggestion.

[scottgus1]

Ah......Let's talk about Windows 10 iso,how did you get it?How did you burn it to USB?

Well, I downloaded it and copied the iso-file to a memory stick and burned it on a DVD. but ... see my next post.

FWIW Virtualbox can "insert" the ISO file itself into the guest's virtual drive with no need for the USB stick or the DVD, as Socratis mentioned above:

Mount the '/Users/lt3/Downloads/Win10_1903_V2_Dutch_x64.iso' to your CD drive

The guest will think it's running from or using a DVD.