Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
Koris
Posts: 1
Joined: 16. Apr 2022, 10:59

Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by Koris »

Hello,

I'm having a recurring "critical error" -> meditation guru problem with my Virtualbox and in need of guidance please.

I started getting this error when i tried to install any type of OS on either of the virtual machines,
after checking that i did allocate the correct amount of RAM and number of CPUs, and that
my PC had the resources for it, the error kept popping up and kill the installation processes.

Initially i thought its a problem with not enough RAM, so i added 8GB to the PC (host) and got it to 16GB RAM.

After several attempts of installing the OS on the guest machine i also got the blue screen of death
and realized i need to update my graphics drivers - it looked like it worked!

Now i was able to install the OSes on the virtual machines and have them running.

(the part above is for anyone who encounters the same situation. update your graphics drivers!)


BUT


The error was not done with me just yet:

While installing the expansion for VB it occurred again! :O
Killing the installation process.

I eventually got back and installed the expansion, but since i thought adding 8GB of RAM + updating my graphics
drivers would have solved the problem for good - i'm starting to get frustrated with it.

It also happened again while i was running a Zoom session and one virtual machine running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Is there anything i can do to really solve it once and for all??


Here are all of the details:

PC: Lenovo H81M-P33

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 @ 3.20 GHz

Memory: 16GB RAM

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4600

Host OS: Windows 7

VB Version: 6.1.32 + Expansion pack installed

Log Files: Both are attached to this post.

A Huge thank you in advance!
Attachments
VBoxlogs.zip
(106.9 KiB) Downloaded 7 times
mpack
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Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by mpack »

Koris wrote: Is there anything i can do to really solve it once and for all??
Yup, dump that Avast antivirus you are using. That would be a permanent fix. Or in the short term you can just tell the AV to stop using virtualization.
GRou
Posts: 7
Joined: 14. Jun 2019, 10:41

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by GRou »

I just hit this same problem on Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. Been running without issues on this system for almost 9 years. Just got the problem a couple days ago.

I found some other discussions around the 'net. One said to check a fairly new setting in Avast: General -Troubleshooting - Enable hardware-assisted virtualization. Some reported turning this off solved the problem. Unfortunately, mine was already off, but I still got the problem. I'm posting this in case others find this discussion; disabling that setting might work for others.

I was able to turn off all shields, and then successfully run my VMs. Obviously an inconvenient workaround. I'll try submitting a problem report to Avast. Avast and AVG merged awhile back, so I doubt switching to AVG would accomplish anything.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by fth0 »

GRou wrote:Avast and AVG merged awhile back, so I doubt switching to AVG would accomplish anything.
Yes, at least the hardware-assisted virtualization is the same in both.

If you have time and like to help, could you identify all Avast settings that lead to the crash?
GRou
Posts: 7
Joined: 14. Jun 2019, 10:41

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by GRou »

fth0 wrote:If you have time and like to help, could you identify all Avast settings that lead to the crash?
I haven't spent any time in customizing Avast (even though I've been using it for years), so all the settings are default. I just went through the Protection item in the user interface, and checked the items that are available in the free version: Email Guardian, Firewall, Ransomware Shield, and Network Inspector. I don't have any of them configured. So, on my system at least, apparently the Core Shields is the only feature I'm using.

If I disable all the Core Shields before running any app, then I can use the VMs without a problem. If I open my email client *before* disabling the Core Shields, and then disable them, the problem occurs in my VMs. I believe this is because Avast will activate one or more of the shields when I open the email client. I did find that in my case, if I disable all the Core Shields *except* the Mail Shield, then I can run my VMs without error. This helps me a little bit, as I least I can read my email while I have a VM open.

I've reported this problem directly to Avast, but haven't heard anything back. They have a beta available now which attempts to fix this problem, but it did not fix it for me. I'll report back if I get a working solution from Avast.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by fth0 »

Thank you for your detailed feedback! :)
mpack
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by mpack »

GRou wrote:They have a beta available now which attempts to fix this problem, but it did not fix it for me.
There is no Win7 option to mediate access to VT-x/AMD-v, hence only one app at a time can use it - the user has to be the mediator. The only possible fix is for AVG/Avast to stop using this CPU feature, at least while VM software is running.
GRou
Posts: 7
Joined: 14. Jun 2019, 10:41

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by GRou »

mpack wrote:
GRou wrote:They have a beta available now which attempts to fix this problem, but it did not fix it for me.
There is no Win7 option to mediate access to VT-x/AMD-v, hence only one app at a time can use it - the user has to be the mediator. The only possible fix is for AVG/Avast to stop using this CPU feature, at least while VM software is running.
Avast seems to be *trying* to do that. They have an option "Enable hardware-assisted virtualization". That option is unchecked on my system. Unfortunately, I am still encountering this problem. I have submitted a report to Avast. No response yet.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by fth0 »

GRou wrote:Avast seems to be *trying* to do that. They have an option "Enable hardware-assisted virtualization". That option is unchecked on my system.
In the last weeks, other VirtualBox users have also reported that unchecking that option didn't suffice any more, but complete uninstallation did. You could try to identify other Avast settings that implicitly enable the use of hardware virtualization.
scottgus1
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by scottgus1 »

About a couple months ago when this problem with AV first began, disabling the AV's hardware virtualization was all that was required. Lately at least one other poster reports that they have to disable other things in the AV or uninstall it completely to get Virtualbox to work, like you have reported.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=106204&p=518832#p518830
luzzillo
Posts: 1
Joined: 10. Jun 2022, 17:23

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by luzzillo »

I join the virtualbox users who have this problem.
I have been using the VM for several years, but for about a month I have been experiencing this problem associated with the blue screen.
I tried completely disabling Avast, but nothing has changed.
Are you sure the problem is the antivirus?
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by fth0 »

luzzillo wrote:I tried completely disabling Avast
That often doesn't work as pretended by the AV software.
luzzillo wrote:Are you sure the problem is the antivirus?
Not with 100%. For a test, uninstall the Avast software and reboot the host to see for yourself. If you're uneasy with that, you can disconnect the host from the Internet during the test.
GRou
Posts: 7
Joined: 14. Jun 2019, 10:41

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by GRou »

I wanted to post an update. In the course of reporting this issue to Avast, they asked me to narrow down the options I need to disable in order to be able to use my VirtualBox VMs. After several iterations, I was able to isolate a single shield that is causing my VMs to crash.
  1. In the Avast user interface, click the 3-bar Menu in the upper-right corner, and select Settings.
  2. Select the Protection item.
  3. Select Core Shields
  4. Scroll down, and uncheck Enable Anti-Rootkit Shield. This will also disable the nested Enable Anti-Exploit Shield.
Having done this, I can now run my VMs without errors. I believe the Anti-Rootkit Shield is the source of my issues, and not the nested Anti-Exploit Shield. I tried leaving the Anti-Rootkit shield enabled, but disabling the nested Anti-Exploit Shield, and my VMs still crashed. I have reported my findings to Avast, but have not heard anything back yet.

[EDIT 6/20/22] I don't know what I did differently, but just now I tried leaving the Anti-Rootkit Shield enabled, but disabled the nested Anti-Exploit Shield. This time, by VMs continued to work. Perhaps in my previous attempts, I tried disabling the Anti-Exploit Shield after having already running the VMs with it enabled. One thing I've learned (for me, anyway) is that once Avast has loaded the shields and an app (like a browser or email client) that would utilize these shields has been run, then changing the shield settings in the Avast UI doesn't have any effect on the VMs until a reboot. For example, in this case, running the VMs with Anti-Exploit Shield enabled will cause the VMs to fail. Disabling Anti-Exploit Shield will still result in the VMs failing until a reboot is done.

So, you might want to try enabling Anti-Rootkit Shield, disabling Anti-Exploit Shield, rebooting, then running your VMs. *Might* work for you, did work for me. Why go through all this trouble? Having one more shield running seems like a good idea.
Last edited by GRou on 21. Jun 2022, 05:31, edited 2 times in total.
whatevernow
Posts: 2
Joined: 20. Jun 2022, 11:39

Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by whatevernow »

GRou wrote:I was able to isolate a single shield that is causing my VMs to crash.
  1. In the Avast user interface, click the 3-bar Menu in the upper-right corner, and select Settings.
  2. Select the Protection item.
  3. Select Core Shields
  4. Scroll down, and uncheck Enable Anti-Rootkit Shield. This will also disable the nested Enable Anti-Exploit Shield.
Thank you so much for sharing this tip. I have AVG running on my machine, and several months ago I met crash problem in VirtualBox and then fixed that by unchecking the hardware virtualization option in AVG. In the past couple of days, the crash occured again. By following your advice and disabling the Anti-Rootkit Shield, I can run my VB VM without problem now.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox crashes on windows 7

Post by fth0 »

Thanks for reporting back. Is it correct that the Anti-Rootkit Shield is part of a paid version of Avast, but not of the free version?
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