[WorksForMe] Normal Start doesn't work (E_FAIL (0x80004005)), Detachable works.

[dtgq]

The 4th post here says it might be a dll problem: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=82106, and I tried all the "Other things to try" section.

Some guys here say it's a dll problem as well, but weirdly there's resistance to this solution so I don't know who to believe: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68869

I attached `VBoxHardening`, unfortunately I have no idea what to look for so I kindly ask for your help.

PS. While I'm here, perhaps a related issue: Aero doesn't work in Windows 7 guests with 128MB vram, and the FPS of all guests feels low, is that the problem with using Detachable mode?

[socratis]

unfortunately I have no idea what to look for

According to the FAQ that you linked to (Diagnosing VirtualBox Hardening Issues), you should be looking for the ExitCode line:

7c0.414: supR3HardNtChildWaitFor[1]: Quitting: ExitCode=0x1 (rcNtWait=0x0, rcNt1=0x0, rcNt2=0x103, rcNt3=0x103, 999 ms, the end);

...which means that you *do* have a hardening issue. There don't seem to be any known adversaries (like AntiVirus) doing this, so you have to dig deeper.

and I tried all the "Other things to try" section.

There are way many more things to try before you get to that section. For example, unnecessary "candy" software that's installed with your GPU drivers, a bad/damaged/non-updated Windows Certificate Database, a system DLL that's been replaced (checked with "sfc /scannow"), etc. Did you (re)install the minimal drivers for your GPU? Did you try the rest of the suggestions? What are the results?

Unfortunately, hardening issues are not easy to solve, because the way that these DLLs try to inject, is sneaky by its nature. You'll have to start using your own judgement and see what software you have installed on your system, we can't possibly know that.

If everything else fails, reinstall Windows...

[mpack]

The last DLL mentioned in the log is "uxtheme.dll", so I'm going to go with the theory that a hacked theme has been installed.

[dtgq]

Issue resolved, the problem was with having removed all the components I removed to make a minimal Windows 7 installation. Credit where it's due, your post lead me in the right direction, thank you. I tried the vanilla Windows 7 SP1 refresh installation media and it worked. So I restarted the procedure of removing useless bloat from this "clean" image, each iteration getting closer to the line where actual loss of functionality would occur. In the end, I gave up on removing any drivers at all, because I had no idea which removal of which set of useless modem/fax/printer/scanner drivers was causing the issue.

The Win7 SP1 (SHA1: 36AE90DEFBAD9D9539E649B193AE573B77A71C83) installation sits under 11GB. Fully updated (slipstreamed/injected to .wim - NOT through windows update), it was iirc 14GB. By removing the following useless bloat, final install size with FULL functionality and updates up to 2018-05-10 was ~5.5GB:

- accessibility
- speech recognition
- non-English languages
- natural language
- welcome center
- action center
- security center
- windows defender
- error reporting
- diagnostics
- windows help files
- recovery disc
- anytime upgrade
- sidebar gadgets
- games
- parental controls
- media center
- DVD maker
- sample photos/music
- winSAT
- deduplicating winsxs with symlinks
- removing update uninstallers/cache

VirtualBox's Normal Start is now completely working in a Windows 7 host for all my virtual machines And as a bonus, the install size of Win7 is now smaller than the install size of Ubuntu

[socratis]

the problem was with having removed all the components I removed to make a minimal Windows 7 installation.

You know that you could have mentioned that you sabotaged your installation on purpose in your first message, right?

I had no idea which removal ... was causing the issue.

Too bad, at least we could potentially have learned something out of this "exercise".

Marking as [WorksForMe], as this shouldn't/wouldn't have happened with a normal installation.

[dtgq]

What do you mean didn't learn anything lol, you learned that you don't even know what your own software's dependencies are. And on top of that, I told you the problem was caused by removing too many of the default drivers included with Windows, even though they appeared to be useless at first glance.

I gave you the log file and you couldn't even tell me exactly where the problem was. If you did, I could've uploaded to you whichever dll you thought was causing the issue. How do you expect me to give you anything if you don't tell me what you need? You want me to do your guesswork for you?

And I didn't sabotage my Windows 7, I only took out the garbage. You sabotaged VirtualBox with all this useless "hardening" bullcrap. I know my host is clean, and if not, I alone pay the price. Don't need VB telling me what to do.

[socratis]

1. It's not *my* software. I'm not Oracle, I'm a simple user like you. Just a tad more experienced, and willing to help others, a.k.a. a volunteer.
2. You gave me the log file, that means a good start, but not everything. Logs don't describe every possible perturbation that the user can apply to their OS.
3. Uploading a DLL also means nothing. DLLs usually have to be registered as well, and usually they're not standalone.
4. I wasn't expecting you to give me anything in the first place (like a DLL???), I was really hoping that you would tell me from the beginning that you deliberately messed up with your system. But "nobody has done anything to their system", and "nobody has installed anything to their system", I should have learned that by now... all installations are as clean as Microsoft intended, or as the developers expected.
5. I was hoping to learn which step is the one that did the screwing of the OS/VirtualBox combination.
6. I want *you* to do your work for you, I want *you* to learn a thing or two. I can only help you because a) I've seen more weird cases than yours, and b) I've seen more than what you've seen. But users never stop to surprise me with new and innovative ways...

[dtgq]

Yeah that's fair, I should've said that I had heavily changed this Windows 7. I thought it couldn't affect anything and that VB would include whatever it needed in the installer, but I'm wrong. It also happened before (on other forums like LinusTechTips and reddit ) that if I say that I am even running Server 2008 R2 or Server 2016, people stop trying to address the question completely and pester me with stupid questions like "Why are you gaming on a Server OS? Reinstall Windows 10 you crazy person!" etc., so I think if you had started by telling me to reinstall vanilla Windows 7, I would've completely refused. By finding it out naturally myself, I had a positive outcome. So, sorry to you for wasting your time with this bullshit question of mine, and thank you for your patience with me

[socratis]

and that VB would include whatever it needed in the installer

There are some assumptions that certain key system components need to be in place. I do not know what the minimal is, I was hoping that what you did would teach us something. In a sense it did... all these components that you listed turns out that are not needed.

pester me with stupid questions like "Why are you gaming on a Server OS?"

Because they haven't met me yet?

Circa '93-'95(?), NT3.1 server with a couple of WfW3.11 clients, DECnet and TCP/IP (with public IPs) and... Doom! Since I was the admin, I got to play on the server