vboxsvr disappeared after Win10 update

[TomG]

I installed VirtualBox on Win10, and created a Win10 guest machine. Everything was working fine, until this morning when Windows applied an upgrade on the Guest machine. Now my drives shared from the host have disappeared. I recreated them using Shared Folder Settings in the guest, but when I go to Network in Windows Explorer, vboxsvr is not there.

I've tried going to Devices/Insert Guest Additions CD but nothing happens when I click on it. I downloaded the most recent Guest Additions file from Oracle and reinstalled it.

I have tried rebooting the guest and host machines.

I'm running on a Win10 PC, i7-8700K with 64 Gb RAM.

I'm very new to VirtualBox, and virtual machines in general, and would greatly appreciate any guidance.

[mpack]

Depending on how the guest OS is configured, inserting the Guest Additions CD may do nothing other than insert the CD - you should run the GAs installer manually (browse to the CD and run VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe). And yes, lots of things can be broken by a Win10 feature update, which I assume this was.

[socratis]

I downloaded the most recent Guest Additions file from Oracle and reinstalled it.

Do not download the Guest Additions (GAs) ISO as a stand-alone file, unless directed to do so when troubleshooting. The GAs come bundled with your VirtualBox for a very good reason; they match the main program version, no room for mistakes. You simply go to the menu "Devices" » "Insert GAs CD image..." and that should do it.

[MatteoR]

Hello.

Did anyone find a fix for this?

I think that this issue will propagate soon. This problem appeared to me too with latest Windows updates on guest. I tried to reinstall Guest Addtions without reboot and it works, but if I reboot the problem appears again.

I need to know:

1. How can I issue this problem to Oracle (or to the Community, while Vbox is open source)?
2. What information should I provide to oracle or to the community (logs, error messages, screeenshots, etc.)? Where can I take it?

Thank you.

[socratis]

Did anyone find a fix for this?

For what? Not being able to install the GAs?

I think that this issue will propagate soon.

I don't think so, I don't have any evidence. Do you have any evidence?

I tried to reinstall Guest Addtions without reboot and it works, but if I reboot the problem appears again.

I think that you're talking finally about the VBoxSvr shares not showing up. Try to actually revoot the guest.

1. How can I issue this problem to Oracle (or to the Community, while Vbox is open source)?

Here. That's the best place of communicating errors and/or potential issues. Mainly to the community, because, from my limited understanding, you're not an Oracle customer. Peer users is your best option.

Start with describing the problem in complete details. Then by replicating the problem consistently. Step-by-step instructions so we can verify it. Without verification, it's only you I'm afraid, doesn't work like that...

[MatteoR]

Hello socratis.

My problem is the same described by TomG:

I installed VirtualBox on Win10, and created a Win10 guest machine. Everything was working fine, until this morning when Windows applied an upgrade on the Guest machine. Now my drives shared from the host have disappeared. I recreated them using Shared Folder Settings in the guest, but when I go to Network in Windows Explorer, vboxsvr is not there.

This problem happened recently (2 days ago), after a Windows upgrade:
I start the machine, and the vboxsvr does not exists. What I can do is to reinstall Guest Additions without reboot every time the guest machine starts up (this operation make it work). After I try to reboot the guest, the problem is back, and I have to reinstall GuestAdditions without reboot. This is clearly a workaround and I would need a definitive fix to make the "File Share" feature permanent.

PS: I work with this virtual machine since more than 6 months and this kind of problem never happened before and the Virtualbox configuration have never been changed.

Thank you

[mpack]

As mentioned above, that isn't a problem, it's expected behaviour - and even if you wanted the behaviour to change then you'd have to raise that with Microsoft, not the VirtualBox devs. Microsoft are the ones who will remove files and disable drivers on a Windows Update, not anyone else.

[socratis]

This is clearly a workaround and I would need a definitive fix to make the "File Share" feature permanent.

Funny, I've never had that happen. Not after an upgrade, that's I'm afraid mandatory. Thank MS as mpack mentioned.

But after the GAs are installed, I don't have to re-install them. And I've done plenty of Win10 upgrades. And so have thousands and thousands of people. I don't recall this "have to update the GAs all the time" issue.

Are you shutting down the VM completely? Can you Disconnect the network cable as a test. Shared folders should work even without a NIC present, let alone a disconnected cable.

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe error / 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.

[MatteoR]

Hello.

Sorry for late reply. I post my logs here.

Here what I did:

• Started the VM
• Tried to find \\vboxsvr (with no success)
• Shutdown the VM

Thank you.
Do you see any issue on logs?