windows 7 guest not working on windows 10 host

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daffo
Posts: 2
Joined: 25. Mar 2021, 18:45

windows 7 guest not working on windows 10 host

Post by daffo »

Hello there!

I have the same vbox image (windows 7, sys infos down below and in attachment) in 2 different hosts (same vbox Version 6.1.18 r142142 (Qt5.6.2), both windows 10, different builds, sys infos down below and in attachment.
VM works only in one host.
When the VM starts it freezes after Windows login prompt (and it's already very laggy both in input and in windows logo anymation in the view itself), sometimes after couple of minutes i get a BSOD.
Trying in safemode everything seems fine (manage to perform login and manual shutdown).

I've searched both this forum and online for things like "virtualbox extremely slow", "virtualbox high CPU usage", and performed already some of the actions with no luck (i.e. using single processor indeed makes the VM overall visibly faster, but still freezes after login).
I've both enabled and disabled Hyper-V and I don't see any visible change.
I've both enabled and disabled paravirtualization and again I don't see any visible change.
I've trying taking a look at the logs but I've no idea what I'm looking for to be honest.

I've attached couple of logs coming from different runs:
  • working host - 2 processors - clean startup to shutdown.zip = logs coming from the working host machine: startup, login, wait until startup finishes, click shutdown from windows menù, all working fine
  • broken host - 1 processor - normal mode - startup, login, stuck after login, BSOD, restart, force shutdown.zip = logs from the broken host machine: startup, stuck after login prompt, BDOS after couple of minutes of host high CPU usage, wait until boot process hit the "start windows normally" view, force shutdown (poweroff)
  • broken host - 1 processor - safemode - clean startup to shutdown.zip = logs from the broken host machine: startup, choose safemode in boot process, login, wait until startup finishes, click shutdown from windows menù, all working seemingly fine
don't know if just the logs are enough to get some infos on this,
thank you

---
working host sys infos:

Code: Select all

OS Name	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version	10.0.19041 Build 19041
Other OS Description 	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	---
System Manufacturer	Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model	B450 AORUS PRO
System Type	x64-based PC
System SKU	Default string
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six-Core Processor, 3600 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date	American Megatrends Inc. F3f, 06/12/2018
SMBIOS Version	3.2
Embedded Controller Version	255.255
BIOS Mode	UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer	Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BaseBoard Product	B450 AORUS PRO-CF
BaseBoard Version	x.x
Platform Role	Desktop
Secure Boot State	Off
PCR7 Configuration	Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory	C:\WINDOWS
System Directory	C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device	\Device\HarddiskVolume4
Locale	United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer	Version = "10.0.19041.844"
User Name	---
Time Zone	W. Europe Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)	16,0 GB
Total Physical Memory	16,0 GB
Available Physical Memory	11,4 GB
Total Virtual Memory	22,5 GB
Available Virtual Memory	13,3 GB
Page File Space	6,50 GB
Page File	C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection	Off
Virtualization-based security	Not enabled
Device Encryption Support	Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions	Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions	Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware	Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection	Yes
broken host sys infos:

Code: Select all

OS Name	Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
Version	10.0.18363 Build 18363
Other OS Description 	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	---
System Manufacturer	HP
System Model	HP EliteBook 840 G6
System Type	x64-based PC
System SKU	6XD48EA#ABZ
Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8565U CPU @ 1.80GHz, 1992 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date	HP R70 Ver. 01.07.02, 29/10/2020
SMBIOS Version	3.1
Embedded Controller Version	82.102
BIOS Mode	UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer	HP
BaseBoard Product	8549
BaseBoard Version	KBC Version 52.66.00
Platform Role	Mobile
Secure Boot State	On
PCR7 Configuration	Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory	C:\WINDOWS
System Directory	C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device	\Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale	United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer	Version = "10.0.18362.1171"
User Name	---
Time Zone	W. Europe Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)	16,0 GB
Total Physical Memory	15,8 GB
Available Physical Memory	10,2 GB
Total Virtual Memory	19,8 GB
Available Virtual Memory	9,91 GB
Page File Space	3,98 GB
Page File	C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection	Off
Virtualization-based security	Running
Virtualization-based security Required Security Properties	Base Virtualization Support, Secure Boot, DMA Protection
Virtualization-based security Available Security Properties	Base Virtualization Support, Secure Boot, DMA Protection, UEFI Code Readonly, SMM Security Mitigations 1.0, Mode Based Execution Control
Virtualization-based security Services Configured	Credential Guard, Hypervisor enforced Code Integrity, Secure Launch
Virtualization-based security Services Running	Credential Guard, Hypervisor enforced Code Integrity
Windows Defender Application Control policy	Enforced
Windows Defender Application Control user mode policy	Off
Device Encryption Support	Elevation Required to View
A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.	
guest sys infos:

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OS Name	Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Version	6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description 	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	---
System Manufacturer	innotek GmbH
System Model	VirtualBox
System Type	x64-based PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six-Core Processor, 3593 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date	innotek GmbH VirtualBox, 01/12/2006
SMBIOS Version	2.5
Windows Directory	C:\Windows
System Directory	C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device	\Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale	United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer	Version = "6.1.7601.24545"
User Name	---
Time Zone	W. Europe Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)	Not Available
Total Physical Memory	10.0 GB
Available Physical Memory	8.31 GB
Total Virtual Memory	11.5 GB
Available Virtual Memory	9.09 GB
Page File Space	1.46 GB
Page File	D:\pagefile.sys
Attachments
Logs.zip
Logs
(208.28 KiB) Downloaded 4 times
sys infos.zip
system informations
(2.74 KiB) Downloaded 3 times
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: windows 7 guest not working on windows 10 host

Post by scottgus1 »

Failing and working host hardening logs show no troubles with hardening: exit codes 0 all around.

On the failing host, something using Hyper-V is still enabled and needs to be disabled. See HMR3Init: Attempting fall back to NEM (Hyper-V is active).

FWIW Windows 7 might run better with 2 processors, and Paravirtualization should still be set to Hyper-V, even though the host Hyper-V is disabled.
daffo
Posts: 2
Joined: 25. Mar 2021, 18:45

Re: windows 7 guest not working on windows 10 host

Post by daffo »

damn, didn't expect that quick of a response.
thank you very much, it was indeed the issue
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: windows 7 guest not working on windows 10 host

Post by scottgus1 »

Great! Glad you're up and running.
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