Interface won't start on Windows 10

[Captain Chaos]

Recently (the last few weeks) I've been having a problem with the VirtualBox interface not starting on Windows 10. I will select `Oracle VM Virtualbox` in the Start menu and nothing happens. Sometimes (rarely), the interface pops up after a very long wait (minutes). I can see a bunch of related processes in the Task Manager:

Screenshot 2022-04-06 094750.png (33.22 KiB) Viewed 2051 times

Sometimes, when I start killing these processes, the interface pops up. Often this is accompanied by a message saying something about not being able to connect to an OLE component or something like that (if it happens again I'll capture the exact message).

Versions:
VirtualBox: 6.1.30
Windows: 10.0.19043 Build 19043 (64-bit)

I can't upgrade VirtualBox because of this regression, but that should not be necessary as I have been running normally for many months with this version.

Who can help me figure out why VirtualBox won't start normally? Many thanks in advance!

[Captain Chaos]

Here is the exact error it gives (sometimes) when I start killing processes:

Screenshot 2022-04-06 095410.png (23.65 KiB) Viewed 2048 times

[scottgus1]

Please reboot the host, then unplug all USB devices except the basic keyboard and mouse. Try Virtualbox again. If it starts, then something is getting in the way between at least one of the devices and Virtualbox.

You can experiment to find which device is getting in the way. And it might be plugged in again after Virtualbox is running.

[Captain Chaos]

Please reboot the host, then unplug all USB devices except the basic keyboard and mouse. Try Virtualbox again. If it starts, then something is getting in the way between at least one of the devices and Virtualbox. You can experiment to find which device is getting in the way. And it might be plugged in again after Virtualbox is running.

Thanks. It seems to be a USB Bluetooth adapter that is sometimes triggering this bug. It's very inconsistent so it was hard to track down, but just now it refused to start again and when I took out the USB Bluetooth adapter the interface immediately popped up.

Can anything be done about this? It should ideally not block waiting for whatever it is trying to do with the Bluetooth adapter, but if it does, it should give some kind of feedback about what it's waiting for (possible only after it has lasted too long).

[scottgus1]

I think that at the stage you have identified that removing the USB device releases he main window to open, the logs in "C:\Users\{log-on-account-name}\.Virtualbox" (note the period in the folder name) might be of help. Especially if they're taken right after the USB device blocked the main window, then the device was removed and the window opened.

Please wait for the device to block the main window, then release the window when the device is removed. Then, close the main window and reboot the host (this will clear off the Virtualbox background service). Then zip the whole folder "C:\Users\{log-on-account-name}\.Virtualbox" and please post the zip file.