Windows XP Host fails to start

[klichten]

I have been using vb for some time and have not encountered any problems until now. Yesterday I was using my xp guest and at the end of the day shut it down. Later when I went to start it up again it failed to start. In the log file I see the message: "Changing the VM state from 'DESTROYING' to 'TERMINATED'." at the bottom of the log. I have been trying unsuccessfully to debug the problem and am getting frustrated. This guest has been running fine for months and just now acted up. I really need to get this resolved as I need to access some of the information on the guest. Any and all help is welcomed and appreciated.

I have included the log file and the output from the vboxmanage showvminfo command.

[Perryg]

(Host VB Version)
00:00:00.333 VirtualBox 4.0.2 r69518 win.amd64 (Jan 18 2011 17:03:32) release log
(Guest additions installed in the guest)
Guest Additions information report: Version 4.0.4 r70112 '4.0.4'
While you can run the guest with older versions of the GAs it usually causes a lot of problems running newer versions of the GAs then the main VBox version.

Can you boot the guest in safe mode? if so remove the 4.0.4 GAs and install the 4.0.2 GAs or update the main VBox program.
(I would first down grade the guest GAs and get it working then upgrade both if I were doing it)

[klichten]

Originally I had upgraded to 4.0.4 and installed the version of the guest additions. Then while trying to troubleshoot and resolve the problems that I was having I downgraded to 4.0.2 in an attempt to see if upgrading 3-4 days ago was potentially the problem. At this point it doesn't look like that was the problem.

[Perryg]

OK but as I said running the guest with newer GAs can cause a lot of problems. Can you start the guest in safe mode?
If so then remove them and see if the guest can start in normal mode. If so then install the guest additions that match the version of VirtualBox.

[klichten]

Attempting to start in "safe mode" results in the same behavior as experienced before. The guest starts up displays the Windows XP startup screen jumps to the blue background of the login screen and then dumps in to shutdown mode. Is there any kind of debug command that can be run against the guest host to validate or debug the problem that provides more information as to why the guest is being shutdown? I have reinstalled the 4.0.4 version of the software and am still experiencing the same results. Is there a more detailed debugging utility that can shed additional insight into what is happening during startup?

[Perryg]

Chapter 12 in your VirtualBox users manual and section 12.3.4 How to record bluescreen information from Windows guests
Along with the guests log file (as an attachment)

[klichten]

It is not a true windows blue screen of death. Rather the default login screen for the xp installation defaults to a blue screen where you enter your information. When this guest starts up it proceeds with the xp startup start up screen and then as it is bringing up the login screen (blue background) the machine suddenly stops and is shutdown. Looking to trace in depth the reason for this shutdown.

[Perryg]

And the guests log file (as an attachment)?

[klichten]

Here is the latest log file.

[Perryg]

All I see now are a series of resets and then nothing. I don't know what else to tell you to be able to boot this guest.
I also can't be certain what started the issue. Think to when it was running and what if anything you might have done. Things like this don't just happen something must have changed.