Win8 VHD using Disk2VHD shows "No bootmedium"

[Dr.Zuse]

Hi There,

I'm using Disk2VHD to make a copy of my Win8.1 physical working Win8.1 machine because I want to run Windows on Virtualbox.
Even if this means I loose my Win activation key, it is the preferable solution because it is very flexible.

Details:

OS: Win 8.1 / 64 bit. Computer: Lenovo B50 / BIOS Bootmode UEFI. Virtualbox ver 4.3.20. Disk2VHD v2.01


However, after I start the VM using this VHD file it says: "FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted."

Clear enough, the boot record is not in the VHD and it can not start.
But in Disk2VHD the boot partition an other hidden partitions are not visible.
Meanwhile I tried all combinations in Disk2VHD but the result is still the same.
If it doesn't let you select the specific partitions, it must have some internal logic to select boot partition.
If it does not include boot partitions, it never will be possible to boot, so far it is clear.
After that I tried include ALL partitions. Entire disk. Even the partition where I'm writing the VHD to.
Same result.

Reading Microsoft Technet about Disk2VHD:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sys ... 56415.aspx

It says:
"It will create one VHD for each disk on which selected volumes reside.
It preserves the partitioning information of the disk, but only copies the data contents for volumes
on the disk that are selected. This enables you to capture just system volumes and exclude data volumes,
for example."

This at least supports the idea that all required sectors like the boot and partition table are copied along.
It also says:

"Note: Virtual PC supports a maximum virtual disk size of 127GB. If you create a VHD from a larger disk it will not be
accessible from a Virtual PC VM."

That makes sense!!!
At least Virtual PC has a maximum disk size. I reduced the volume of C: which was much more than 200 Gb to 108Gb and
ran Disk2VHD again, attach the VHD as a IDE drive. (this last is important!)

No effect. Still "FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted."


After that I converted the VHD to VDI with CloneVDI like mpack said. No effect. Still the message: No boot medium found.
It is clear that if the VHD is incorrect the tool cannot fix this.
So, the main question is: Is the VHD incorrect or are the VirtualBox settings?

I was just about on give up (after testing if swearing would make any difference) when I noticed that my BIOS has boot mode UEFI and that VirtualBox has a setting: system -> motherboard -> "Enable UFI for special OSes only".
Well, Win8.1 is not that special but at least something is changing!!!

It starts a boot attempt.
The screen shows memory counting and then:

"BLK1: Alias(s):
PciRoot (0x0) /Pci (0x1,0x1) /Ata (0x0)/HD(1,GPT,03F18D54-BCF5-4A10-A7D2-3E
...
...
BKL8...
Press ESC in 0 seconds to skip startup.nsh or any other key to continue.
2.0 Shell> "

This is the UEFI environment shell.
Not that this life makes easier. What I understand so far is that this shell is looking where to boot from.
But a this point I am lost...
Is there no boot record in the VHD or are settings not correct?
What is wrong and how can I make it boot?


Suggestions are welcome!

[DGaleano]

I have exactly the same problem.
Have you found a solution?
Thanks.

[Perryg]

IMHO you should be asking the Windows folks why this is. The reason that you are seeing the EFI shell is due to the fact that the EFI boot partition is missing or can not be found. You can use the menu options of the shell to see if it even exists, but it has been my experience that if the shell shows the odds of success is not good.

[DGaleano]

I've just found this and I've not tried yet.

blogs technet com /b/markrussinovich/archive/2011/11/08/3463572.aspx

Mark Russinovich's creator of Disk2VHD in his blog explains that the virtual disk has the same signature as its host.

This could have something to do and fixing it could be the first part of the solution.

[mpack]

A blog from 2011 is not going to be relevant to a Windows 8.1 P2V project.

The VirtualPC disk size limit (from 2007) has never been relevant to VirtualBox, and certainly isn't relevant 8 years later. As far as I'm aware it isn't relevant to Disk2VHD either. There is no technical reason I'm aware of why Disk2VHD can't handle disks up to 2TB.

What might be relevant is that VirtualBox EFI support wasn't designed for Windows guests. You can try turning this off and then see if you can repair the installation using the Win 8.1 setup DVD.

p.s. I hope you're aware that Win 8.1 can't be used used (activated) on two PCs at once, and that it sees a VM as a second PC.