This virtual machine functioned properly in the past, but encountered an issue with the file when it was transferred between computers. Whenever I attempt to initiate the Windows 7 virtual machine on either of the computers, I encounter the subsequent error:
After the “Windows is loading files…” message disappears and the progress bar begins moving, Startup Repair commences. Normally, I am able to enter the command prompt, but in this instance, I am only presented with the following result:
I was expecting the following screen:
I am unable to launch the command prompt from the System Recovery Options and even attempting to use the Shift-F10 command during the Windows installation does not yield any results.
However, I have discovered a workaround by accessing the offline privacy statement from the Startup Repair, opening a new file from Notepad, and subsequently initiating an elevated cmd prompt.
From here I tried the following commands:
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
This did not work. Then I tried:
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=D:\Windows
I attempted to execute the “sfc /scannow” command, but it did not run. An error message indicated that another repair was running and awaiting a system restart. However, even after restarting the computer, the same error persisted. I referred to this website for guidance: https://www.diskpart.com/articles/boot-manager-failed-to-find-os-loader-5740.html.
Despite being able to access my normal files at D:\ using Notepad’s “Open a new file” function, I am unable to locate the command prompt option in the System Recovery Options. Are there any other solutions I can try? I attempted to boot the computer in F8 Safe Mode, but was unsuccessful. I have also configured the Automatic start delay to 5, as suggested in the aforementioned website.
3 Answers
The VM was ultimately restored from a backup due to an issue that arose when a team member shut down the VM using the “normal” Windows start menu instead of shutting it down via Hyper-V. This caused the team member to receive a checkpoint on their local machine.
When another team member made changes and the first team member attempted to start up the machine again, they chose to continue from the checkpoint. However, during this time period, new software, including a .NET Framework, had been installed, which Windows was unable to recover from.