Bug report: VMWare tools booting Windows 7 guest into startup repair every install

[Benjamin Kipps]

I've installed VMWare tools numerous times now. Every time it boots, it goes into startup repair, performing an automatic system restore because a driver is corrupt.

Reading StrTrail.txt shows the root cause being "Boot critical file D:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\vmci.sys is corrupt"

If I delete that file, it'll just be vsock.sys instead. Either way, the video driver seems to be impacted, which means no aero. The only workaround I've found is Disabling Driver Signature Enforcement. Test Signing did not work. I'm assuming there's an issue with the VMCI and vSock driver is having issues with signatures.

Host: Windows 11 Pro 24H2 build 26120.961

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X

RAM: 32 GB total (4 GB assigned to the VM)

Guest:  Windows 7 SP1 Build 7601

VMWare version: VMware Workstation 17 Pro 17.6.1 build-24319023 (Personal Use)

On an unrelated note: I'm also having issues with audio crackling. Anybody know anything about that?

[Dryst]

I face the samne issue starting Windows 7 guest.  Don't bother with repair.  It will not resolve the issue.  Simply start Windows normally and eventually it will boot successfully.  It may take up to three tries to get it to start successfully, but it eventually will.