VMware Workstation

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  • 1.  VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Posted 9 days ago
    Edited by paypack 9 days ago

    Hi,

    I am hoping someone can help me with an issue I have been experiencing with VMware Workstation Pro. Here are my details:

    • Product: VMware Workstation Pro 25H2u1
    • Version: 25.0.1.25219725
    • Host OS: Windows 10 Pro
    • Guest OS: Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021

    What happened:

    The system went down unexpectedly without any warning. There was no prior indication of any hardware or software issue leading up to it.

    After the outage, I restarted both the Host OS and attempted to bring up the Guest OS, but I was immediately met with a Windows Blue Screen of Death showing the error code "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO". I restarted several times and attempted basic troubleshooting steps, but none of them resolved the issue.

    As a last resort, I tried to re-add the disk to the virtual machine, and that is when I encountered a second error:

    "The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created."

    What I have tried:

    • Multiple restarts of both Host and Guest OS
    • Basic Windows troubleshooting on the Guest OS
    • Re-adding the disk to the VM

    None of the above resolved the problem.

    I would really appreciate any guidance on how to recover the virtual machine and get the Guest OS back up and running without losing any data. Thank you in advance for your help.

    Edited:
    I should also mention that as part of my troubleshooting attempt for the "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" error, I attached the affected disk (.vmdk) to a separate virtual machine to inspect it and see if the Guest OS would boot from there. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the issue either and it was shortly after this step that I encountered the "The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created" error when trying to re-add the disk back to the original VM. I am not sure if attaching the disk to another VM contributed to or triggered this error, but I wanted to mention it in case it is relevant to diagnosing the problem.



  • 2.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Posted 9 days ago

    Not sure if this would help or if you have not tried this, but: Have tried to add your disk to another clean VM? With that you can save the data.


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Posted 5 days ago
    Hi @RaSystemlord,
    Thank you for the suggestions so far. I wanted to provide a specific update on my file structure and ask for confirmation on the exact repair steps, as I am dealing with critical data inside the snapshots that has not been backed up.
    In my affected VM folder, I have the following example files for the problematic disk:
    • user.vmdk
    • user-flat.vmdk
    • user000001.vmdk through user000007.vmdk
    Currently, I can only add user.vmdk as a disk to a new VM. When I try to attach any of the snapshot files (like user000005.vmdk), I receive the error: "The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created. The content ID of the parent virtual disk does not match the corresponding parent content ID in the child."
    Since my latest installations and important files exist only in the most recent snapshot, I cannot afford to lose the snapshot chain. Could someone please confirm the correct procedure to repair this chain manually in VMware Workstation Pro?
    I am very cautious about making changes that could worsen the corruption. If there is a safer workflow, such as cloning the entire snapshot chain to a new set of files before attempting repairs, I would prefer to follow that path.
    Any step-by-step guidance tailored to Workstation Pro would be greatly appreciated. I am ready to proceed carefully and can provide the CID values from my descriptor files if that helps diagnose the exact break in the chain.
    Thank you again for your time and expertise.


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    Broad Daylight
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Posted 5 days ago

    To my knowledge (somebody correct if there is more to it), what you can ONLY do to a snapshot, is to Restore it. Then the current state of the VM is over-written - if not obvious, you can save the current state to yet another snapshot prior to taking an old Snapshot as the current.

    So, in other words, you can get BACK to a former state of the VM - this is the only thing you can do.

    To see the files of a Snapshot, is beyond the capabilities. Maybe you are familiar with Puppy Linux and the concept of SESSION FILES - with those you can easily do exactly what you are after (not sure that you can mix session files of separate installations of Puppy Linux, though, but you might).

    I'm not sure why you need to see the old Snapshots, but if you do, they are not Archives, they are just old states of the VM, which you can Restore.

    When using a Snapshot, I mean since when you create the first single Snapshot, NOTHING is really deleted from the disk - I mean from the current state of the VM. They are just MARKED as deleted. When you come to think about it, this is the way, it has to work - also considering the speed how it works. And that is why deleting files will NEVER release any space and the disk file just keeps on growing and growing. Maybe this will open possibilities to retrieve old and deleted versions of the files in the disk file(s), I mean when they were saved as a Snapshot? Maybe, but I don't know how.


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted 5 days ago

    Because you attached the base disk user.vmdk to another VM causing this disk's CID changed, thus the parentCID in its snapshot disk (user000001.vmdk) failed to match the CID in its parent vmdk file, thus VM cannot open the full disk chain.

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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted 5 days ago

    To fix such broken disk chain, as the data has changed in the base disk, so we cannot guarantee it could be repaired, but you can just have a try to update the parentCID in snapshot file with the correct CID in the base disk.

    For the BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" issue, you need to collect the full vmware logs to proceed with troubleshooting.

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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Posted 4 days ago

    Thank you for the response.

    Regarding the CID mismatch on the snapshot, could you please provide the exact steps to update the parentCID in the snapshot file? I want to make sure I do this correctly, as I'm worried that any mistake on my end could make things worse or cause further data loss.

    Specifically, it would be helpful to know:
    - Which file(s) I need to edit and where to locate them
    - How to find the correct CID value from the base disk
    - The exact changes to make in the snapshot descriptor file
    - Whether the VM needs to be powered off before making these changes
    - Any precautions or backups I should take beforehand



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    Broad Daylight
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: VMware Workstation Pro - BSOD "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO" and "Parent Virtual Disk Modified" Error After Sudden Outage

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted 4 days ago

    You need to power off the VM to make sure the disk files not be locked.

    Before you manually edit any files, better do backup these files.

    Then you can fetch the CID value from the use.vmdk file, and update the field parentCID in use000001.vmdk file with the CID value from use.vmdk.

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    Original Message