We have recently performed a migration of VMs from an old VMWare vSphere to Microsoft Hyper-V system using Starwind V2V converter. There was a range of VM types, including Windows Server 2003 VMs.
The process for conversion was:
- Remove VMWare Tools on vSphere
- Shut Down VM on vSphere
- Run V2V on VM, storage location is external HDD
- Create New VM on HV, attach .vhdx and start
For most of the VMs (Server 2019, 2022, 2025), this process has worked fine and we were able to start up the imported VMs without issue.
With the Server 2003 VMs, this was not the case. When attaching the .vhdx and starting up the VM, I am faced with an infinite loading screen as seen in the attachments. From research, I have tried/confirmed the following steps:
- Ensure VM is Gen 1
- Ensure boot .vhdx is in controller 0, channel 0 and the boot order is set as such
- Set only 1 virtual processor in case of HAL or ACPI mismatch
- Set intelide and pciide start value = 0
- Attach .vhdx to separate VM and check for corruption
I have been subsequently able to start the VM in safe mode and confirm the VM 'works' (so happy it isn't corrupted) and VMWare tools are completely removed.
As a result, I worry V2V has reconfigured the VM during the conversion process. Due to time and storage constraints, I do not have the original copies of the VM or the log file.
Has anyone encountered this issue before?
Does anyone have any advice for further debugging?
TIA
- Infinite Loading Screen VM on Boot
- IMG_6652.png (36.62 KiB) Viewed 424 times