Troubleshooting missing drivers or Windows file errors that can cause VMware Converter to fail during reconfiguration

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Using VMware Converter conversion fails between 97% and 99%
• Reconfiguration task fails to complete
• The virtual machine is created at the destination, but does not start
• You receive these errors:
• • WINDOWS\system32\drivers\<filename> does not exist!
  • Unable to find <filename> in the specified CAB files
    \WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386\driver.cab does not exist or is not a proper CAB file
  • sysimage.fault.FileNotFound

conversion-converter conversion-fails-99%-boot-fails outdated-drivers reconfigure-vm converter missing-drivers

Environment

VMware Converter 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.2.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.0.x

Resolution

This issue can occur if a critical driver necessary to a complete reconfiguration is missing, has been corrupted, or has been overwritten by an older or invalid version of the driver. The error can also happen when the driver.cab file was deleted from the source system as this file is used to extract any required Windows drivers that are not currently installed on the source during plug-and-play initiation.

You can confirm you are having this issue by reviewing the converter logs located at %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware Converter Enterprise\Logs. The log indicates if files must be replaced with a good copy.

Use one of the these methods to replace the file that are indicated in the logs:

• Copy the missing file from a known good server running the exact same operating system and service pack version on to the source computer.
  
• On the source, open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
  This command scans all protected system files and replaces missing and incorrect versions with Microsoft versions appropriate to the installation. If SFC determines that a file needs to be replaced, it prompts for Windows installation disc.
  
• If the driver is supplied by a third party vendor (non-Microsoft), the driver must be re-installed on to the source. Check the third-party vendors’ website for driver downloads or the discs supplied with the hardware.

When you have corrected the problem with the drive files on the source, perform the conversion again.

Additional Information

Alternately, you can attach the virtual hard disk created by the conversion process to use an existing helper virtual machine.

To do this:

Note: A helper virtual machine refers to any virtual machine that is able to be used to add the virtual disk of the newly converted virtual machine to the inventory of the helper. This requires downtime of the virtual machine that is being used as the helper.

• Ensure the machine that was converted is powered off.
• Power off the helper virtual machine that will be used to edit the contents of the virtual hard disk on the newly created virtual machine.
• Edit the configuration or settings of the helper virtual machine and include the virtual hard disk of the new virtual machine as a secondary disk.
• Power on the helper virtual machine.
• From the Windows operating system of the helper, copy the files originally indicated in the converter logs to the attached disk.
• Power off the helper virtual machine.
• Perform the reconfiguration task on the virtual machine again.
• Boot the converted virtual machine and verify that it now boots.
• When verified, remove the disk from the helper virtual machine.
  
  Warning: Ensure not to choose Remove from disk.

Note: In some cases missing drivers may require certain registry keys to be installed on the source. For more information, see Injecting SCSI controller device drivers into Windows when it fails to boot after converting it with VMware Converter (1005208) .

For more information related to troubleshooting conversion issues, see Troubleshooting VMware Converter when conversion fails at reconfiguration (1006294) .