Cannot boot or start a virtual machine converted by VMware vCenter Converter 4.x/5.x

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

After a successful conversion, you may experience these symptoms:

The resulting virtual machine fails to start the operating system
The resulting virtual machine fails to boot and does not issue a STOP error
The boot process halts at a black screen with a blinking cursor
You may receive these errors:
- Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
  C:\windows\system32\hal.dll
  Please re-install a copy of the above file.
- Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
  C:\windows\system32\config\system
- Operating System not found
- Non-system disk or disk error
- NTLDR is missing
  Press any key to restart
- A disk read error occurred
- The Master boot record (MBR) of this virtual machine's hard disk does not contain valid bootstrap code. It is likely that the MBR was corrupted by an incorrect guest operating system installation or some other reason. The virtual machine cannot continue and will now power off. (For advanced user: The MBR is the last disk sector accessed by the virtual machine before the error.) Please consult our Web site at http://www.vmware.com/info?id=18 for common troubleshooting help.
- STOP 0x79 MISMATCHED_HAL
- The master boot record (MBR) on this virtual machine's hard disk does not contain valid bootstrap code. MBR corruption is usually the result of a failure installing the guest operating system. The virtual machine will power off when you click OK.

Environment

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3.x
VMware Converter 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.2.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.5.x

Resolution

Validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. These steps provide instructions or a link to a document. These steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Do not skip a step.

Ensure that during step 3 of the conversion (View/Edit Options), you choose the appropriate disk controller for your operating system.
- For Windows XP, choose Bus Logic.
- For Windows 2003, choose LSI Logic.
- For Windows 2008, Windows 2012, Windows 7, and Windows 8 choose LSI Logic SAS.
  
  For more information on adjusting the adapter after conversion, see Adjusting the virtual SCSI adapter type in a VMDK file (1006621).
If the source contained more than one hard disk, try changing the virtual hard disk order on the resulting virtual machine by removing both virtual hard disks, then adding them in the reverse order. For information on adding secondary disks, see the Virtual Machine Administration Guide .
Rewrite the master boot record on the virtual hard disk and restore the Windows boot files using the FIXMBR and FIXBOOT commands from the Recovery Console. For more information, see Repairing boot sector problems in Windows NT-based operating systems (1006556).
Verify that no data was corrupted during the conversion process. Corrupted data can affect the virtual machine's ability to boot successfully. For more information, see Checking for disk corruption on the destination after using vCenter Converter (1006559).
Verify that the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) library file is correct and that it is not corrupted for the destination virtual machine type. For more information, see HAL cannot be identified upon conversion of a virtual machine using vCenter Converter and fails to boot (1038576).

Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, file a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID in the problem description. For more information on filing a request, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Additional Information

For additional information, see:

Não é possível inicializar ou ligar a máquina virtual convertida pelo VMware Converter
No se puede arrancar o iniciar una máquina virtual convertida por VMware Converter
无法引导或启动由 vCenter Converter 转换的虚拟机
vCenter Converter で変換した仮想マシンを起動できない