Entering an invalid product ID key causes Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista virtual machine clones to reboot repeatedly

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Windows Server 2008, Windows 2012, and Windows Vista virtual machine clones reboot repeatedly.
• You see these errors:
  

Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file for pass [specialize]. The settings specified in the answer file cannot be applied. The error was detected while processing settings for component [Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup]

The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click “OK” to restart the computer, and then restart the installation

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs when a virtual machine with a licensed version of Windows Server 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2012, or Windows Vista is cloned using the Customization Wizard and an invalid Product ID is entered in the Windows License page, cloned virtual machines reboot repeatedly with errors.

This issue occurs because Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) can only validate the syntax of the product key. However, it cannot validate whether or not the key is valid for that OS. If you create a guest OS profile with a syntactically valid product key but invalid for the OS which is being deployed, you will get an error during customization.

Resolution

When cloning the virtual machine, provide the correct Product ID in the Windows License page of the Customization Wizard.