Removal of Windows Update published PVSCSI driver version 1.3.18.0

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Removing the PVSCSI driver from

Windows 8 32/64
Windows 8.1 32/64
Windows Server 2012/2012 R2
Possibly Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016/2019

Symptoms:

The PVSCSI driver version 1.3.18.0 published through Windows Update has a signing certificate issue preventing the Windows system from loading the driver on power-on
The Operating System will not start when a Windows VM is configured with a PVSCSCI controller
Environments which have received this driver upgrade should NOT install or upgrade it
If installed, the user should roll it back to the previous PVSCSI driver version 1.3.17.0

Affected Windows OS versions:

Windows 8 32/64
Windows 8.1 32/64
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
Possibly Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016/2019

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7

Resolution

PVSCSI driver version 1.3.18.0 is removed from Windows Update site, no new Windows VMs would receive it anymore
Windows VMs that have downloaded the update should not install it and reboot the VM.
For Windows VMs that have installed it, do not reboot VM before removing it, follow the section below on "How to determine PVSCSI 1.3.18.0 is installed and then remove it"
For Windows VMs that have already failed to boot, follow the section below on "How to recover if the VM is already not able to boot" to recover

Note: Please take a snapshot before any critical action.

How to determine PVSCSI 1.3.18.0 is installed and then remove it

1. Launch a cmd.exe window with Administrator privilege and run:

"pnputil -e"

2. The generated output will contain items like this:

Published name : oem5.inf
Driver package provider : VMware, Inc.
Class : Storage controllers
Driver date and version : 06/18/2021 1.3.18.0
Signer name : Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

3. If the report shows a matching entry for driver date and version:

"06/18/2021 1.3.18.0"

record the published oem file name e.g., "oem5.inf"

4. Run the utility again with the following arguments:

"pnputil -f -d oem5.inf" to remove it.

5. Go to Windows Device Manager | Storage Controllers | VMware PVSCSI Controller, right-click Properties, click Driver | Roll Back Driver

If there is no PVSCSI driver in the system to roll back to, upgrade to the latest VMware Tools version 11.3.5. If the VM is already running this version, install it again in Repair mode.

6. You can ignore Windows Update 'pending restart' state and driver update history, reboot is not immediately required for PVSCSI driver changes.

How to recover if the VM is already not able to boot

1. Download VMware Tools 11.3.5 ISO

https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS1135&productId=1073&rPId=74478
or
https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/11.3.5/windows/VMware-tools-windows-11.3.5-18557794.iso
https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/11.3.5/windows/VMware-tools-windows-11.3.5-18557794.iso.sha
https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/11.3.5/windows/VMware-tools-windows-11.3.5-18557794.iso.sig

2. Attach the ISO file to the problematic VM's CD/DVD device

3. Boot into Windows recovery mode

On Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot
On Advanced options screen, click Command Prompt, type Administrator account password to login.
Run the diskpart command to find out which drive letter is assigned to the CD ISO and which drive letter is currently assigned to the OS disk:

diskpart
list volume
exit

Assume D: is the CD ISO drive letter:

for 64bit OS
d:
cd "Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\pvscsi\Win8\amd64"
drvload .\pvscsi.inf

for 32bit OS
d:
cd "Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\pvscsi\Win8\i386"
drvload .\pvscsi.inf

4. If the OS disk is PVSCSI disk, run the diskpart command again to find out the OS disk drive letter. Assume E: is the OS drive letter:

dism /image:E:\ /get-drivers

5. Search for output similar as below:

Published name : oem5.inf
Driver package provider : VMware, Inc.
Class : Storage controllers
Driver date and version : 06/18/2021 1.3.18.0
Signer name : Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

"06/18/2021 1.3.18.0" is the one, record the published oem file name "oem5.inf".

6. Next, remove the driver with this Dism command line:

dism /image:E:\ /remove-driver /driver:oem5.inf

Now run Dism utility to add the PVSCSI driver from Tools ISO:

dism /image:E:\ /add-driver /driver:".\pvscsi.inf"

7. Finally, double check whether E:\Windows\System32\drivers\pvscsi.sys is same as the one in Tools ISO, if not, overwrite it:

"dir .\pvscsi.sys" shows

08/31/2021 03:14 AM 64,136 pvscsi.sys

If "dir E:\Windows\System32\drivers\pvscsi.sys" shows

10/15/2021 10:58 AM 55,496 pvscsi.sys

then run "copy .\pvscsi.sys E:\Windows\System32\drivers\" to overwrite E:\Windows\System32\drivers\pvscsi.sys.

With all the above succeed, you can exit by running:

exit

8. Click Continue on Choose an option screen. The system should be able to boot now.