Virtual machines and VMware Tools stop responding when using a Windows 7 virtual machine

Products

• VMware
• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

When you are using a virtual machine with Windows 7, you experience these symptoms:

• Virtual machines created by the View Composer pool lose their IP addresses.
• Virtual machines stop responding after approximately 15 minutes.
• VMware Tools stop responding.
  

Cause

This issue occurs because Windows 7 goes into sleep mode after a certain time of inactivity when the Windows 7 power saving feature is enabled. This disconnects the network and causes the VMware Tools and the virtual machines to stop responding.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, set the power saving feature, ensuring the virtual machine is always powered on.

To change the power settings, ensuring the virtual machine is always powered on:

1. Navigate to Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Power Options.
2. Under Additional Power Plans, click High Performance.
3. Click Change Plan Settings.
4. Set all settings to Never.
5. Click Save.