New VM Creation Failures with ISO Boot Error 0xc000014c

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When deploying new Windows Server 2025 virtual machines on an ESXi 8.0+ host, you encounter ISO Boot Failure:

• A newly created VM fails to boot from the attached Windows ISO image.

• The VM console displays a blue screen with the Windows Boot Manager error:

  File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD

  Status: 0xc000014c

  Info: The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors.

  

• The vmware.log file of the affected VM records the following errors:
  Guest: Status upon boot failure: Time out
  Guest: Status upon boot failure: No Media
  [msg.Backdoor.OsNotFound] No operating system was found.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Cause

It points to file system corruption within the ISO or an incomplete transfer/upload process.

Resolution

1.Re-download the Official Media: Re-download the Windows Server 2025 ISO image directly from the official Microsoft source.

2.Verify File Integrity: Before uploading, verify the integrity of the downloaded file by matching its MD5 or SHA-256 hash value against the official source metadata.

3.Re-map and Power On:

• Edit VM Settings -> Virtual Hardware -> CD/DVD Drive.

• Browse and re-select the newly uploaded, verified ISO.

• Ensure Connected and Connect at Power On are checked.