11-28-2007 6:26 janiquec

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

This post is content adapted from Chapter 11 of the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit.

Guest Operating System Installation Is Slow

When you install Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP Professional as a guest operating system in a virtual machine, the installation process can take several hours to complete if the virtual hard disk is attached to a virtual SCSI adapter and the default Adaptec driver (aic78xx.sys) is installed in the guest operating system.

Resolution

Virtual Server 2005 R2 includes a virtual floppy disk image file named SCSI Shunt Driver.vfd that can be used to load the optimized Microsoft Virtual Machine PCI SCSI Controller driver (also referred to as the accelerated SCSI driver) when you are prompted to hit F6 during the guest operating system installation. Using the accelerated SCSI driver can significantly increase the speed of the guest operation system installation.

Follow these steps to load the accelerated SCSI driver using the SCSI Shunt Driver.vfd floppy disk image:

  • Open the Virtual Server Administration Website.
  • In the Master Status pane, click the virtual machine thumbnail to start the guest operating system installation.
  • Click the virtual machine thumbnail again to connect using the VMRC ActiveX client.
  • When the guest operating system installation prompts you to load a third-party SCSI or RAID driver, press F6. The F6 prompt displays at the bottom of the Setup screen.
  • When the guest operating system Setup screen displays a message indicating that Windows could not determine the type of mass storage device on your system, click Master Status in the navigation pane below the virtual machine VMRC display.
  • In Virtual Machines, click Configure and then select the virtual machine from the list.
  • In Configuration, click Floppy Drive.
  • In Floppy Drive Properties, click Known Floppy Disks, select the SCSI Shunt Driver.vfd floppy disk image file, and click OK.
  • In Status, click the virtual machine thumbnail to reconnect to it.
  • In the guest operating system Setup screen, type S and then press Enter.
  • Scroll to and select the accelerated SCSI driver entry that matches the guest operating system that is being installed, and then press Enter.
  • Press Enter to continue, and complete the guest operating system installation.

Note: The SCSI Shunt Driver.vfd does not include an accelerated SCSI driver for Windows NT 4.0 Server. If your installation of Windows NT 4.0 Server on a VHD that is connected to a virtual SCSI adapter is progressing slowly, terminate the installation and connect the VHD to a virtual IDE adapter. Restart and complete the Windows NT 4.0 guest operating system using this configuration before reconnecting the VHD back to a virtual SCSI adapter.

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# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Monday, March 17, 2008 1:55 PM by rishi

Sir,

I tried ur this procedure & of course it works. Thanks alot for posting this blog on site.

My Question is:

I want to Install Server-2008 and Vista by using SCSI controller. So, how can it be possible? Is there any procedure like which u've posted above in ur this article/blog?

So, Pl. let me know. U know i'm eager to know from ur side.

I'll be happy to hear from u soon.

Thanks again,

Sincerely Yours,

Rishi Sharma.

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Friday, March 21, 2008 12:17 PM by vs-admin

Sorry, I do not have a step-by-step procedure for you. What type of problem are you encountering with Vista?

I believe there will be a Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 update to support running Windows Server 2008.

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Friday, July 11, 2008 4:34 PM by Brutellio

Hello. I enjoyed reading your website.

Have a wonderful day and keep up the good work.

Brutellio.

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Thursday, August 07, 2008 10:38 AM by antmoise

I installed Vista on a virtual machine with Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. The server has a 2.0 GHz Dual Core AMD Opteron 1212 processor, but Vista (guest os) is only reading 7 MHz under System Properties. What is causing this and how do I fix it?

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:59 AM by janiquec

If you have not installed the VM additions in the Vista guest, do so.

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Friday, September 18, 2009 11:58 PM by PerryWhite

Thanks so much for posting this - I was going crazy watching the blasted progress bar creeping along!  A quick Google brought me here, and whamo, I'm fixed up and ready to go!  

# re: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Common Issues and Tips - Guest Operating System Installation Runs Slow

Friday, November 27, 2009 12:49 PM by ChandraMohan

Hi,

I am trying to install windows 2003 as a guest operating system in virtual machine in virtual server 2005 r2 with sp1. While the installation is in between 14 to 15 percent the host operating system gets shutdown automatically. This was not happening previously. I had installed the host os from the same cd. And the host cd works fine. Unable to find what is happening before shutdown. Any tools from microsoft to debug the issue.

Thanks

Chandramohan

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