Monthly Archives: March 2014

UEFI, Generation 2 VM, Windows 7 SP1 and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (or Windows 8.1)

Posted on by
6

With the new features of Hyper-V in Server 2012 R2 one of those is the Generation 2 VM. There is a lot to be said on this topic but here is a caveat when using Gen2 VM’s for systems older then Windows 8 or Server 2012.

Let’s start with a spoiler:

It doesn’t work for Windows 7 SP1!

If you create a VM the first question will be: a Generation 1 or Generation 2 VM

As you can see it cannot be changed…well it can 😉 (see http://blogs.technet.com/b/jhoward/archive/2013/11/06/hyper-v-generation-2-virtual-machines-part-8.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/b/jhoward/archive/2013/11/14/hyper-v-generation-2-virtual-machines-part-10.aspx)

So you create a Gen2 VM and want to install Windows 7. Well oké, the installation is going fine. UEFI gets recognized. Everything is good. Then comes the restart…

Hmm not so good. But this is to be expected. Windows 7 does not support Secure Boot! This will be turned off:

Now we try again and see this:

And here is stays, forever.

In the Hyper-V management console we see a lot of CPU Usage so it is doing something 😉

So WHY is this? Windows 7 DOES support UEFI boot. After a search I found this:

Q: Why doesn’t Microsoft support 64-bit Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 as a guest operating system in generation 2 virtual machines?


A: Certainly it is true that Windows 7 support UEFI, the first requirement for generation 2 virtual machines. However, Windows 7 has a hardware dependency on a Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC) which is not present in generation 2 virtual machines. Even if Secure Boot is disabled, an attempt to install Windows 7 will result in an apparent hang at “Starting Windows” shortly after boot, consuming high CPU utilization. A similar effect to this will be seen if attempting a network install from a WDS server which has a Windows 7 era boot PE image – network boot will appear to hang as well. For that reason (along with the keyboard issue in Windows 8 PE) I strongly recommend any WDS server are upgraded to the Windows 8.1 PE boot image.

That is pretty clear, NO Windows 7 Generation 2 VM in Hyper-V!

P.S. DO try this with Windows 8.1 – it is incredibly FAST J

Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows 8.1 KMS Service Activation

Posted on by
Reply

This is an update from another post I did https://wibier.me/windows-server-2012-kms-service-activation/

In that post I describe how to add support for Server 2012 and Windows 8. Now we are at the point where we want to add support for Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1! And that is possible.

So when you activate a Server 2012 R2 KMS key you will still get the same error:

Or when you add the KMS key itself:

Error: 0xC004F050 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid

To resolve:

Download and install the following update: KB2885698 (Update adds support for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 clients to Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 KMS hosts).

Installation instructions

If you have a KMS host that is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, or Windows Server 2012, follow these steps to perform an upgrade:

  • Install the update (update 2885698).
  • Restart the computer when you are prompted to do so.
  • To install a new KMS host key for Windows 8.1 activation or for Windows Server 2012 R2 activation, run the following command:
cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk <KMS host key>

Note In this command, “<KMS host key>” is a placeholder for the new KMS host key for Windows 8.1 activation or for Windows Server 2012 R2 activation.

Important Every KMS host key is associated with a group of Windows editions. Additionally, a KMS host key that is associated with Windows client operating systems cannot be installed on Windows server operating systems, and vice-versa. This is true for all Windows operating systems except for Windows Server 2003. If you install a KMS host key on a Windows operating system that is not associated with that host key, you receive the following error message:

0xc004f015: The Software Licensing Service reported that the license is not installed.
SL_E_PRODUCT_SKU_NOT_INSTALLED


For example, you may receive this error message in the following situations:

  • You try to install a Windows 7 KMS host key (CSVLK) on a Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS host.
  • You try to install a Windows 8 KMS host key (CSVLK) on a Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS host or a Windows Server 2012 KMS host.
  • You try to install a Windows 8.1 KMS host key (CSVLK) on a Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS host or a Windows Server 2012 KMS host or a Windows Server 2012R2 KMS host.
  • To activate the new KMS host key on the host computer, run the following command:
cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato
  • On an existing Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 KMS host, restart the service by running the following command:
net stop slsvc && net start slsvc

Configuration Manager 2012 – Software Updates That Require Multiple Reboots may Cause Task Sequence Failure

Posted on by
2

Oke so sometimes your OSD Task Sequence in ConfigMgr 2012 (or even 2007..) fails on you? Tried all the usual troubleshoot steps..

Well maybe not all, check your Windows Updates!

Yes, Microsoft has confirmed that there are updates out there that will break your Task Sequence.

This is the KB about that:

KB2894518 – Software Updates That Require Multiple Reboots may Cause Task Sequence Failure within Configuration Manager (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2894518)

If a Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr 2007 or ConfigMgr 2012) Task Sequence that leverages the Install Software Updates step installs a software update that triggers multiple reboots, the task sequence may fail to complete successfully. This occurs because the first reboot initiated by the software update is properly controlled by the Task Sequence, however the second reboot request is initiated by a Windows component (typically Component-Based Servicing) and therefore not controlled by the Task Sequence.

In short the following updates are affecting your OSD Task Sequence:

  • 2862330 MS13-081: Description of the security update for 2862330: October 8, 2013
  • 2771431 A servicing stack update is available for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
  • 2871777 A servicing stack update is available for Windows RT, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012: September 2013
  • 2821895 A servicing stack update is available for Windows RT and Windows 8: June 2013
  • 2545698 Text in some core fonts appears blurred in Internet Explorer 9 on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2
  • 2529073 Binary files in some USB drivers are not updated after you install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • 2871690 Microsoft security advisory: Update to revoke noncompliant UEFI boot loader modules

Especially the 2862330 has the statement in the description 😉

After you install security update 2862330 on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, your computer may restart two times. The additional restart is required to make sure that the security update is completely installed. Installation of this update may leave the system in a partly updated and therefore vulnerable state. To address this issue, the update performs an additional step to update the computer. This additional step may require an additional restart of the computer.

Note Task sequence could fail in System Center Configuration Manager if the task sequence uses an “Install Software Updates” step to install a software updates that require multiple restarts.