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Windows Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7 Freeze When Using SVGA Drivers

Joshua Townsend — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:16:27 +0000

I recently ran into an issue when installing my first Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machine. The VM would hang/freeze randomly when used through the VMware vCenter Client’s console. It turns out this is a known issue (see this VMware KB Article) with the SVGA driver that is installed as part of the default installation of VMware Tools. While the article does not explain why you should disable the SVGA driver, it’s advice is correct if you want to avoid problems in your guest VM. To correct my problem, I removed the SVGA driver from the Windows Device Manager and rebooted. If you are having problems removing the SVGA driver before the VM hangs, use Remote Desktop to access the guest machine to perform the driver uninstall. I have not observed hanging/freezing in the VM since removing the SVGA driver from my Windows 2008 R2 guest. Note that this same issue is present in Windows 7.

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Virtualization Bookmarks for August 28th

Joshua Townsend — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:13:21 +0000

Here are some bookmarks for resources that I have recently referenced:

vCenter 4 and ESX 4 Now Use 10 Year Default SSL Certificate | VM /ETC – Rich Brambly has some guidance on installing a new SSL certificate on vCenter, with very useful links in his post to official VMware documentation and KB’s on the subject.
VMware vSphere Client on Microsoft Windows 7! | Virtual Lifestyle – Heiko Verlande has found a way to run the VMware vSphere Client on Windows 7.
Virtu-Al » PowerCLI: Daily Report V2 – Version two of a handy PowerShell based VMware Environment Daily Report from VMware vExpert and PowerShell guru Alan Renouf
VMware Self-Service- VMware Update Manager Plug-In fails to install -Troubleshooting steps for vCenter Plug-in install problems.
Using VMware VDI and vmSight for Stronger and Sustainable HIPAA and PCI Compliance – Virtualization brings new options for protecting sensitive data by moving it from the desktop into the datacenter.
Counter of the Week : Analyzing Storage Performance – The purpose of this article is to provide prescriptive guidance on how to troubleshoot logical and physical disk response times in regards to Windows performance analysis. Start with the following performance counters to analyze disk response…
NetApp, Compellent, HP, Dell top the field in 12-product test – Network World – A terabyte isn’t what it used to be. Disks are slower than you think. And a Gigabit Ethernet is plenty of bandwidth for many storage applications.

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Virtual Infrastructure Client Opens Off Screen

Joshua Townsend — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:44 +0000

A user reported an issue with one of the VM’s in my environment this morning. It seems that an automated process had spun up the CPU to 100% in the Windows guest and the system was deadlocked. I was still at home when I received the message on my BlackBerry, so I fired up the VPN on my Windows 7 laptop, opened the VI3 client and….., um, where is it? The VI3 client icon was in the taskbar, but the app was nowhere to be found – it had opened off-screen where my secondary monitor usually lives. This is nothing new for the VI client – I have experienced it numerous times in the past. But this was my first time with the problem on Windows 7.

Pre-Windows 7, I would have right-clicked the Windows taskbar for the app, selected ‘Move’, and then used the keyboard arrow keys to guide the phantom window home. Windows 7 does not have the same Windows positioning options on a right-click to the taskbar so I had to find another way. Enter Windows shortcut keys. Here’s how I brought the VI3 Client window back into view:

Make sure that the VI3 Client window is in the foreground by selecting it in the taskbar. You’ll know that it is in the foreground when the taskbar icon gets a white glow as pictured here:
Press the hotkey combination: “ALT+Space, M” for Move.
Use the keyboard arrow keys to move the window to your active monitor, pressing “Enter” once the window is visible to commit the move.
If the arrow keys fail to move the window and/or you hear the Windows error sound, your VI3 Client windows is probably maximized. The move option is not available when a window is maximized. To work around this condition use the hotkey combination: “ALT+Space, R” for Restore. You should now be able to move the window using steps #2 & #3 above.

If you are still really struggling, break out the trusty old registry editor and follow along:

Close any open VMware Infrastructure Client windows
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VMware\VMware Infrastructure Client\Preferences\UI
Locate the ApplicationLocation key. This key provides the X-Y coordinate for the VI Client window at startup.
Modify the string value to 0-0. This value will cause the VI3 client to open in the center of your primary display.
If you run different sized/resolution displays, you may also want to change the ApplicationMaximized or ApplicationSize keys to fit your needs.
Launch the VMware Infrastructure Client and get back to work.

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