Running VirtualBox machine causes Blue Screen of Death on host Windows 7 PC

Question

VirtualBox has now twice caused a BSOD on my host operating system Windows 7. The first time I was running VirtualPC so thought the two Virtual Systems together might have caused the issue, but this time it was just VirtualBox.

I didn't get the error code.

Has anyone had similar problems?

Answer 1

What is the configuration of your Win-7 machine? VirtualBox is a huge resource drainer. Even with 4GB RAM and a 3.2 ghz dual-core, it lags when I try to run anything on the host and guest at the same time. Also, check your onboard graphics-memory, and read this manual carefully for anything that might apply to your architecture:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Technical_documentation

Answer 2

I tried all of the above mentioned answers, none of them worked.

So I found out the Hyper-V in windows 7 and higher (in my case it is windows 10) is the culprit!

I disabled the Hyper-V services as below and the issue is fixed!

Follow the following steps:

1. Find the "Turn windows features on or off" from control panel (or type windows features in windows search box)

2. Uncheck the "Hyper-V" feature from the list

Answer 3

This happens many times, especially when running more than one virtual machine at a time. I.e. two Linux virtual machines, etc.

I looked at the dumps and it's definitely Virtual Box (at least as recent as 4.3.4). I've see it with single as well as multiple Windows 7 VMS also.

Doesn't occur frequently, and I prefer Vbox over VMWare, so I continue to use. I usually just restart and everything is fine.

Also:

In particular, VirtualBox SATA drivers are causing BSOD, so default to IDE.

Answer 4

Ok so these are all the known fixes I found for the blue screen error.

1. You should check if HyperV is enabled if it is you should disable it

2. If that does not work you will need to go into virtual box settings and change display option or acceleration option.In display (click on graphics controller and test out each option) (also in the tab system go to acceleration where you see paravirtualization interface test each option until you find the one that works) i cant give the specific option since I don't know what computer you own.

Here are some of the causes for this issue;incompatibility with driver or display,installing another virtual box application with current one installed and lastly,left over files if you where to remove virtual box and reinstall it.

Please share these fixes with everyone with a issue like this

Answer 5

None of the above has worked for me. However, this simple trick allowed me to run the troubled VM:

1. Run the machine in headless start mode (Go to start and then choose headless start from the drop-down list)
2. After the machine cleans the cache and shows the login screen at the little window of VBox page, click on show machine (the green arrow in the main menu).

Make sure to backup your important files :)

Answer 6

Another option is to try Hyper-V itself. Search for Hyper-V Manager. Hyper-V Manager

Answer 7

In my case the other VMs had created a virtual switch on the nic driver.

I went and removed all the non-standard settings on the adapter and let the OS auto-detect it and configure as if it was a new start up. (After disabling Hyper-V and Virtual Box which had been set up natively on the PC.)

Then I was able to fire up vagrant and get things to work. I was using Vagrant 1.9.6 and VBox 5.1.28.

Hope this helps someone else.

Answer 8

I was having exactly the same problem and none of the above answers fixed my problem.

Situation:

1. Everytime I started a virtual machine under VirtualBox, my windows 10 PC would throw a BSOD with

   "The error is: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION".

   • The error was 100% reproducible. (meaning it happened every time).
   • I couldn't even see the BIOS screen coming up (neither in VMWare nor in VirtualBox).

2. The difference for VMWare was, when I tried to start a virtual machine under VMPlayer, although I didn't get a BSOD, the whole PC just froze.

3. My Windows 10, VirtualBox and VMWare are all up-to-date as of 07.08.2019. Still the behavior could be reproduced.

4. Hypervisor was already off in the settings. So it could not be the culprit in this case, as suggested in some of the other answers.

Solution:

I turned off my anti-virus (Avast - you bad boy! ) and since then I have not gotten a BSOD. Neither a BSOD for running a VirtualBox machine nor a PC-freeze for running a VMware virtual machine. (source)