Upgrading Guest Additions 7.0.10 -> 7.0.12 on Windows 8.1 makes it unbootable => fixed in 6.1.50 and 7.0.14 GAs

[karabaja4]

I upgraded to VirtualBox 7.0.10 -> 7.0.12.

I then booted Windows 8.1. guest, which booted fine with 7.0.10 Guest Additions.

Then I went and inserted Guest Additions CD image inside the guest and installed the new version of Guest Additions (7.0.12). Installation was successful, and then after installation rebooted my guest.

On the guest boot I was greeted with "Diagnosing your PC" and "Attempting repair" messages. After automatic repair failed, I was given the some options by Windows on what I can do.

I picked System Restore, and after Guest Additions were reverted back to 7.0.10 the OS was able to boot again.

I did this 3 times to confirm the issue.

C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt gives this message:

Root cause found:

---

Boot critical file d:\windows\system32\drivers\vboxguest.sys is corrupt.

Repair action: File repair Result: Failed. Error code = 0x2 Time taken = 3438 ms

*

Host: Arch Linux, kernel 6.1.58 Guest: Windows 8.1 x64

[aheinlein]

I can confirm this is happening on a Windows 7 guest as well.

[s23ayers]

I just encountered the same issue today. Host: Windows 11 Pro 10.0.22621 x64 Guest: Windows 8.1 x64

I am attaching my logs.

[dolsys]

I have the same problem with Windows Server 2012!

[badr-aldeen]

I also have windows 8.1 x64 which give black screen with VirtualBox logo on boot (because I used EFI shell) I do not have Restore point I could not boot into safe mode I will try to find a way to uninstall Gust addition 7.0.12 from WinPE

when I try to upgrade from 7.0.10 to 7.0.12 screen become glitch and I forced to restart then I found GA 7.0.12 installed but to make sure I do not have problem with 3D Graphic I reinstalled it again and that when I could not boot to windows

[isgdre]

I have same problem with Win10Pro host and Win7Untimate Guest.

[orodriguez003]

I have the same problem, the virtual machine becomes corrupted

[Klaus Espenlaub]

This is due to a code signing issue in guest additions (both 7.0.12 and 6.1.48 are affected) which manifests with Windows 8.1 and older. Use the files from the test builds page instead.

[paulson]

This has been resolved in the VirtualBox 7.0.14 GAs and the 6.1.50 GAs.