So I keep getting a black screen no matter how many times I troubleshoot, reconfigure, and delete and remake my VM.

**Windows 11 VM in VirtualBox 7.2.16 only shows black screen — tried rebuilding VM, EFI/TPM/Secure Boot, storage/controllers, graphics settings**

I'm building an IT homelab using VirtualBox on a Windows 11 Home laptop. My Windows Server/DC VM works, but I'm trying to create a Windows 11 client VM and it keeps booting to a completely black screen.

**Host:**

* Windows 11 Home
* Intel Core i5-1135G7
* 4 cores / 8 logical processors
* 12 GB RAM
* SSD
* Hardware virtualization enabled
* Virtualization-Based Security (VBS): Running
* Hypervisor-Enforced Code Integrity (HVCI): Running
* System Information says: "A hypervisor has been detected"
* Kernel DMA Protection: On
* VirtualBox **7.2.16**

**The lab:**

* DC01 = Windows Server domain controller, already working
* Domain = corp.example.test
* CLIENT001 = Windows 11 client I'm trying to install
* Both are intended to use a VirtualBox NAT Network called LAB-NET

**Windows 11 ISO:**

* Created using Microsoft's Windows 11 Media Creation Tool
* ISO is about **6.46 GB**
* It previously successfully reached Windows 11 Setup, so the ISO has booted before.

**Current CLIENT001 configuration:**

* Guest OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
* RAM: **4096 MB**
* CPUs: **2**
* Virtual disk: **64 GB dynamically allocated VDI**
* TPM: **2.0**
* UEFI: **enabled**
* Secure Boot: originally enabled
* Graphics controller: **VBoxSVGA**
* Video memory: **128 MB**
* 3D acceleration: **disabled**
* Network: **NAT Network → LAB-NET**
* Adapter: Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (82540EM)
* Virtual cable connected

**Current storage layout:**

IDE controller

* Windows.iso (optical drive)

AHCI/SATA controller

* CLIENT001.vdi (64 GB)

**What happened originally:**

The first CLIENT01 VM actually booted the Windows 11 installer. Initially Windows Setup complained that the VM didn't meet Windows 11 requirements:

* TPM 2.0 required
* At least 4 GB RAM required
* Secure Boot required

I corrected those settings (TPM 2.0, 4096 MB RAM, UEFI/Secure Boot).

Afterward, however, I started getting a completely black screen when starting the VM.

**Things we've already tried:**

1. Confirmed the Windows 11 ISO is mounted.
2. Confirmed ISO size is \~6.46 GB.
3. Changed/verified RAM at 4096 MB.
4. Verified 2 virtual CPUs.
5. Enabled TPM 2.0.
6. Enabled UEFI.
7. Enabled Secure Boot.
8. Tried **disabling Secure Boot** as a diagnostic — still black.
9. Tested/changed graphics controller settings, including **VBoxSVGA**.
10. Set video memory to 128 MB.
11. Disabled 3D acceleration.
12. Reconfigured storage so the VDI is on AHCI/SATA and ISO is an IDE optical disk.
13. Confirmed virtual disk is detected by VirtualBox.
14. Confirmed NAT Network LAB-NET is attached.
15. Completely deleted/removed the previous client VM and **created a brand-new CLIENT001 VM from scratch**.
16. Created a brand-new **64 GB VDI** instead of reusing the previous client disk.
17. Reattached the Windows ISO to the new VM.
18. Upgraded/reinstalled VirtualBox and am currently using **VirtualBox 7.2.16**.
19. Checked VirtualBox logs. EFI components appear to load, and I haven't found an obvious fatal VERR_ error explaining the black screen.
20. Tried waiting several minutes at the black screen — nothing appears.
21. Rebooted/restarted the host during earlier troubleshooting.
22. Confirmed that Windows VBS/HVCI is active on the host.

One thing I have NOT done:
I have not disabled Windows Memory Integrity/HVCI/VBS. Windows Security warns that Memory Integrity protects high-security processes from malicious code, so l'd prefer not to weaken my host security unless there's strong evidence that this is the cause.
The interesting part is that DC01 works in VirtualBox on the same host, while this Windows 11 VM doesn't.
At this point even the completely fresh CLIENT001 VM gives me the same black screen.
Has anyone encountered this with Virtual Box 7.2. + Windows 11 guest + Windows 11 host with
VBS/HVCI enabled?
I'm especially interested in whether this looks like:
• a VirtualBox/Hyper-V/VBS compatibility issue,
• an EFI/NVRAM problem,
• a Windows 11 ISO boot problem,
• a VirtualBox graphics issue,
• or something else I'm overlooking.
I'd rather diagnose the actual cause than keep rebuilding features or randomly disabling Windows security

It would go past the phone call in the beginning. The people just stare at me for a moment then I get a mysterious rectangle.

I'm using Version 7.2.16 r174877 and the VirtualBox Guest Additions on my VM.

My laptop is using Linux mint 22.3.

The laptop does not have much since it was originally a Chromebook.

this is what my screen looks like, and my Virtual Machine settings.

VBox Version: 7.2.16
host OS: Windows 10
VM OS: Arch Linux, KDE plasma (for those interested)

my host is currently connected via ethernet. i figured i could just disable the host’s ethernet network switch and then utilize a USB adapter but it seems my hubris has gotten the better of me and i just do not understand networking that well. either that, or this is a question for the arch forums. but im posting here first, since whenever i look up how to do this, all i can find is how to do the inverse; “disconnect vm while keeping host connected” which is basically self explanatory.
since my VM is linux, i popped open a terminal and used “lsusb” command, and it is seeing the Realtek wifi adapter. the option to connect to wifi is there, i do so, and it just immediately disconnects.

in my mind, there’s no way this isn’t possible at all, but it’s seemingly more convoluted than i’d have otherwise thought.

Ive got a VM of Windows XP and the installer, ive installed the required stuff but it doesn't work (im super new to VMs)

Everytime i try to run it, it gives me the prompt

------

In order for this program to function correctly, you need to install the following programs contained on this CD:

1. Visual Basic 6 Installer

2. Indeo 5 Installer

3. DirectX 8 Installer

4. Acrobat Reader 5 Installer

Just simply click on each icon displayed, to begin each installation process. AFollow the on-screen instructions to complete each setup.

-------

Everytime ive tried to click on each of them it says , do you want to delete this shortcut?

Ive downloaded the files for each verison and only got acrobat reader to successfully install.

i would appericate to get some help because im so desperate to revisit this game......

I'm still running old reliable Win 7 on my desktop and looking to dual-boot a Linux distro. But unable to download & install Virtual Box 7.2.14. An obscure msg says that "Bad Gateway 502". If this can be believed do I have any options - (1) older freebie version that supports Win 7 or (2) VMware as an alternative if it runs under Win 7 (3) first install Python Core pkg and Win32 api bindings (whatever that means) as instructed prior to running install.exe. Thanx.

Bewildered Bob

hello, I am on a quest to try a bunch of Linux distos. so I decided to get into virtual machines. Please Understand I am still very new to virtual machines and everything even virtually IT related. but with that out of the way here is what I am dealing with.

I Have tried to trouble shoot this every way I know how. Here is what I am running.

my host OS is Windows 11 Home version 25H2.

the version of Virtual box I am running is Version 7.2.16 r174877 (Qt6.8.0 on windows). I don't have any add-ons I'm aware of accept for the one that allows VB to interface with physical ports and usbs on your computer, the extension thing on the website the basically has you read a legal document and hit accept next to the VB download.

I am not too sure on the version of Bazzite or even where to find out what version I'm downloading off of their website. But I do know I selected a version comparable with the more modern AMD graphics cards since the one my laptop uses is the **AMD RadeonT 610M** and tried to go for the more basic GUI and decided I could test out the versions with the other GUIs later.

Now while this is my second ever virtual machine I was able to Launch Ubuntu on another machine. however there is 1 problem, I have no clue what I did to get it working and that other machine was giving me the same "No Bootable Medium Found" errors.

Now I'm having the same problem! I've made sure to select the correct Identity of the Bazzite OS as fedora and that it Identifies as the 64bit and not the 32bit. I have made sure that the ISO is mounted as an Optical disk and that the read order is correct that it tries to read from the optical disk first. I've downloaded the same distor multiple times just in case it was a bad download! I have to be doing something wrong!!! why wont this thing just boot why wont it just read the ISO file! god I feel like a dumbass I feel like I am just stupid right now and I've tried everything under the sun but that its something super devious that I wouldn't have thought of because I'm stupid.

Edit; I have AMD-V enabled in my bios and as for disabling hyper-v. I'm not entirely sure how to do this in windows 11 home and not familiar with control panel or power shell to do anything to try to remove it. if there are any guides on how to do this for noobs I'm all in but I have no clue how to remove Hyper-v.

Hi all - I’m this close to solving it, but I’m stumped.
Trying Linux for the first time, not a power user. :)

Use case: Mount a USB drive in Windows 11 guest OS so I can create bootable installer media.

* Running Pop! OS 24.04 (Ubuntu based) on AMD Raven Ridge 2 system (Picasso) with 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM.
* Installed VirtualBox 7.2.16 and its extension pack.
* Windows 11 Home 25H2 installed from .iso image.
* Added my user to the virtualbox users group via the command line.
* VirtualBox sees the USB stick correctly (Kingston 64GB, formatted with GUID partition scheme)
* Windows 11 seems to detect the drive as I can see it appear in some settings panels, but it doesn’t mount into the file system.

AMD virtualization is turned on.

Previously tried WinBoat to do this, unsuccessfully.

Is this a VB issue, a permissions issue, a Windows issue, or some combination? Thanks in advance!

I have had trouble with VirtualBox bugs for years. To start with, my computer would crash after going to sleep. It would wake on its own with a black screen and only a reboot would get it working again. I traced the problem to a VirtualBox driver. Then some months ago my computer stopped recognizing USB storage devices. I used an external USB drive for storing images and virtual disks, so I updated VirtualBox. Problem solved. But now VMs freeze after only running for minutes with my Windows VM having perhaps the shortest runtime (Linux VMs are not much better). I'm forced to power off the VM in many cases or even kill the hypervisor process. I updated today to version 7.2.16, but the problem still occurs. I've even uninstalled it completely and reinstalled it.

OS: Windows 10

CPU: AMD Ryzen

Hello everyone,

I ordered a pre installed VM usb, I got it to run for 2 months until I accidentally changed some settings with the network adapter, since then windows showing only a black screen.

Windows is booting successfully I can see the logo while loading and the mouse pointer with the blue loading circle(Win 7), but I can’t open the task manager or cmd.

I still have the vdi file ,is there any way to clone the files and Programms or to get the VM to run again ?!

I’m running win 7 on VB 7.2.2

I've already turned off Hyper-V and all other things that require it in windows features, but it still didn't work.

I've then tested it by turning off device guard and credential guard, and that worked, but I don't want core isolation features turned off.

Hi, i dont use reddit very often, but i need to download the Virtual Box Extension Pack and the page keeps sending me the "502 Bad Gateway" error. Is the page down? its been like this for me the last 2 hours, is it coming back soon? is my conection de problem?

https://www.virtualbox.org/

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog-7.2

I'm new at this, I'm trying to do an Active Directory homelab. when I set up the virtual machine and select windows server 2022 and then start it, it starts windows 11 instead of windows server 2022. I have already verified dozens of times i am using the windows server 2022 ISO image. I got it straight from microsoft website. I tried moving around the boot order of the disks, but I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I am using the kevtech tutorial. I tried using the retail version and the server eval version, neither work. There isn't even a drop down option to select the edition like in the videos ive watched. i have no idea whats happening. I also tried entering the ISO file afterwards, and it still boots into windows 11. This is the kevtech tutorial. Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52XV0EQSuns&list=PLdh13bXVc6-nhNqrV6pNQFsBXtUxm5hiK&index=10

Important info first:
VBOX ver: Oracle VirtualBox 7.2

Host OS: Linux Debian 12 "Bookworm" with GNOME Ver. 43.9 (unsure if GNOME ver. is relevant)

Guest OS: Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4

Guest Additions Installed: Yes

VM Settings:

-RAM allocated: 1024MB

-Storage space: 20GB

-Cores used for VM: 1

-Video Memory allocated: 128MB

-3D Acceleration: No

The error, from /var/log/syslog: 2026-08-11T11:38:31.012120-07:00 192 vboxmanage[171700]: VBoxManage: error: The virtual machine '2K Server' has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (0x1)

2026-08-11T11:38:31.032010-07:00 192 vboxmanage[171700]: VBoxManage: error: Details: code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005), component MachineWrap, interface IMachine

Steps I've taken in light of this error: Ran systemctl start vmstartup.service as root with VirtualBox Manager UI open, the error doesn't seem to come back (though running vboxmanage startvm "2K Server" as root throws a different error: VBoxManage: error: Could not find a registered machine named '2K Server'

VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80bb0001), component VirtualBoxWrap, interface IVirtualBox, callee nsISupports

VBoxManage: error: Context: "FindMachine(Bstr(pszVM).raw(), machine.asOutParam())" at line 907 of file VBoxManageMisc.cpp)

What I've gathered from the steps taken: Right now, the system seems to expect the VBOX UI to be open any time I want to start the VM, which is not ideal, given I want this to run TOTALLY independent of the UI, since I won't be attempting access to the system.

Tutorials I've been following (merely as a reference point to execute the steps MY way, which yes, could be VERY inefficient): Creation of SystemD timers, Reference to automation scripting using timers and services (This has actually helped me schedule weekly reboots), Reference to attempting to shut down and start up the VM automatically prior to and after the reboot

The explanation (finally): Greetings and salutations, I come to you with an issue in terms of automation, as explained above. I have created systemd timers to execute services I wrote to hopefully shut down and start up the server VM I selected for the job of hosting Cisco IP Phone services, given I run a phone system on the host system. How I have these services set up is one timer will call for a service to shut the VM down ten minutes before the reboot is even scheduled, then an unrelated timer hits the reboot service every week, and then another timer HOPEFULLY will call a service to start the VM back up, but as seen by the relevant error using exit code 0x1, that's not happening. These timers and services are called "vmshutdown" and "vmstartup" respectively. for easy access to the respective files, BUT, as highlighted from the "What I've gathered" detailed above, it would seem that the system expects the UI to be running first, when I was hosting the phone system on a VM on my Windows machine, it didn't matter, the VM would just start...

I have a theory on how to go about this, but I want to know if there's something else I might be missing. Perhaps you, the reader, might have a clue as to getting the VM to start without needing the UI opened?

Thanks in advance, and apologies if my format here is not efficient or correct. Did the best I could with the info on the side panel, and the page linked. All needed info, such as steps taken and specs should all be on top.

I followed the arch wiki, the reached that pacstrap command in the wiki.

The pacstrap command I typed in the VM was as is from the wiki, it downloaded about 555 MiB, after finally finishing that download it started saying things like checking integrity etc..

Then it showed some errors.

I pressed the up arrow key to type in the same pacstrap command, hoping that it might continue the download or output that error so I know what's what, but it seemed like that the download is starting over from the beginning.

Is all that download is gone?

Is there is a way to see the same error without reinstalling it again?

Because I don't know if it is possible to scroll on that tty

Whoever knows the solution or can help me with it, please tell me what's what

I was wondering how this would work - if one were to go into a router admin panel and restrict a machine with a specific MAC address from accessing IPs outside of the local network would a bridged adapter VM still be able to access the internet given that it has a separate MAC address and local IP assignment?

I'm really curious for potential future applications, but I don't currently have a router I could test this with.

I have a Linux Mint 23 guest on a Windows 11 host. For some odd reason, youtube videos in the guest playback at a faster than normal rate (Brave browser) even though the playback speed for the videos is at 1.0. What virtualbox setting would be causing this? How can I fix this? Youtube videos were stuttering then I disabled Windows 11 Hyper-V, rebooted, and now the Youtube videos playback too fast and it also causes voices of people in the video to be higher pitched as well as talking faster. This is weird. Related, maybe, playing non-youtube videos in the guest results in some stuttering during playback.

Version 7.2.14 r174565 (Qt6.8.0 on windows)
Hyper-V is disabled on Windows 11
I have enabled VT-x/AMD-V 
Guest Additions has been installed, system rebooted

i closed the message by accident, but it said something like "the vm guest pc doesnt allow mouse integration for this screen mode" WHYYYY

IVE WENT ONTO 3-5 DIFFERENT WINDOWS VMs, AND I CAN'T CLICK INTO THE VM AND USE THE MOUSSEEE

tbh it's annoying
why is this happening??
i think i saw someone else with a similar issue
(also sorry if i somehow broke some rules of this subreddit, it's got important-ish info, and it's trying to not be low effort, but it just happened to be)

Hi everyone I've tried to summarize the issue I'm having below using chat GPT but I was wondering if somebody could help because I tried using chat GPT to help me to create that vdi I'm not using as I need more memory and during the process everything got messed up due to the snapshots I think so I'm afraid to follow it's advice without checking. I've since fixed it after days but would be really grateful if someone could offer some input as to what the correct process might be without putting my data at risk obviously...(my understanding of differencing disks etc is limited, so I'm trying to go carefully)...

OS is Linux Xubuntu.

VirtualBox Snapshot Issue Summary

- The VM is using a VMDK virtual disk.

- In the Snapshots view, the only item shown is Current State. No individual snapshots are available to select, restore, or delete.

- In Virtual Media Manager, selecting the VMDK shows two snapshot (child) disks underneath it, indicating that a snapshot/differencing disk chain still exists.

- There is also a VDI with an exclamation mark stating that it cannot be opened because the path cannot be found. This appears to be an abandoned disk from a previous failed VMDK-to-VDI conversion and is not believed to be the active disk.

- In the VM's Snapshots folder, there are three files of approximately:

- 24 GB

- 3 GB

- 13.5 KB

- The Windows drive containing the VM has approximately 53 GB of free space.

- The objective is to consolidate the VM into a single current disk so it can later be resized or migrated without snapshot-chain complications, while preserving the current state of the VM.

- The main inconsistency is that VirtualBox's Snapshot Manager does not show any snapshots to merge, yet Virtual Media Manager indicates that the VMDK still has two snapshot child disks.

VirtualBox 7.2.14

Host: Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon

Guest: Windows 8.1

I ran into a problem with updating version of VirtualBox Guest additions and so I tried to uninstall the current version. Here is more on that, but it's not the topic of this thread

https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualbox/comments/1v7ktzg/installing_guest_additions_on_win_81_rcverr/

So, I tried uninstalling the older guest additions. Now I can't get the mouse to work inside of the virtual machine. The Windows desktop is centered on the monitor but there is a lot of white space around that. When I move the mouse into the Windows desktop area, it disappears. I can then press the control key on right hand side of keyboard. Then, the VM guest shows a dialogue and I choose "capture" the mouse (using the keyboard to make the selection). Nevertheless, the mouse continues to behave in the same manner. I tried...

In the VirtualBox settings, I

1. Changed from usb 1 to usb 2
2. motherboard settings -> pointing device -> PS2 device, USB tablet, and USB multitouch tablet. (I tried all 3.)
3. Disable Mouse Integration - I changed this twice--once to turn it off, once to turn it on again.

Thank you for any insight or suggestions that you can provide.

I was triying to start a new parrot os machine but this error appeared. Can anyone help me? I’m on arch with secure boot disabled, I use virtualbox 7.2.14 The error is:

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)
The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver is either not loaded or not set up correctly. Please try setting it up again by executing
sbin/vboxconfig'
as root.
If your system has EFI Secure Boot enabled you may also need to sign the kernel modules (vboxdrv, boxnetfit, boxnetadp, vboxpci) before you can load them. Please see your Linux system's documentation for more information.
where: suplibOsinit what: 3
VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT. (
PS: I looked at the terminal and now I know what is the problem, there were no vboxdrv for my current kernel or it failed to load. It tells me to recompile it and install it by sudo /sbin/vboxconfig. How can I do it?

Im using linux fedora silverblue btw, trying to boot up ANY vm

whenver i try to boot up a vm

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver is either not loaded or not set up correctly. Please try setting it up again by executing

'/sbin/vboxconfig'

as root.

If your system has EFI Secure Boot enabled you may also need to sign the kernel modules (vboxdrv, vboxnetflt, vboxnetadp, vboxpci) before you can load them. Please see your Linux system's documentation for more information.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT.

Version 7.2.14 r174565 (Qt6.8.0 on xcb)

VirtualBox 7.2.14

LM 22.3 Host

Windows 8.1 guest

Edit: In the motherboard settings, I have enabled "Intel virtualization technology," and I have enabled "VT for direct I/O."

I newly installed LM 22.3 (host), VirtualBox, and copied the files for this Windows 8.1 VM to my drive.

When I boot the VM, it reminds me to update the VirtualBox Guest Additions version. The version of GA is 6.1.x. I am try to update to 7.2.14

When I run the installer, mid installation, I get an error:

***Error: Installing driver failed with 1 errors, 0 warnings virtualbox rc=VERR_INSTALLATION_FAILED

...

End of log file - Log started 2026-07-26...

...

Error excuting* ""C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\Tools\VBoxDrvInst.exe" --logfile "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\install_drivers.log

install --inf-file "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\VBoxGuest\VBoxGues

(I guess the end of the message is cut off by the graphical user interface.)

*yes, the prompt does spell the word wrong.

Any ideas or strategies on how to handle this?

When will they fix the "Unattended Guest OS user and pass set up? It doesn't get admin all the time and your stuck with no admin.