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Posted on 10/07/2019 8:51:26 AM PDT by dayglored
Desperate users tinkering with compatibility system to get up and running again
Windows 10 users have been complaining since the weekend that VMware Workstation no longer runs after a cumulative Windows 10 Update prevents it from starting.
Only older versions of VMware Workstation are affected, but even users willing to pay for an upgrade may face other compatibility issues.
The culprit seems to be KB4517211, which upgrades Windows 10 to build 18362.387. Although not mentioned in the knowledgebase, this update adds entries to the Windows Compatibility database, the result being that attempting to run VMware Workstation 14 or below gives the message "VMware Workstation Pro can't run on Windows".
In a thread on Microsoft's site, one affected user complained that upgrading their 100 VMware Workstation licences would cost €11,500.
There are other factors, though. A user trying to run the networking software GNS3 found that after upgrading, the software no longer worked. In addition, newer versions of VMware do not work on some older processors, so an upgrade is not always possible.
Windows maintains this kind of compatibility information in a Shim Database called sysmain.sdb. This is part of the Application Compatibility Framework which is able to patch applications on the fly as well as informing the user of compatibility issues. Some desperate users (not only in the VMware case) have tried replacing this file with an older version to get blocked applications to run.
This is not a sound strategy, since it is a system component and tinkering with it could have unpredictable affects on other applications or system stability. In addition, relaxing permissions on sysmain.sdb could make it a security vulnerability.
That said, some users who have done this subsequently reported that VMware 14 then works, leaving them puzzled as to why Microsoft chose to block it.
Another solution is to block the update, but it seems likely that a future update will cause the problem to return. Blocking updates is also not a good long-term strategy, since it leaves Windows 10 vulnerable to security issues.
Plenty of old applications run well on Windows 10 and in general compatibility is fair. Low level applications like hypervisors are more likely to run into issues though, making this type of problem understandable. What is needed is a better mechanism for flagging the issues in advance so that admins have a chance to prepare. ®
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Not just VMWare but Oracle VirtualBox too.
This hurts my business. Also prevents linux, ubuntu and others, I think.
“DOS isn’t done until Lotus won’t run!”
I had a project setup using VMware and couldn’t keep it working reliably under W10.
This forced update would cost me personally about $200 to fix for VMWare. I give up; moving critical things to Linux.
I’ve been piloting various Linux distributions since the Win 7 “forced upgrades” caused everyone to block them.
Microsoft has really screwed us.
Yikes. A lot of my engineers have VirtualBox running on Windows 10. Not looking forward to this week's breakage...
“In a thread on Microsoft’s site, one affected user complained that upgrading their 100 VMware Workstation licences would cost €11,500.”
Makes one wonder if MS has any vested interest in this end result? This kind of reminds me of the McCafee fiasco when they were installing their own viruses and then charging to fix them.
Could it be rigged rather than an accident? I would not put this past MS to do on purpose.
Curiosity to learn here... How could it affect Linux, Ubuntu and others?
Classic case of "Don't do as we do - do as we say" if I ever saw one...
Of course, the whole article and replies beg the question...
Why is anyone running business critical systems on a client operating system???
Folks, the Windows client (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10) is not meant to be a server.
If you need a server, get the server—not client—bits to install the OS.
Client systems are supposed to be used by an individual user, or multiple users one-at-a-time, such as shift workers.
The cost of the server license (whether Windows or a paid for Linux variant) is more than offset given the horrors and potential costs of a less robust client OS eating you apps, data, or not upgrading properly.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/windows-server-pricing
The link is for Server 2019.
Server 2016 is great, robust, and if installed using Server Core, almost never needs an update and keeps on chugging 24/7, 365—and a lot cheaper!!! ($500).
Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise comes with Hyper-V.
Use it. No license fee.
Maybe since you do IT support, you can help them:
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/migrate-virtual-box-vms-windows-10-hyper-v/
Good morning, all you Windows beta testers!
Alas, my work is almost entirely with VMware (ESXi, Enterprise, Workstation), and I haven't had occasion to work with HyperV, so I'm not a good resource there. I'll check the link you sent, in any case.
I'd say, unlikely... with one caveat. Microsoft wants people using HyperV, so their concern about breaking other products is secondary at best.
Unless one needs direct compatibility with VMware or VirtualBox VMs... :-)
So true, so true. And yet a few hundred dollars makes many people decide "Oh, it'll be fine on the client OS". And then I end up supporting their bad decision when it causes problems. Drives me crazy.
*sigh*
Working with servers, I agree that VMWare is a better solution than Hyper-V, just for the aggregate management solution VSphere provides. Microsoft has a centralized management solution for Hyper-V called System Center Virtual Machine Manager, but no one uses it or even knows about it. I love it but it rarely encounter it doing my thing consulting, so the business demands VMWare expertise.
Azure, for example, has a ton of software to migrate VMWare VMs to the cloud but nothing really for Hyper-V VMs, and it’s their own product. The now say they “Love” VMWare.
But for individual computer users, using Windows 10, Hyper-V is part of the OS, and really simple to manage.
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