Problems with all VMs in VirtualBox

Hallowenman · August 6, 2020

I am experiencing some problems with VirtualBox. When booting up a newly created VM it runs for a short amount of time before running into errors. If I try to install a Windows VM it will always BSOD and VirtualBox will give an error message along the lines of "...memory could not be read". I get the same error with Linux machines, and I also tested ReactOS which goes through the installation, but when it reboots after the installation and I select "ReactOS" I would get the ReactOS logo and a loading bar, then the VM has a black screen and nothing happens.

I have tried reinstalling the latest version of Virtualbox, same issue. Uninstalled and then deleted all Virtualbox folders still remaining (.Virtualbox in the user folder, anything left in Program files), installed a slightly older version of Virtualbox (6.1.10), same issue. I considered trying out VMware, but during the installation I was told by VMware that it is not supported on my version of Windows at the same time as HyperV is installed, either uninstall HyperV or update Windows. I was at the time on Windows 10 1909, which I have now updated to 2004. Tried Virtualbox again after updating Windows, but still the same issue. However I don't get errors in Virtualbox anymore (memory could not be read), I only experience the issues within the VMs (Windows BSOD, Ubuntu stops on installation due to HDD or DVD error, general error message, ReactOS same issue as before).

When checking task manager I noticed that the HDD which is where I have the VMs and ISO files stored is running at 100% disk activity the entire time when the VMs try to install. Response time seems to be acceptable, but not great. So I tried storing the VMs and ISO files on an SSD that works well, but still same issue in Virtualbox. I have tried a lof of different VM settings in Virtualbox, but can't get anything to work.

I mentioned HyperV which I have installed on my system. HyperV has worked perfectly fine the entire time with the same ISO files, same HDD and SSD, no errors at all, and running multiple VMs on the same slow HDD with HyperV has worked fine the entire time. But Linux support on HyperV isn't great, which is why I would like to get Virtualbox to work as I've had great experience with Virtualbox in the past.

Any ideas?