VMware Workstation Player is one of the best virtualization software available today. You can create a virtual machine and install an operating system on it. However, you may encounter a BSOD error when starting or using a virtual machine in VMware Workstation Player. VM can also cause your PC a blue screen error.
Here are two users’ posts:
VMware Causes Itself Blue Screen:
Hey everyone, I’m trying to run VMware for school. But every time I run VMware I get BSOD. And still nothing. At this point, I have no idea what to do. Someone, please help.
VMware Causes PC Blue Screen:
I’m having a problem with VMWare Workstation Pro causing a blue screen of death on a Windows 10 x64 host. The BSOD occurs during the resume process after the system has been put into sleep mode. I suspect that VMWare is causing the issue because it doesn’t occur once VMWare Workstation has been uninstalled.
Why does the “VMware causes blue screen” issue appear? The following are the reasons for the VMware BSOD error on Windows:
- Native virtualization services like WHP run alongside VMware.
- Your Windows version is out of date.
- The VMware machine version is out of date.
- VMware is conflicting with other applications or background services.
- The virtual machine is consuming more resources than the system can provide.
How to Fix VMware Causes Itself Blue Screen
This part tells you how to fix the “VMware causes itself blue screen” issue.
Fix 1: Restart Your PC and Virtual Machine
You should restart the VMware and your PC before proceeding with more complex repairs. You need to go to Task Manager to end the process and shut down your PC. Then, restart your PC. Turn on VMware and power on a virtual machine. Then, check if the “VMware causes blue screen” issue has been fixed.
Fix 2: Update VMware
If your VMware version is out of date, the “VMware blue screen on Windows” can also appear. Thus, you can try to update your VMware. Here is how to do that:
Step 1: Open VMware Workstation Player.
Step 2: Go to Help > Software Updates.
Step 3: Then, click Check for updates. Wait for the tool to search for the latest available update.
Step 4: If there is any update available, you can click the Download and Install button. After downloading, follow the on-screen instructions to install it. Then, check if the error is still existing.
Fix 3: Low Computer Resource
If your virtual machine crashes and appear a BSOD error, it may consume more resources than your system has available. You should not dedicate more than 50% of any hardware (CPU, RAM, or disk space) to a virtual machine. Thus, you had better leave enough space for the host system to run smoothly, and use the rest for virtual machines. Here is how to lower computer resources.
Step 1: Launch VMware Workstation Player. Choose one of the virtual machines in the list and select the Edit virtual machine settings option.
Step 2: Under the Hardware tab, click the Memory option. Adjust the slider to the recommended memory size.
Step 3: Then, go to the Processors tab and expand the Number of processor cores dropdown list. Select 4 and click the OK button.
Note: These hardware settings are different for every operating system. Make sure to allocate only the bare minimum resources specified by the operating system developers.
Step 4: Power on the virtual machine. If you still encounter a BSOD error, move to the next method.
Fix 4: Turn off Hyper-V and Other Windows Features
Microsoft Hyper-V is a virtualization program that enables users to create one or more virtual machines without any additional hardware or software support. Third-party hypervisors do not start or work properly when Hyper-V or other virtualization capabilities. Thus, you can turn off Hyper-V and other Windows features to fix the VM blue screen issue.
Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open the Run dialogue box. Type appwiz.cpl and press the Enter key.
Step 2: Then, click the Turn Windows features on or off option.
Step 3: Scroll down and uncheck the Hyper-V feature. Similarly, uncheck the Windows Hypervisor Platform, Virtual Machine Platform, and Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Fix 5: Update Windows to the Latest Version
Check to see if any new versions of Windows are available, then update your Windows and restart your PC. After that, check if the “VMware blue screen on Windows” issue has gone.
Step 1: Press the Windows + I keys together to open Settings.
Step 2: Go to Updates & Security.
Step 3: Click the Windows Update section, and click the Check for updates button to check if there are any new updates. Then Windows will search for available updates. Just follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.
Fix 6: Disable Other Virtual Machines
Many people regularly use multiple virtual machine applications at the same time, such as VirtualBox, VMware, etc. In most cases, such a workflow may result in a blue screen error on your computer. You had better disable other virtual machines.
Fix 7: Use a Different ISO file
Corrupted ISO files can also cause BSOD errors when installing an operating system on a virtual machine. If you are using an old ISO file that may be corrupted, you can download its latest version from its official website and add it to the virtual machine.
How to Fix VMware Causes PC Blue Screen
This part introduces how to fix the “Windows 10 get BSOD” issue when you start the virtual machine. You can try the above solutions to fix the issue. Besides, there are other fixes for you.
Fix 1: Run Startup Repair
If your computer can’t boot normally, the first fix you can try is to run a startup repair to fix the “VMware causes PC blue screen” error. You can follow the steps below:
Step 1: You should restart your PC several times to boot to WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment). Then you should click Advanced options.
Step 2: Then click Troubleshoot in the Choose an option page, and then choose Advanced options.
Step 3: Choose Startup Repair in the Advanced options page. Then the Windows 10 Startup Repair tool will automatically diagnose and fix the computer problems.
Fix 2: Perform a Clean Boot
This error can also be caused by some applications that conflict with the login service. You can try performing a clean boot. If the issue doesn’t appear while the computer is started in a clean boot state, it’s clear that one of the third-party applications or services is causing the issue. Here is how to do this.
Step 1: Open the Run dialog box. Then, type msconfig and click OK to open the System Configuration window.
Step 2: Click the Services tab, then check the Hide all Microsoft services box.
Step 3: Then click the Disable all button and click Apply changes.
Step 4: Navigate to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager. Then select each startup service individually and click Disable.
Step 5: At last, close the Task Manager window and restart your computer.
Fix 3: Disable Drivers Signature Enforcement
If it isn’t fixed, you can try to disable driver signature enforcement to fix the “VMware causes PC blue screen on Windows” error. Here is a quick guide:
Step 1: You should enter WinRE by the previous steps, then choose the Troubleshoot option. Then you should choose Advanced options > Startup Settings.
Step 2: Click the Restart button. Then a list of options will show up, and you should choose Disable driver signature enforcement.
After finishing all the steps above, you have disabled driver signature enforcement successfully. Then you should check if the issue has been fixed.
Fix 4: Update Your Device Drivers
You can manually update drivers in Windows 11/10 through Device Manager to fix the “VMware causes PC blue screen” error.
Step 1: Type Device Manager in the Search box to open it.
Step 2: Next you can double-click the device category and select the device which you want to update its driver. Then right-click the chosen device and click the Update driver option.
Step 3: After that, you can choose the Search automatically for updated driver software option, and Windows will search your computer on the Internet for the latest driver software for your device. If there is a newer update, Windows Device Manager will download and install the newer driver to your computer.
Then you have updated your device drives successfully. The error should be fixed.
Back up the System
After fixing the “VMware causes blue screen” issue, you had better back up your Windows operating system or virtual machine.
Blue screen errors appear now and then, which brings many troubles for you, for example, you need to spend much time looking for solutions to fix it, the PC downtime lasts long, etc. If you have a backup of the operating system, things become easier. In addition, some blue errors can cause file loss. To avoid loss, we also suggest backing up your crucial files.
How can you create a backup for your system or files? Here, MiniTool ShadowMaker is worth trying. As a piece of professional PC backup software, it is useful to back up the Windows operating system, partitions, disks, files, and folders. This program is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7.
Now, click the following button to get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition and have a try.
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Step 1: Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker on your computer.
Step 2: Click the Keep Trial button to use it for free in 30 days.
Step 3: In Backup, the system partitions to boot the PC have been selected as the backup source. The destination path is also selected. Here, you can re-choose one like a USB flash drive or external hard drive. Next, click Back Up Now for system backup right now.
Bottom Line
Do you encounter the “VMware causes blue screen” issue? Take it easy and you can get many solutions to get rid of this error. Besides, it is best to create a backup for your PC after fixing the error.
On the other hand, you can let us know if you have other solutions to fix this stop error. Also, any questions on MiniTool software are appreciated. Leaving a comment below or contacting us via [email protected] is available.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Having been an editor at MiniTool since graduating college as an English major, Daisy specializes in writing about data backups, disk cloning, and file syncing as well as general computer knowledge and issues. In her free time, Daisy enjoys running and going with friends to the amusement park.