Windows Server 2012 Test Install

So as a test I decided to install Windows Server 2012. I installed this onto Oracle Virtual box. I started the install and hit an error, “Windows failed to start” with error code “0xc0000225” .

To fix this error, you need to shutdown the virtual machine. Then right click the machine and select “Settings” the select “System” and tick “Enable IO APIC” You should do this on any host that you need to run in 64 bit mode, it is also required if you want to run more than one CPU on your virtual machine.

When you install Windows Server 2012, you can choose between Server Core Installation and Server with a GUI as per the two screenshots below. The “Server with a GUI” option is the Windows 8 equivalent of the Full installation option available in Windows Server 2008 R2. The “Server Core Installation” option reduces the space required on disk, the potential attack surface, and especially the servicing requirements, Microsoft recommend that you choose the Server Core installation unless you have a particular need for the additional user interface elements and graphical management tools that are included in the “Server with a GUI” option. For this reason, the Server Core installation is now the default. Because you can freely switch between these options at any time later, one approach might be to initially install the Server with a GUI option, use the graphical tools to configure the server, and then later switch to the Server Core Installation option. I went for the “Server with a GUI” option for my test machine.