SOLVED: HyperV Error: A Virtual Disk Provider for the specified file was not found

I recently blew an hour trying to attach a VHD inot a HyperV on a new Server 2008 R2 64Bit Standard server but received “A Virtual Disk Provider for the specified file was not found” which was not cool.

The solution was a small registry change as documented http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2013544

Solution:

1)    Start Registry Editor.
2)    Visit the following registry key: “HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesFsDepends”
3)    Under the “FsDepends” key, change REG_DWORD value “Start” from “3” to “0”
4)    Restart the computer

Details & Cause:

There is a timing issue with FSDepends.sys and with VHDMP.sys. This timing issue occurs when certain backup programs are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2008. By default, the FSDepends.sys start value in the registry is set to Manual. When any third-party backup software loads its tape device driver, the software can sometimes result in FSDepends.sys and VHDMP.sys not initializing correctly.

You receive the following error message when you try to create a virtual machine in Hyper-V Manager in Windows Server 2008 R2:

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Hyper-V-VMMS-Admin
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Hyper-V-VMMS
Event ID:      14098
Level:         Error
Description:
‘Storage Virtualization Service Provider’ driver required by the Virtual Machine Management service is not installed or is disabled. Check your settings or try reinstalling the Hyper-V role.

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Hyper-V-Image-Management-Service-Admin
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Hyper-V-Image-Management-Service
Event ID:      15062
Level:         Error
Description:
‘The system failed to create ‘E:VMachineVirtual MachinesTESTTEST.vhd’. Error Code: 2424869

When you try to interact with a virtual hard disk (VHD) file by using a tool such as Hyper-V Manager, Storage Manager, or Diskpart, you receive the following error message:

Title: Virtual Disk Manager

Description: A Virtual Disk Provider for the specified file was not found.

You may also see the following event logged in the VHDMP log:

Event ID 3: Failed to surface VHD <Drive LetterPathvirtual hard drivesVMNAME_########-####-####-####-############.vhd. Error Status: 0xC0000061

When you try to start a virtual machine by using Hyper-V Manager, you receive the following error message:

Note: Machine names, paths, and GUIDs will be different as they are unique to each environment.

Title: Hyper-V Manager

Description: An error occurred while attempting to start the selected virtual machine(s)
‘<VM Name>’ failed to start.
Microsoft Emulated IDE Controller (Instance ID {########-####-####-####-############}): Failed to Power on with Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning.’
Failed to open attachment ‘Drive Letter:pathVirtual Hard driversVMNAME_########-####-####-####-############.vhd’. Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning’
Failed to open attachment ‘Drive Letter:pathVirtual Hard driversVMNAME_########-####-####-####-############.vhd’. Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning’
‘VM NAME’ failed to start (Virtual Machine ID ########-####-####-####-############)
‘VM NAME’ Microsoft Emulated IDE Controller (Instance ID {########-####-####-####-############}): Failed to Power on with Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning.’ (0x8007001F) (Virtual Machine ID: ########-####-####-####-############)
‘VM NAME’: Failed to open attachment ‘Drive Letter:pathVirtual Hard driversVMNAME_########-####-####-####-############.vhd’. Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning’ (0x8007001F) (Virtual Machine ID: ########-####-####-####-############)
‘VM NAME’: Failed to open attachment ‘Drive Letter:pathVirtual Hard driversVMNAME_########-####-####-####-############.vhd’. Error: ‘A device attached to the system is not functioning’ (0x8007001F) (Virtual Machine ID: ########-####-####-####-############)