A solution to no network access in guest OS

Question

Hi.
Host OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 / Hyper-V
Guest OS: Windows Server 2008 R2
Had a problem with "no network access" in guest OS.
However, as many others could not get rid of the Virtual Network card in Device Manager (which also seems to manage the LAN Connection object under Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings)
After a few hours this seems something like what you need to do to get rid of the faulting Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter ... so the Guest OS can automatically reinstall it. These steps worked for me:
Probable Prerequisites:
0)
- The host OS runs the Virtual Network Switch on one of the physical network adapters or on the same adapter (if there is only one). In my case I run on the 2nd physical adapter.
- Hyper-V Virtual Network manager has a virtual network on one of those adapters.
- The VM with the guest OS is bound to the virtual network
1) Event log > System probably has an event saying something is wrong with the Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter and you need to reinstall it (but how!!!)
Fix Guest OS LAN Connection:
1.a) Hyper-V Manager Actions:
Hyper-V Manager > Shutdown or turn off the Guest OS in
Hyper-V Manager > VM Guest OS > Settings > Network Adapter remove
1.b) Hyper-V Manager VM GUest OS States:
{ No network adapter available for guest OS }
2.a) Hyper-V Manager Actions:
Hyper-V Manager > VM > Start VM Guest OS
2.b) Guest OS States:
{ DM > Virutal network card and Network and Sharing Center > Connection LAN is strangely still available even though the virtual network adapter hardware was removed in step 1 }
3.a) Guest OS Actions:
Go to Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings > "LAN Connection" object > Properties
Click every protocol etc. and click the uninstall button
3.b) Guest OS States:
{ The LAN Connection object is gone under Network and Sharing Center }
{ The Network card is gone under Computer Administration > Device Manager }
4.a) Guest OS Actions:
cmd > Run as Administrator >
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
devmgmt
In device manager goto the network node and uninstall all references to Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter
(In my case I used the guest os for a Windows Backup sysrecovery because of changes in the disk layout thus I also had some additional references now visible to the previous physical network adapters and uninstalled them as well)
4.b) Guest OS states:
{ Device Manager > Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter not present }
5.a) Hyper-V Manager Actions
Shutdown VM Guest OS
VM Guest OS > Settings > Add Virtual network adapter for external network
Start VM Guest OS
5.b) Guest OS States:
{ Guest OS ready for plug and play installation of Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter }
{ Device Manager > Network Adapters > Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter is installed and activated }
{ Network and Sharing Center > Connection LAN object is installed and activated }
{ LAN is connected with network access through the Virtual Network switch in the Host OS }

Answer 1

Thank you for the post. After searching for weeks on end and trying all kinds of solutions, I was finally able to resolve the issue by removing the "Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus" from the Guest machine on Hyper-V.
No matter what change I was applying I kept getting the "169" based IP.
My host system is "Windows 8.1 Pro" with Hyper-V role enabled and my guest machine is "Windows 8 Enterprise". I was starting to question if it's the enterprise machine that may be an issue, but glad this is resolved.
Thank you for the solution.