Cannot boot in Compatibility Mode for Windows

After installing 3.3+ guest agent tools on a Windows 10 or Windows 2016 instance, the instance cannot boot in Compatibility Mode.

Compatibility Mode works only for instances that previously had SATA disks with the disk drivers installed. Windows instances created from Lenovo Cloud Marketplace templates are created using VirtIO disks, not SATA; therefore, compatibility mode does not work for these instances.

In Windows 2016 and Windows 10, only one type of storage driver can be installed. When the guest agent tools are installed for Enhanced Mode, the old storage driver that only works in Compatibility Mode is replaced by one that only works in Enhanced Mode. Because of this, a Windows 2016 or Windows 10 instance that has the guest agent tools installed can no longer boot in Compatibility Mode.

To switch to Enhanced Mode, follow these steps:

1. Force shutdown the instance.
2. In the instance's profile, click Switch to enhanced mode.
3. Start the instance.
   Note

   Since the last boot failed, it boots into Windows Recovery Mode.

4. Force shutdown the instance, and then restart it.

The instance now boots in Enhanced mode.