Windows 8 Release Preview and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate fail when starting for the first time after the installation

Symptoms

After installing Windows 8 (64bit) Release Preview or Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate on an ESXi 5.0 Update 1 host or the VMware Workstation Tech Preview, you experience these symptoms: 

• When starting for the first time after the installation, the virtual machine stops responding and displays a black screen with a white status ring
• Restarting the virtual machine does not resolve the issue

Resolution

To resolve this issue, use one of these workarounds:

• Change the virtual machine to use EFI instead of BIOS.
• 1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Power > Shut Down Guest.
  2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  3. Click the Options tab.
  4. Click Boot Options.
  5. Click EFI under Firmware.
  6. Click OK. 
  7. Power on the virtual machine.
     
• Add vmGenCounter.enable = FALSE to the .vmx file of the virtual machine.
  
1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Power > Shut Down Guest.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
3. Click the Options tab.
4. Under Advanced, click General.
5. Click Configuration Parameters.
6. Click Add Row.
7. Under name, enter vmGenCounter.enable.
8. Under value, enter False.
9. Click OK to save the changes and then close the window.
10. Power on the virtual machine.
    
    Note: The workaround involving adding the vmGenCounter.enable parameter to the virtual machine .vmx file may cause the new snapshot protection for domain controllers introduced in Windows 8/Windows Server 2012 to stop functioning. For more information, see the Microsoft Technet Article Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Virtualization.
    
    The preceding link was correct as of June 22, 2012. If you find this link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link. 

reference

http://kb.vmware.com