Hyper-V VM of Windows Server 2012 R2 not booting after key activation

Question

Hello,

I am currently running a virtual machine of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Evaluation in Hyper-V on my Windows Server 2022 Host. So far the VM is running fine. When I now try to activate the Evaluation Version using a licence key and it asks me to restart the server afterwards, I am gettings stuck in the booting process.

The following happens:

1. The VM starts booting and It shows "Getting Windows ready. Dont turn off"
2. This screen lasts for a few seconds (1 ~ 3 seconds)
3. The VM shuts down without an error message or any other hint.

This happens continuously in a loop. I let it run for about 20min but nothings has changed.

I am also observing this behaviour if I install or uninstall a server feature (like DNS) on the Windows Server 2012 R2. Basically every time I change something in the configurations and I have to restart, I get stuck with this issue.

I don't know what's causing this behaviour and the only way to fix this issue yet is to restore and old backup of the vm.

Any ideas how I could fix this issue?

Regards