She uninstalled Converter completely from the source machine (cleanup with Converter standalone clean-up utility ), deleted leftover VMware folders from ProgramData and AppData\Local , then reinstalled. Still broken.
That made sense. The server was old—Windows 2008 R2 with an older Secure Boot policy and no SHA-2 code signing updates. VMware’s newer drivers used SHA-2 certificates. The OS didn't trust them. She uninstalled Converter completely from the source machine
She opened gpedit.msc and checked: System > Device Installation > Specify digital signature verification for device drivers. It was set to "Block." Even test-signed drivers were rejected. The server was old—Windows 2008 R2 with an
Change tracking driver wasn't the villain. It was just the messenger—alerting her to years of security hardening, feature conflicts, and certificate rot hiding beneath a simple error message. She opened gpedit
The logs were her only friend now. She navigated to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\Logs and opened converter-worker.log .
She launched VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.2, clicked "Convert Machine," entered the source credentials, and hit next. The pre-check screen looked good—enough disk space, network reachable, agent uploaded. Then she clicked "Finish."
She closed her laptop, leaned back, and stared at the ceiling.