Virtual Machine Bus (vmbus) Service Defaults in Windows 11

Default Settings

Startup type: Manual
Display name:Virtual Machine Bus
Service name:vmbus
Service type:kernel
Error control:normal
Group:System Bus Extender
Path:%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\vmbus.sys
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vmbus

Default Behavior

Virtual Machine Bus is a kernel driver. In Windows 11 it starts only if the user, an application or another service starts it. If Virtual Machine Bus fails to start, the failure details will be recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 11 should boot up and notify the user about the vmbus service startup failure.

Restore Default Startup Configuration of Virtual Machine Bus

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Copy the command below, paste it into the command window and press ENTER:

sc config vmbus start= demand

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The vmbus service is using the vmbus.sys file that is located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 11 installation media.