Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012R2 virtual machines fail with a blue screen on VMware platform

Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012R2 virtual machines fail with a blue screen and report the error: CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION (2060019)

In the Windows Event Viewer, you may see an entry similar to:
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Event ID: 41
Level: Critical

To work around this issue, manually create a CPUID mask for the affected virtual machines:

  1. Power down the virtual machine.
  2. Right-click the virtual machine.
  3. Click Edit Settings.
  4. Click the Options tab.
  5. Select CPUID Mask under Advanced.
  6. Click Advanced.
  7. Under the Register column, locate the edx register under Level 80000001.
  8. Paste this into the Value field:
    —-:0—:—-:—-:—-:—-:—-:—-
  9. Click OK.
  10. Click OK to close the virtual machine properties.

Source: VMware Knowledge Base