When you try to start a Windows Server VM, you get an error. You have no idea why this startup failed. What can you do to find the definite possible cause?

Extraction logs are not a standard Azure diagnostic artifact for VM startup failures and would not contain boot-level error information.

Azure Serial Console provides an interactive terminal session to a running VM's serial port but cannot be used to review the log of a past failed startup after the VM has stopped.

SSH requires the VM's operating system and SSH daemon to be running, which is not possible when the VM has failed to start.

Boot diagnostics records the VM's serial console output and a display screenshot during the boot process, making startup errors such as stop codes, missing drivers, or corrupted boot sectors visible even when the VM is inaccessible - providing the most direct path to identifying the root cause of a failed startup.