If the SQL Server service does not start in a VM, check this:
When there is a large discrepancy between the amount of memory available in the virtualization host and what is allocated to the VM you are on, you may have a situation where the SQL server service simply does not start....more like, tries to start, hangs in there for several seconds and then gives up. This applies to SQL Server of all versions since 2005, but only applicable to the form of virtualization where the host machine's installed memory is visible to the guest, as i
