Server Manager won’t start in Windows Server 2012 R2

I downloaded Windows Server 2012 R2 from microsoft.com as a .vhd file and am using virtualBox to run it. After downloading it, I changed the execution policy to remoteSigned, then changed the name of the computer from the standard WIN-gibberish. I restarted the computer, but on boot, server manager came up with the error:

Server Manager cannot run because of an error in a user settings file.
Click OK to restore default settings and continue, or click Cancel to exit.
The configuration section 'connectionStrings' has an unexpected declaration..

I clicked OK and then received a notification that the Server Manager has stopped working, giving me the options of checking online for a solution, or closing the program. When I expanded View problem details the following was displayed:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01: servermanager.exe
  Problem Signature 02: 6.3.9600.16384
  Problem Signature 03: 52156f0b
  Problem Signature 04: System.Configuration
  Problem Signature 05: 4.0.30319.33440
  Problem Signature 06: 5200435a
  Problem Signature 07: 21c
  Problem Signature 08: 35
  Problem Signature 09: IOIBMURHYNRXKW0ZXKYRVFN0BOYYUFOW
  OS Version:   6.3.9600.2.0.0.400.80
  Locale ID:    1033
  Additional Information 1: 4bf2
  Additional Information 2: 4bf27a7a351991105fd61f6f670be584
  Additional Information 3: 6462
  Additional Information 4: 64628476a512869b703f7e3ca098fb95

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I researched it a bit(actually a lot) and didn't find a clear resolution to this. The only resolution was on a Microsoft website where they said to update the framework. On that site OP never responded, and the question answerer marked their answer as correct.

So far I've tried:

• Installing all Windows Updates

• Verifying .NET is up to date

• Running DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth in the console, per https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/947821

• Renaming the computer to what it was previously

• Changing the execution policy to default

• Running WMIDiag.exe which reported the following error: 0x8004100E – (WBEM_E_INVALID_NAMESPACE) Namespace specified cannot be found

Edit:

• Found a folder in C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\ServerManager that contained a file, ServerList.Xml, that was referencing the old name of the computer. Renaming this file does not resolve the issue.

I ended up re-downloading the .vhd file which isn't really a solution but does resolve the issue. After I create a copy of the .vhd, I'll try to duplicate the issue.
Does anyone have suggestions to what I(or anyone else) that runs across this issue should try?