diff --git a/proxmox/vm109-windows-dr/scripts/weekly-dr-test-proxmox.sh b/proxmox/vm109-windows-dr/scripts/weekly-dr-test-proxmox.sh
index f52b187..9d4af80 100644
--- a/proxmox/vm109-windows-dr/scripts/weekly-dr-test-proxmox.sh
+++ b/proxmox/vm109-windows-dr/scripts/weekly-dr-test-proxmox.sh
@@ -22,12 +22,16 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-# Cleanup trap: ensure VM 109 is always stopped on script exit
+# Cleanup trap: stop VM 109 on script exit ONLY if this script started it.
 # Fixes incident 2026-04-20: script crashed at SSH step and left VM 109 running
 # for 2.5 days, causing OOM cascade on pveelite after pvemini HA failover.
+# Guard prevents the trap from killing an externally-running VM during
+# --install / --help or when an operator launched it manually for debugging.
+DR_VM_STARTED_BY_US=false
 cleanup_vm() {
     local rc=$?
-    if qm status "${DR_VM_ID:-109}" 2>/dev/null | grep -q running; then
+    if [ "$DR_VM_STARTED_BY_US" = "true" ] \
+        && qm status "${DR_VM_ID:-109}" 2>/dev/null | grep -q running; then
         echo "[trap] VM ${DR_VM_ID:-109} still running at exit (rc=$rc), forcing stop"
         qm stop "${DR_VM_ID:-109}" --skiplock 2>/dev/null || true
     fi
@@ -367,7 +371,9 @@ run_dr_test() {
         step_start=$(date +%s)
         log "STEP 2: Starting DR VM"
 
-        if qm start "$DR_VM_ID" 2>/dev/null; then
+        local qm_start_output
+        if qm_start_output=$(qm start "$DR_VM_ID" 2>&1); then
+            DR_VM_STARTED_BY_US=true
             vm_status_label="Running"
             
             # Intelligent VM boot wait with polling (max 180s)
@@ -526,7 +532,8 @@ run_dr_test() {
             vm_status_label="Stopped"
 
         else
-            track_step "VM Startup" false "Failed to start VM $DR_VM_ID" "$step_start"
+            log_error "qm start $DR_VM_ID failed: $qm_start_output"
+            track_step "VM Startup" false "Failed to start VM $DR_VM_ID: $qm_start_output" "$step_start"
             vm_status_label="Failed to start"
         fi
     fi