Missing folders on a vCenter Server prevent VirtualCenter Server service from starting

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VMware vCenter Server

Symptoms:

On a vCenter Server the VirtualCenter Server service fails to start
You cannot start vCenter Server or login through the vSphere Client.
You see this error on startup:

Windows couldn't start VC on local computer
In the vpxd log, you see the error:
[2011-06-30 10:30:58.525 105392 error 'App'] [VpxdWebserver] Web server root (C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\docRoot) does not exist!

VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

This issue occurs on a vCenter Server if these critical folders are missing. Verify that these two folders exist:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\docRoot\diagnostics

Note: In vCenter Server 4.1/5.x and Windows 2008 (64-bit), these folders are located at:

If the folders do not exist, you must create them, then restart the VirtualCenter Server service or reboot your host. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).

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