Upgrading virtual hardware to version 7 requires reinstallation of vmxnet driver
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Upgrading virtual hardware to version 7 requires reinstallation of vmxnet driver

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Article ID: 339692

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Updated On:

Products

VMware VMware Desktop Hypervisor VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading the virtual hardware on a Windows NT virtual machine, the Windows NT guest operating system fails to obtain the IP address because Windows NT guest operating system does not fully support plug-and-play specification.


Environment

VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Server 2.0.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 4.x (Linux)
VMware Server 1.0.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 3.x (Linux)
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware Workstation 4.x (Windows)
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware Workstation 5.x (Windows)
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware Workstation 5.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware Workstation 3.x (Windows)

Resolution

This issue occurs when virtual hardware is upgraded from a Workstation 5.x to a Workstation 6.5.x virtual machine, and from an ESX 3.x to an ESX 4.x virtual machine.
To resolve this issue, reinstall the vmxnet driver for virtual network adapter when upgrading from hardware version 4 to version 7.
Reinstall a driver for a virtual network adapter to complete the upgrade.
To add a virtual network adapter:
  1. Right-click the Network Neighborhood tab and select Properties.
  2. Click the Adapters tab.
  3. Remove the existing adapter and add a new adapter. Specify the new path as C:\winnt\system32.
  4. To add a a virtual network adapter as AMD PCNet driver, select AMD PCNET Family Ethernet adapter. Specify the path asC:\winnt\system32and reboot the virtual machine.
  5. To add a virtual network adapter tovmxnetdriver, click Have disk and specify path asC:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\vmxnet\.Upgrade to the latest VMware Tools version and reboot the virtual machine.

Note: For upgrading hardware version on vSpehere please refer tovSphere Upgrade Guide.

Additional Information

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