To resolve this issue, perform a force uninstall of VMware Tools on the virtual machine and remove the remaining VMware Tools registry entries.
To perform a forced uninstall of VMware Tools:
- In vCenter Server, right-click the virtual machine and click Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
- Open a console session to the virtual machine and login to the guest operating system.
- In the virtual machine, click Start > Run, type cmd and click OK.
- Run this command to change directories to the VMware Tools installation path:
cd vmwaretoolscdromdriveletter:
For example: If VMware tools is located on the D: , type:
cd d:
- Run this command to begin the forced uninstall of VMware Tools:
For 32-bit operating systems:
setup.exe /c
For 64-bit operating systems:
setup64.exe /c
To remove any remaining VMware Tools registry entries:
Note: Before making any changes to the registry, ensure to take a backup of the registry. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 322756.
Note: The preceding link was correct as of January 02, 2015. If you find the link is broken, please provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
- Perform the actions as per the Solution section of Unable to upgrade existing VMware Tools (1001354).
- Remove these registry keys from the virtual machine:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\VMware Tools
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\VMware User Profile
- Reboot the virtual machine and reinstall VMware Tools.