'VMware Authorization Service' (VMAuthdService) fails to start when upgrading VMware Workstation Pro/Player

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
'VMware Authorization Service' (VMAuthdService) fails to start when upgrading VMware Workstation Pro/Player

Environment

VMware Workstation Player 14.x
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)

Cause

This issue occurs when legacy vmx86 driver is not removed by VMware Workstation Pro/Player installer

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

1. Uninstall VMware Workstation.
2. Delete all files under %TEMP% directory.
3. Open cmd as administrator, and execute net stop vmx86 & sc delete vmx86
4. Delete files C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmx86.sys
5. Go to c:\windows\system32\drvstore, delete folder which is prefixed by vmx86
   Note: Folder name in general is vmx86_{guid}
6. Reboot host and install Workstation again.