I was having same the same problem, I couldn't access the VMWare Server homepage through my browser, I am using Vista. Several vm services were stopped. Simple fix, I went to services management and started all stopped vm services. This should fix the problem.
I have had similar problems but
with the server losing configuration after random periods of time!
However after reading your post I found that the VMware VSS Writer service was set to a manual start and was not running. I reset this to be an automatic start and the problem seems to have gone away!
Tried some of the recommended fixes but they did not work in my instance. The host file info was already listed and I also stopped and started all VMware related services; this did not correct my issue. My fix: Enabled File and print sharing in windows firewall - it worked for me. I'm running Vista64. Also, I did not have to modify or enable any other ports.
Good luck.
Eric
You can start services by right clicking "My Computer", select "Manage", open "Services and Applications", select "Services", and find the appropriate service listed. Right click on a service and select "Start" to start it.
