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22,757 Views 12 Replies Last post: Feb 2, 2011 7:32 AM by Paul Kochie RSS
spham68 Enthusiast
spham68
55 posts since
Oct 6, 2005
Currently Being Moderated

Mar 31, 2007 11:22 PM

How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

Hi All,

 

Is there a way to manually remove vmware tools completely so I can install the new version. I was trying to upgrade the vmware tools but it failed since then I could not remove it or reinstall. I always prompt for a location of the files whenever I tried to install from the VI GUI.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

KevinG Guru
KevinG
16,983 posts since
Jan 8, 2004
Currently Being Moderated
1. Apr 1, 2007 7:02 AM in response to: spham68
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

Hi Steve,

 

What is the guest OS?

harrnack Novice
harrnack
6 posts since
Feb 18, 2005
Currently Being Moderated
2. Apr 5, 2007 1:26 PM in response to: KevinG
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

Well I need this too, for Windows 2003, no service pack...

Jae Ellers Master
Jae Ellers
1,097 posts since
Feb 6, 2004
Currently Being Moderated
3. Apr 5, 2007 2:33 PM in response to: harrnack
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

Removing the info from the registry worked the best for me.  Search for vmware tools.msi in the registry.  Delete the subkey similar to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products\8E24D35BB278E034284D0860A513CF1E that appears in the search with the vmware tools.msi info inside.  If you're paranoid export the subkey to a reg file first, just in case.

 

I've also heard of some success with installing over the top with a new VMware Tools.msi with the following:

Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

msiexec.exe /i "VMware Tools.msi" /qf REINSTALLMODE=vamus REINSTALL=ALL REBOOT="ReallySuppress"

/code

OR

Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

msiexec.exe /i "VMware Tools.msi" /qf REINSTALLMODE=vomus REINSTALL=ALL REBOOT="ReallySuppress"

/code

 

I've gotten the install to work, but the service bombs when it tries to start.  Deleting the registry key turned the trick for me.

 

Message was edited by:

        Jae Ellers

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- http://blog.mr-vm.com http://www.vmprofessional.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
harrnack Novice
harrnack
6 posts since
Feb 18, 2005
Currently Being Moderated
4. Apr 5, 2007 3:20 PM in response to: Jae Ellers
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

Deleting the regkey works.  Thanks.

Chiel Enthusiast
Chiel
71 posts since
Feb 1, 2006
Currently Being Moderated
5. Apr 5, 2007 11:43 PM in response to: harrnack
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

An easier way to do this is to log in as the real local administrator of that VM.

When you log in as the real local admin (not an account thats placed in the local administrator group) you will have no problems, installing, upgrading, removing the VMware tools.

mddy Novice
mddy
18 posts since
Feb 5, 2004
Currently Being Moderated
6. May 21, 2008 7:03 AM in response to: Chiel
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

That may be true for a normal VM. In our case, the VM was V2P'd. So the MSI cannot run, due to it being physical.

midwest42 Novice
midwest42
5 posts since
Nov 14, 2007
Currently Being Moderated
7. Jul 1, 2008 9:03 AM in response to: harrnack
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

 

I have the same issue for a Win2000 VM, the reg key stated is not in the 2000 vm. I removed all items for VMtools out of the registry same error.

 

 

 

 

 

Any ideas..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i4visionit Lurker
i4visionit
3 posts since
Jul 20, 2007
Currently Being Moderated
8. Feb 22, 2009 4:17 PM in response to: midwest42
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

 

I  Reinstall VM-Tools and restart  vm machine, after this I was able to uninstall vm-tools from control panel (Add / Remove Programs )

 

 

Marcelo Cruz

www.i4vision.com

 

 

SoftComSC Novice
SoftComSC
17 posts since
Aug 4, 2008
Currently Being Moderated
9. Jun 15, 2009 4:43 AM in response to: i4visionit
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

 

Side note: On a windows 2008 running within Vsphere4, I forgot to upgrade the client tool before upgradeing to Vsphere.

 

 

I faced the same problem as mentioned here. The solution that worked for me was to run a repair on the vmware tools, within programs and then installing the  vmwareclient tools again.

 

 

woodenpickle Lurker
woodenpickle
1 posts since
Feb 20, 2010
Currently Being Moderated
10. Feb 20, 2010 4:36 PM in response to: spham68
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

 

I know this is a pretty old thread, but in case someone runs across it from a search like I did, here's what I did.

 

 

OS: Server 2008 64Bit

 

 

Error: Network error accessing C:\Windows\Installer\VMware Tools.msi (network error? really?)

 

 

Not sure why the 32Bit tools were installed on this particular VM, but rather then mess around in the registry I simply copied the 32Bit installer from the VMware tools mount to that location and tried uninstalling again. It complained about not being able to find a handful of driver files in the install location but I skipped them and the uninstall completed. It then let me install the 64Bit tools with no errors.

 

 

Stuman4u Novice
Stuman4u
10 posts since
Jul 19, 2006
Currently Being Moderated
11. Aug 10, 2010 3:33 PM in response to: spham68
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

I would like to add that you have to delete the PARENT directory.  The one above the source list.  This is what resolved for me.

Paul Kochie Lurker
Paul Kochie
1 posts since
Nov 28, 2007
Currently Being Moderated
12. Feb 2, 2011 7:32 AM in response to: spham68
Re: How manually uninstall vmware tools completely

If you google search "silent uninstall registry", as of 02/02/2011, the first hit is:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372105(v=vs.85).aspx

You will see that all installed programs have thier uninstall info here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

 

Vmware tools info is in this sub key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{3B410500-1802-488E-9EF1-4B11992E0440}

The regkey UninstallString has a value of MsiExec.exe /I{3B410500-1802-488E-9EF1-4B11992E0440}

If you run MsiExec with out any arguments you can see all of the options for it.

 

My final string to run is:

MsiExec.exe /quiet /norestart /I{3B410500-1802-488E-9EF1-4B11992E0440}

I added /quiet and /norestart to the default.

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