Many people on this forum seem to have problems with VMWare Workstation installation in Windows. Problems usually range from inability to start the installation process to inability of launching a virtual machine. In order to solve your problems here's a check list of the tasks you can accomplish to avoid such problems.
1. Make sure your Windows installation is consistent.
1.1 Check for viruses, trojans and other malware. There are plenty free antiviruses, I suggest using a totally free DrWeb CureIt application which can be downloaded here: or/and AVP Tool (http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/).
1.2 Empty your user "Temp" folder. It's usually located in C:\Documents and Settings\Your_username\Local Settings\Temp in Windows 2000/XP and in Vista/Windows 7 it is C:\users\Your_username\AppData\Local\Temp.
1.3 Empty your Windows Temp folder. It's usually located in C:\Windows\Temp.
1.4 Uninstall and revert all changes made by all applications you're not sure of, like optimizers, tweakers, traffic compressors, monitors, etc. In short: uninstall everything you do not use or you do not quite understand (except drivers, of course).
1.5 Make sure you have enough free disk space. To do so, click Start -> My computer -> Right Click C: -> Properties
1.6 Check all your disks for errors. To do so, click Start -> My computer -> Right Click C: (and all other local logical disks) -> Properties -> Tools -> Check Now -> Select "Automatically fix file system errors" -> Start. Answer "Yes" if windows say that checking will be done on the next reboot. Reboot if necessary.
1.7 Try uninstalling all previous versions of VMWare Workstation.
1.8 Update your hardware drivers and Windows (visit using Internet Explorer or enable Automatic Updates in System Properties).
1.9 Disable and/or remove unknown suspicious non-Microsoft Windows startup entries using Sysinternals Autoruns, HiJackThis or any other Windows startup utility.
2. Make sure your computer hardware is error free.
2.1 Download and burn as ISO image on your CD/DVD media this free memory check utility: (unzip it at first!). Boot from this CD/DVD and let this test run for at least one hour. There should be no errors reported. If you have any problems, contact your local RMA.
2.2 Make sure your CPU/GPU are not overclocked. (Consult with local computer technicians if you don't know how to check that out)
2.3 Check your CPU and HDDs temperature. Maximum CPU temperature should not exceed 70 degrees Celsius (sane values are below 60 degrees Celsius at idle). Your HDD maximum temperature should not exceed 55 degrees Celsius. For CPU temperature download and install an appropriate utility from your motherboard vendor. To know your HDD temperature you can download a free HD tune utility:
2.4 Check your power supply voltages: 12V line should not be below 11.5 and above 12.5 volts, 5V line should not be below 4.8 and above 5.2 volts. As usual, consult with your motherboard utility.
2.5 Check your cables connections.
2.6 Physically clean your computer (especially CPU fan).
2.7 If your computer has a firewire controller: make sure you do not have an unused firewire nic in device-manager - this often gives problems during VMware network setup ( by continuum ).
2.8 If your computer uses a NVIDIA chipset: download the configuration tool and disable the hardware firewall ( by continuum ).
3. Try to reproduce the error with a clean Windows installation.
If you can still reproduce a problem after you have completed all the items above then you are free to post your problem on this forum.
Thank you for your attention.
Any additions to this list are welcome.
