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spham68
Contributor
Contributor

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

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12 Replies
KevinG
Immortal
Immortal

Hi Steve,

What is the guest OS?

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harrnack
Contributor
Contributor

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

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Jae_Ellers
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

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:

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

OR

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

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 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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harrnack
Contributor
Contributor

Deleting the regkey works. Thanks.

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Chiel
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

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.

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mddy
Contributor
Contributor

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.

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midwest42
Contributor
Contributor

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..

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i4visionit
Contributor
Contributor

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

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SoftComSC
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

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.

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woodenpickle
Contributor
Contributor

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.

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Stuman4u
Contributor
Contributor

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.

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Paul_Kochie
Contributor
Contributor

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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