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realdreams
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

disable auto-start VM workstation services/processes

I don't use VM workstation often, is there an easy way to stop VM workstation services/processes from automatically starting? I used to set VM-related services to manual and disable auto start processes. But sometimes I don't remember which ones I have changed....

17 Replies
onoski
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

You can set it to run manual via the services console on the host if you so wish. I don't think in terms of resources being used up this would make much difference though in terms of performance etc.

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mfelker
Expert
Expert

I have attached 2 batch files which I'v used successfully in this regard.  They have    been very slightly modified from somebodyi  here who  I can't find at tthe moment since it was sevreal months ago.  They  may help in your situtation.

I should lhave included the instructions for using these batches files since an external (but readly available) program is required. It is  attached in odt format.

continuum
Immortal
Immortal

that batch no longer fits WS 9
rather use this stop commands

net stop "vmware wsx"
net stop VMwareHostd
net stop VMUSBArbService
net stop "VMware NAT Service"
net stop VMnetDHCP

net stop vmnetbridge
net stop VMnetAdapter
net stop vmnetuserif
net stop vmx86
net stop hcmon
net stop vmci
net stop VMparport
net stop VMAuthdService


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

mfelker
Expert
Expert

Thank you  Ulli for updating these batrch files for WS 9. !

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

@mfelker Why do you keep post blank replies!? This has been doing on for a couple of week now.

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mfelker
Expert
Expert

I did  update the blank post.  As to    why this  has been happening  I'm really not  sure.  It   probably has something to do with   using the experimental version of Thunderbird  -  Earrlybird (Daily).  Although the    reply shows up in the sent  box  I will start   using the Web interface in the  future - just  being alerted that  a     thread has been  replied to (I follow this   group). While this was inadvertaant  it  is    annoying and I apologize.

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mfelker
Expert
Expert

Hi agaiin Ulli;

After the commands    you posted below to replace the net stop command in the  orignial batch file stop_vmware

====================================================

net stop "vmware wsx"
net stop VMwareHostd
net stop VMUSBArbService
net stop "VMware NAT Service"
net stop VMnetDHCP

net stop vmnetbridge
net stop VMnetAdapter
net stop vmnetuserif
net stop vmx86
net stop hcmon
net stop vmci
net stop VMparport
net stop VMAuthdService

===========================================================

Should the remainig  commands below be kept? Seems likely but ...  replace ws60 with ws90??

......................................

sc config ufad-ws60 start= disabled
sc config VMAuthdService start= disabled
sc config VMnetDHCP start= disabled
sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= disabled
sc config VMUSBArbService start= disabled
devcon.exe disable *VMnetAdapter1
devcon.exe disable *VMnetAdapter8
taskkill /F /IM "vmware-tray.exe"
taskkill /F /IM "vmware.exe"
pause

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

ufad-ws60 no longer exists

and I noticed that you can not stop vmci with net start/stop commands


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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mfelker
Expert
Expert

I can remove  that line in the posted stop_vmware batch (as I said I modified it from another poster - see the attached odt doc).  The question is need I stop/pause  vmci (or can I??) in order to   pause/stop vmware services.

Also can you please look at the start_vmware batch to see if it can restart the services once they are paused.

I have WS 9 and WSX installed and running bopth  (on the same machine -different user anemes) and am creating a shared VM (openSUSE 12.2)  to test.  What would happen if I stopped or paused vmware if I had a shared vm open?  Makes no difference to me if the VM is destroyed    or any other  most other missadventure  happens (except  of cource   blowing away the host OS or evne  hardware!). This is experimental - I set up WSX  on my HP server  on the same network later

Host machine = Windows 8 Pro.

Thank you.

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r3t3ch
Contributor
Contributor

Not trying to revive a dead thread, but since it is the #1 result when searching "disable vmware auto start" on google, I thought I'd reply with an update to mfelker's original solution.

Same format, must run as admin, but with an ahk script to combine their execution and hide the console window. Tested working with WS 12.1 on win 10.

thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Many thanks for this solution!

I suppose the below would be the right way to proceed.

(just in my case I would only have to change the vmware.exe path in the start_vmware.bat)

SnagIt-21052016 064718.png

SnagIt-21052016 065021.png

r3t3ch
Contributor
Contributor

The batch files enable/disable and start/stop all of the vmware services so there's no need to do so manually beforehand. If vmware isn't installed to the default dir, then yes you'll need to change the path in the start batch file.

I'd recommend using the autohotkey script by putting it together with both batch files in your vmware install dir and compiling the script to a binary (I attached the one I use, compiled with a nice icon). You can then point your vmware shortcut to the launcher exe, running it as admin, and it'll run the start or stop batch file based on whether or not the vmware-authd process exists.

GebakkenEi
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your efforts keeping this thread up-to-date.

Why can't VM do this by itself! Wasting resources all over the world. Just start your services when needed. Ask on installation if people want to run it always or on startup of VM....

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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Sorry for getting back on this again.

1)

I have stopped all services (msconfig)

VMwareHostd

VMUSBArbService

VMware NAT Service

VMnetDHCP

VMAuthdService

To start VMware Workstation I use the following batch:

start_vmware.bat

sc config VMUSBArbService start= demand

net start VMUSBArbService

sc config VMAuthdService start= demand

net start VMAuthdService

sc config VMwareHostd start= demand

net start VMwareHostd

sc config VMnetDHCP start= demand

net start VMnetDHCP

sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= demand

net start "VMware NAT Service"

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet1" ENABLED

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" ENABLED

d:

cd VMware

start vmware.exe

(Note: in my case VMware Workstation has been installed into D:\VMware)

=

SnagIt-05102016 063910.png

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Now, there is just 1 item loading at startup:

SnagIt-05102016 064544.png

I could also disable that.

Two questions:

1) Have not tried it, but once disabled, should there not be a line in the startup batch to enable it?

2) Could it be that the vmware-tray.exe is causing a Windows Event 5858 error? (see at the bottom)

Note: I use File->Exit to close VMware Workstation.

using v12.5 on Windows 10 x64

Thanks

==

Record No:    20581

Type :        Error

Date :        05-10-2016

Time :        04:35:30

Event :        5858

Source :        Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity

Description:

Id = {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}; ClientMachine = DESKTOP-JFFLEA5; User = NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM; ClientProcessId = 2472; Component = Unknown; Operation = Start IWbemServices::ExecQuery - root\cimv2 : SELECT * FROM BRCM_VirtualNetworkAdapters WHERE TeamType="2"; ResultCode = 80041010; PossibleCause = Unknown

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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Just for your info, the exe, with me, brings up 2 icon trays

and when exiting VMware Workstation  (File->Exit) the services remain active.

I use stop_vmware.bat to remove them.

=

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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

How am I to proceed with the .ahk file?

Am unsure.

A lllong time ago I installed autohotkey for one single purpose (removing double line spacing in Outlook when replying to a gmail email, fix-outlook-line-breaks.ahk)

It is in the startup folder. This is being still used every day.

But that aside, I don't know my way around with autohotkey, I am sorry.

=

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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

start_vmware.bat

----------------

sc config VMUSBArbService start= demand

net start VMUSBArbService

sc config VMAuthdService start= demand

net start VMAuthdService

sc config VMwareHostd start= demand

net start VMwareHostd

sc config VMnetDHCP start= demand

net start VMnetDHCP

sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= demand

net start "VMware NAT Service"

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet1" ENABLED

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" ENABLED

d:

cd VMware

start vmware.exe

pause

What is showing in the command box whilst running as admin:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMUSBArbService start= demand

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start VMUSBArbService

The VMware USB Arbitration Service service is starting.

The VMware USB Arbitration Service service was started successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMAuthdService start= demand

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start VMAuthdService

The VMware Authorization Service service is starting.

The VMware Authorization Service service was started successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMwareHostd start= demand

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start VMwareHostd

The VMware Workstation Server service is starting.

The VMware Workstation Server service was started successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMnetDHCP start= demand

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start VMnetDHCP

The VMware DHCP Service service is starting.

The VMware DHCP Service service was started successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= demand

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start "VMware NAT Service"

The VMware NAT Service service is starting.

The VMware NAT Service service was started successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet1" ENABLED

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" ENABLED

C:\WINDOWS\system32>d:

D:\>cd VMware

D:\vmware>start vmware.exe

D:\vmware>pause

====================

Then when stopping, I file->exit and then run stop_vmware.bat (as admin)

stop_vmware.bat

---------------

taskkill /F /IM "vmware.exe"    (note: assume this line can be deleted then)

taskkill /F /IM "vmware-tray.exe"

net stop VMwareHostd

sc config VMwareHostd start= disabled

net stop VMUSBArbService

sc config VMUSBArbService start= disabled

net stop VMAuthdService

sc config VMAuthdService start= disabled

net stop VMnetDHCP

sc config VMnetDHCP start= disabled

net stop "VMware NAT Service"

sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= disabled

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet1" DISABLED

netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" DISABLED

=

What is showing in the command box whilst running as admin:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>taskkill /F /IM "vmware.exe"

ERROR: The process "vmware.exe" not found.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>taskkill /F /IM "vmware-tray.exe"

SUCCESS: The process "vmware-tray.exe" with PID 7100 has been terminated.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net stop VMwareHostd

The VMware Workstation Server service is stopping.

A system error has occurred.

System error 1067 has occurred.

The process terminated unexpectedly.

The VMware Workstation Server service was stopped successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMwareHostd start= disabled

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net stop VMUSBArbService

The VMware USB Arbitration Service service was stopped successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMUSBArbService start= disabled

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net stop VMAuthdService

The VMware Authorization Service service was stopped successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMAuthdService start= disabled

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net stop VMnetDHCP

The VMware DHCP Service service is stopping.

The VMware DHCP Service service was stopped successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config VMnetDHCP start= disabled

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net stop "VMware NAT Service"

The VMware NAT Service service is stopping.

The VMware NAT Service service was stopped successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sc config "VMware NAT Service" start= disabled

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet1" DISABLED

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh interface set interface "VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" DISABLED

C:\WINDOWS\system32>pause

Press any key to continue . . .

=

any solutions as to

net stop VMwareHostd

sc config VMwareHostd start= disabled

and above error?

thanks

=

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