VMware Communities
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎10-29-2011 11:51 AM
Jump to solution

not a valid win32 application

Hello all,

I run OSX lion on my iMac and installed vmware fusion 4 with windows 7 home premium (64bit).

Unfortunately I am unable to install and or download and install any other software on that virtual machine.

I always receive a report saying that .exe is not a valid win32 application.

Are there any solutions to that problem??

Thanks a lot

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
miami91
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-22-2011 12:22 AM
Jump to solution

I had the same problem.  Not only do I get the "not a valid win32 application" message, but the installer file is clearly much too small.  Files that should be many, many megabytes (some as much as 600), always seems to quit downloading at about 4 kb.  As a possible workaround, I tried to download the .exe installer files to my Mac, thinking I could then drag/drop them into Vista.  Strangely, this didn't work either, and the files again stopped downloading after seconds and were about 4 kb in size.

So this got me to thinking... Didn't seem to be a problem merely in Windows, given that I also couldn't get a full download in OSX.  Something must be preventing the files from downloading!  In my case, turns out to be Norton AV (on the Mac).  There's a feature in Norton called "Vulnerability Protection", and it must be sensitive to .exe files.  Since I have my virtual machine set up to share the Mac network connection (NAT), this Norton protection seems to be applied to Windows as well.  Merely turning this feature off in Norton for however long I need to download software solved the problem ---- no more truncated files, no more "not a valid win32 application" messages when running the installer!

See if this might be your problem as well.  If you run a different anti-virus package on your Mac, it may have a similar feature, and counter-intuitive though it may seem, your Windows environment may be inheriting these protections, particularly if your Fusion VM is set up to share the network connection via NAT.

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
16 Replies
tracywang
Expert
Expert
‎10-30-2011 06:42 PM
Jump to solution

Can you make sure your application is supporting 64bit OS? I can install MSN on my 64bit Win 7.

Reply
0 Kudos
orthohin
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎11-01-2011 10:24 AM
Jump to solution

                               

I think your system is not supporting 64 bit win 7 OS. Could you please try win 7 32 bit.

Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window
Reply
0 Kudos
ChipMcK
Hot Shot
Hot Shot
‎11-01-2011 12:43 PM
Jump to solution

If you are having IE download into a Shared Folder, do not do so. Download/save into a Windows folder.

Reply
0 Kudos
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-03-2011 12:30 PM
Jump to solution

I have tried the 32 bit version and had the same problem.

Reply
0 Kudos
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-03-2011 12:31 PM
Jump to solution

The save option with regard to IE did not help. I still get the same report.

Reply
0 Kudos
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-03-2011 12:32 PM
Jump to solution

so far, I don't have any solutions, but I wanted to thank the first-responders.

Thanks!

Reply
0 Kudos
sharris595
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-04-2011 01:10 PM
Jump to solution

I'm running Lion and my XP VM all of a sudden is exhibiting the same problem when I upgraded to VMWare Fusion 4.0... any ideas how to get around this?

Thanks!

Steve

Reply
0 Kudos
orthohin
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎11-06-2011 01:12 AM
Jump to solution

                            

This issue can be caused by any of the below possibilities.    1. File is corrupt, bad, or missing.  2. File is not designed for your version of Windows.  3. File is a virus, worm, or other malware file.  4. Hardware incompatibility

Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window
Reply
0 Kudos
ptrapasso
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-13-2011 01:41 PM
Jump to solution

Hi,

I am having the exact same problem.  I am running win 7 32 bit.

I saw orothins reply and I am aware of those 4 possibilities, but I do not think that is it.

Is there a setting I need to fix?  What gives?  I am open to suggestions.

Any software or plugin that I download from the internet results in: "not a valid win32 application".

thank you,

Peter

Reply
0 Kudos
bouyon33
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-16-2011 06:02 PM
Jump to solution

I was having the same issue.  It appears that what was happening was every location that I typically put a file to install downloads, desktop and my documents were all being shared.  The shared folders are treated as part of the host OS by default.  The quick fix is to unshare these folders and make a custom share for drag and drop.  Or pehaps just avoid these folders or limit yourself to just sharing the documents folder.

I'm just glad I can install apps again.  Thanks for posting this to help push me to get an answer.

Reply
0 Kudos
bouyon33
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-16-2011 06:15 PM
Jump to solution

Actually, I'm mistaken.  it didn't solve the problem.  Just made me more confused.

Reply
0 Kudos
miami91
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-22-2011 12:22 AM
Jump to solution

I had the same problem.  Not only do I get the "not a valid win32 application" message, but the installer file is clearly much too small.  Files that should be many, many megabytes (some as much as 600), always seems to quit downloading at about 4 kb.  As a possible workaround, I tried to download the .exe installer files to my Mac, thinking I could then drag/drop them into Vista.  Strangely, this didn't work either, and the files again stopped downloading after seconds and were about 4 kb in size.

So this got me to thinking... Didn't seem to be a problem merely in Windows, given that I also couldn't get a full download in OSX.  Something must be preventing the files from downloading!  In my case, turns out to be Norton AV (on the Mac).  There's a feature in Norton called "Vulnerability Protection", and it must be sensitive to .exe files.  Since I have my virtual machine set up to share the Mac network connection (NAT), this Norton protection seems to be applied to Windows as well.  Merely turning this feature off in Norton for however long I need to download software solved the problem ---- no more truncated files, no more "not a valid win32 application" messages when running the installer!

See if this might be your problem as well.  If you run a different anti-virus package on your Mac, it may have a similar feature, and counter-intuitive though it may seem, your Windows environment may be inheriting these protections, particularly if your Fusion VM is set up to share the network connection via NAT.

Reply
0 Kudos
bouyon33
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-22-2011 04:04 AM
Jump to solution

sounds like it  could be my problem too.  ill check tonight and let you know if it fixes the problem for me.  hopefully this is the resolution for everyone.

Reply
0 Kudos
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2011 12:39 AM
Jump to solution

Thank you so much!

It turned out to be the exact same problem I was facing. I now was able to outmaneuver Norton AV, but I am really disappointed about the program itself and will look after an alternative.

Thank you again.

Reply
0 Kudos
LRSNA
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2011 12:40 AM
Jump to solution

check miami's answer! helped me!

Reply
0 Kudos
bouyon33
Contributor
Contributor
‎12-10-2011 07:24 AM
Jump to solution

I found out that "NAT" routes the vm's network through the mac (or other host OS) to connect to the internet.  This means that the mac AV will detect dowloads, but apparently does not see it as comming from the computer and therefore it gets flagged by the IPS.  Using "bridged" has the vm link directly to the physical port and bipasses the host OS.  This means that the virtual OS needs to handle AV on its own, but it will fix the issue without having to disable the antivirus.

Reply
0 Kudos