VMware Communities
Larsa67
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

VMware Player evaluation license

After testing out VMware Player 5 I also tested VMware Workstation 9 to get some grip on the differences. When done I unistalled Workstation and install VMware Player 5 again. I now have VMware Player (Evaluation license) at the top of my VMware Player window. This can't be correct right? What will happen after the 'evaluation' period expires? Will I be able to use VMware Player ?  Unstall and reinstall after a workstation installation seem to screw up the license terms of the software.

Any clues?

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

VMware Player 5 will display as follows:

VMware Player
VMware Player (Expired license)
VMware Player (Evaluation license)
VMware Player (Non-commercial use only)

The first one "VMware Player" means it's properly licensed for commercial use and a valid serial number has been entered.  The other three should be self-explanatory.

If you were using VMware Workstation with the free 30 day trial serial number and uninstalled it and the serial number hasn't yet expired and you then install VMware Player 5 I'd expect it to display as "VMware Player (Evaluation license)" because the VMware Workstation License Key is still in the Windows Registry.  It is located at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Workstation\License.ws.9.0.e1.201202] and removing this should make VMware Player 5 display as "VMware Player (Non-commercial use only)".  As always make sure you have proper backups before editing the Windows Registry and or at least backup the target key before deleting it.

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Reply
WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

VMware Player 5 will display as follows:

VMware Player
VMware Player (Expired license)
VMware Player (Evaluation license)
VMware Player (Non-commercial use only)

The first one "VMware Player" means it's properly licensed for commercial use and a valid serial number has been entered.  The other three should be self-explanatory.

If you were using VMware Workstation with the free 30 day trial serial number and uninstalled it and the serial number hasn't yet expired and you then install VMware Player 5 I'd expect it to display as "VMware Player (Evaluation license)" because the VMware Workstation License Key is still in the Windows Registry.  It is located at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Workstation\License.ws.9.0.e1.201202] and removing this should make VMware Player 5 display as "VMware Player (Non-commercial use only)".  As always make sure you have proper backups before editing the Windows Registry and or at least backup the target key before deleting it.

Reply
0 Kudos