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?
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.
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.