Cannot Start, Remove or Upgrade Vmware workstation player after attempting to upgrade to 12.5.8 - error 1336 in logs (Windows)

[zk888]

Hi All,

Before I begin, I am running VMware workstation player on Windows 10 64bit

I am using VMware workstation player 12.5.7 for studies running several different types of virtualized OS's.

Today I loaded the hypervisor which requested to update to the latest version 12.5.8 from 12.5.7 which I attempted to do.

towards the end of the installation I received 2 notifications; 1 from Windows defender and 1 from the VMware install window.

Windows defender prompts the following: Unauthorized changes blocked, Controlled folder Access blocked C:\Windows\...\msiexec.exe from making changes to the folder %common_desktop%\

VMware install window prompts the error: There was an error creating a temporary file that is needed to complete this installation.

This error occurs whenever I try to upgrade, reinstall or remove VMware workstation player.

I have tried to disable Windows defender in which I no longer get notified by Windows defender of a block however I still get the prompt in the VMware install window.

I also run these as administrator which makes no diference.

I have searched the interweb for any issues but havent found a specifically similar issue.

An excerpt from the error log:

MSI (s) (5C:68) [16:52:16:507]: Note: 1: 1336 2: 2 3: C:\Users\Public\Desktop\

Error 1336. There was an error creating a temporary file that is needed to complete this installation.  Folder: C:\Users\Public\Desktop\. System error code: 2

MSI (s) (5C:68) [16:52:18:885]: Product: VMware Player -- Error 1336. There was an error creating a temporary file that is needed to complete this installation.  Folder: C:\Users\Public\Desktop\. System error code: 2

At present I cannot even load my existing VMware instance as I get the following error when attempting to load a guest OS:

Error while powering on: VMware Player cannot connect to the virtual machine. Make sure you have rights to run the program, access all directories the program uses, and access all directories for temporary files.

The following error occurred when starting VMware Player.

W32AuthConnectionLaunch: Reply error "Process creation failed".

When I try to run the hyporvisor as an administrator I get the following error:

Error while powering on: VMware Player cannot connect to the virtual machine. Make sure you have rights to run the program, access all directories the program uses, and access all directories for temporary files.

The VMX process exited prematurely.

At present I cannot use VMware at all, so eagerly awaiting assistance if it can be provided.

Regards

Z

[a_p_]

Discussion moved from tech support to Workstation Pro

[a_p_]

Did you already try to manually download the installation image, and run it in elevated mode, i.e. using the "Run as Administrator" option?

André

[zk888]

Hi André

Yes I tried downloading both the existing version (12.5.7) and new version 12.5.8 the above results where trying to remove/repair using 12.5.7 installer, also tried installing over the top of 12.5.7 with 12.5.8 as admin but no luck.

[a_p_]

Did you try to cleanup the installation using the installer's /clean option (see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1308 for details)?

Open a command prompt in elevated mode (as Administrator) to run the command. If the uninstall succeeds, make sure that you reboot your system prior to running the installation again.

André

[zk888]

Hi André

Thanks again.

I went through the full manual uninstall process and cleaned out everything, first using the VMware-player-12.5.7-5813279.exe /clean

I then used the VMware_Install_Cleaner.zip tool to clean the registry.

Then the manual process of ensuring all VMware folders/files and registry keys had been removed.

Running the installer now does not detect an instance of VMware installed however I am getting a new error, Windows defender (when turned on prompts the same threat warning as per pervious issue).

The new error I get now is as follows.

During the install process I get a prompt as follows:

Warning 1909. Could not create shortcut VMware Workstation 12 Player.lnk. Verify that the destination folder exists and that you can access it.

(click ok)

The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package.  This may indicate a problem witht his package.  The error code is 2902

The install log doesnt show anything overly verbose in the form of an error.  I have added the below excerpt as this is the only location I can see some type of error before it appears to roll back the instllation.

2017-11-20 12:51:16| tools-build-4453192| End Logging

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | Begin Logging

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | --- CA exec: VMUninstallParport

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | Util_GetInstallPathW

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | Returning InstallPath=

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | Failed to retrieve install path.

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | Failed to load vnetlib

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | ERROR: This installer doesn't support 32bit Windows

2017-11-20 12:51:16| | End Logging

2017-11-20 13:07:49| tools-build-4453192| Begin Logging

2017-11-20 13:07:49| tools-build-4453192| Getting Property CustomActionData = C:\Users\z_kar\AppData\Local\Temp\FGACDC0.tmp.dir

2017-11-20 13:07:49| tools-build-4453192| VMCleanupSupportFiles: INFO: Cleaning up any support files in C:\Users\z_kar\AppData\Local\Temp\FGACDC0.tmp.dir

I can confirm I am not running a 32bit version of windows.

I have checked the hash value of my local copy's of both 12.5.7 and 12.5.8 and can confirm it is the same so certain that they are non-corrupted installers.

Again I have used "Run as admin" when attempting to install also tried turning off realtime/cloud monitor in Windows defender.

[zk888 · Accepted solution]

I have resolved my issue.

After clearing out VMware version 12.5.7

I did a couple of things, one of which was to look into error 1909 which someone suggested to change the attributes of the folder that it is trying to write to so that it is not read-only.

I added the VMware 12.5.8 installer executable into Windows defender as an exception then when loading the installer told it not to create a desktop shortcut and then it worked.

Not sure if it was adding the installer into Windows defender as an exception is what fixed it or unchecking create desktop shortcut  :smileylaugh:

But I can confirm I was able to reload my VM's and confirmed they all loaded, one happy camper.

Thanks for the assistance you provided André, your feedback motivated me to fix this issue.