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Jaimi
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Error: Virtual machine appears to be in use

This morning when I went to open my virtual machine (WS6.0), I got the following error:

Could not open virtual machine: C:\VM\Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition.vmx. This virtual machine appears to be in use.

I booted just this morning, so nothing else can be using it - I also verified that it wasn't running in the task manager. Is there anything I can do to get this back up?

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27 Replies
gkc2008
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hello,

I have the same issue. I have a vm called vm-harp and two sub folders called vm-harp.vmsd.lck and VM-HARP.vmx.lck. If I rename both of these folders then i get an error message saying that the configuration is not valid. if i leave the vm-harp.vmsd.lck folder I get the "Virtual Machine appears to be in use" message.

any ideas to get around this issue? This was a valid working machine.

thanks

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didierniel
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Thank you.

My host OS froze and when I rebooted, I could launch my VM. Now I can with your help.

Didier NIEL

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BMIVM
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Hi,

I was getting this same message with all my VM's in WS 6.0. This happened after both my guest and host crashed. I have a Vista X64 host. Renaming/deleting the .lck folders under every VM fixed this issue. Some VM's had more than one .lck folder. I don't knwo why??...Thanks for this post!!! I thought I needed to recreate all my VMs.

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Avihs06
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Thank you RDPETRUSKA , it worked Smiley Happy

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d34m0n1x
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Thanks, it works Smiley Happy

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d34m0n1x
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Thanks!

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pbraren
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Coming up on 9 years now, and this issue is apparently still happening regularly, even on the very latest Workstation 12.1.1.

Sure had hoped a smoother fix would become a feature of Workstation.

TinkerTry.com
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BugMaker
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error codes

Vmware Error appears to be in use Sample.PNG

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