Download the VHD from here:
Download Windows XP Mode from Official Microsoft Download Center
Once you downloaded the file WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe run it. It will extract a file named Windows XP Mode base.vhd.
Copy that to xpmode.vhd and create a textfile named xpmode.vmdk with this content:
# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
encoding="windows-1252"
CID=d541ba78
parentCID=ffffffff
isNativeSnapshot="no"
createType="custom"
# Extent description
RW 268435456 VPCSPARSE "xpmode.vhd"
# The Disk Data Base
#DDB
ddb.adapterType = "ide"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "16383"
ddb.geometry.heads = "16"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
Now create a XP VM and add xpmode.vmdk as existing disk. After first boot install the vmware-tools and apply the license that was part of the download.
Done - no need to use Converter
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Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...