[SOLVED] Windows 10 - 'Failed to install VMCI Driver Automatically' & 'You have an incorrect version of VMCI.sys'

[pjohns]

Hey,

Hopefully this helps someone else out

Had issues installing/upgrading VMWare Workstation v8 to v11.1.4 & v12.5.0 under Windows 10;

Install error: "Setup failed to install the VMCI virtual machine communication interface driver automatically. This driver will have to be installed manually",
Powering VM's on resulted in: "You have an incorrect version of driver 'vmci.sys' ".

The VMCI Host Adaptor on the machine in question installs within Device Manager, but fails to install the driver for the device.

Manually installing the VMCI driver (right-click vmci.inf > Install) from Program Files "showed" a success message, but the device continued to list no device driver attached.
-Attempting to install the driver manually from Device Manager showed a "One of the installers for this device cannot perform the installation at this time" error

The 'vmci0.present = “false” ' workaround did work, but networking on the respective VM fails to function however.

Resolution was - due to my ignorance;
-Uninstall Hyper-V in Windows 10,
-Uninstall and clean VMWare Workstation,
-Fresh install of VMWare 11.1.4 and subsequently 12.5.0.
All ok - VM's boot without issue

If memory serves me;
Co-incidentally if you attempt to install Hyper-V on top of a VMWare Workstation instance (in Windows Server at least),
you receive the error "a Hypervisor is already installed",
but this isn't the case vice-versa installing VMWare if Hyper-V is already installed, guess it's not a pre-req check in the VMWare installer.

[Chintan1729]

Tried this, but still facing the same issue

I tried almost every help available on internet, but still, while I install Workstation 12.5.9, VMCI failed to install error persists.

[Chintan1729]

After a hell lot of effort, I found that,   Antivirus is the issue. The setup should not give any error while installing. Please run as administrator when you run the setup and turn off antivirus if any.

Turning vmci0 value to false is not at all a good approach.

[lfortner123]

I've the same issue when installing Workstation PRO 15.0 on Windows 10. Event after uninstalling previous version 14 and with a fresh new install.

How to install manually the VMCI driver? Where is it?

[MKL_GmbH]

Bei mir war es ein ähnlicher Fehler und über Google kam ich auf diesen Beitrag. Es gab leider nirgends eine Antwort weshalb ich euch hier auch meine Lösung präsentieren möchte:

Bei mir ware der Regestry Key DeviceInstallDisabled auf true (also 1) gesetzt. Wie das passiert ist kann ich mir zwar nicht erklären, ab das Problem scheint aktuell öfters vor zu kommen, evtl. Windowsupdate?

Die Lösung ist diesen Eintrag auf false also 0 zu setzen.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DeviceInstall\Parameters]
"DeviceInstallDisabled"=dword:00000000

Hoffe damit jemanden helfen zu können.

[gusverde]

I don't speak German, but I understood the solution and it was exactly what I needed!. Thank you!

[ksahil2223]

I tried all the solution but no luck.

I am using windows 2019 and I am also tried to install vmware tool after disabling the AV.

On Internet there is no perfect solution for this issue.

[OldTrekky]

I don't read German either, but I do understand the code. My VM registry (windows 7 Pro SP1) has no such key. Should l create it? The key DOES exist on my Win 11 host. I have tried copying VMCI.sys from my host to the VM, but running the VMWare Tools installer deletes it. I tried adding the key in the VM, but the error persists.

[OldTrekky]

This should NOT be marked as SOLVED! I have Workstation 17 Player (personal-use version) with a Win 7 Pro SP1 X64 VM. (Yes, I have installed the X64 VC-redist pkg.) I have tried every method suggested here and elsewhere to install VMware Tools, but it always fails because the digital signature of VMCI is invalid. The suggestion to fix the signature of VMCI.SYS is useless, because VMCI.SYS only gets installed with a GOOD installation of Tools. The suggestion is circular! I have also tried downloading Tools and using its ISO, but that fails too. 

[Technogeezer]

Perhaps this is part of the problem

Do you have all of the following Microsoft updates installed in the Windows 7 VM: 

• Windows Update Agent 7.6
• KB3125574
• KB4474419
• KB4490628

I found that because Microsoft provided these updates for code signing during the life cycle of Windows 7, VMware changed the Tools installer to accommodate these changes. Without both the Windows 7 updates and the runtime redistribution, Tools won’t install on Windows 7.

Problem is that a fresh install of Windows 7 won’t have the ability to install these updates through Windows Update. They need to be installed manually.

Compounding the problem was that Windows 7 out of the box only has Internet Explorer. IE doesn’t understand the updated HTTPS security needed to download the needed updates. And you can't install Firefox to get them because, well, Mozilla dropped WIndows 7.

I resorted to downloading them onto my host system from Microsoft (the KB MSU updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog, and search for the Windows Update Agent 7.6 installler), and enabling file sharing and then Windows file sharing for that folder. That enabled me to get the updates onto the VM, then I could install all of them. After that, tools installed

[OldTrekky]

Thanks a million for this hard to find info. I was able to download the 1st 2 of the updates, but in the catalog, the last one KB4490628, was titled only in Russian, although I did see the "X64" embedded with the catalog menu. Is that a valid update for US systems? Since I have a web server I can easily copy the downloads to one of my pages and download them into my Windows system from there, using the supplied IE browser in the VM. While waiting for your reply, I downloaded it anyway and the actual filename IS in English. But before installing it, I will still wait to hear from you.

[OldTrekky]

Since I had initially installed Win 7 SP1 X64, I was ready to start. All these updates MUST be applied manually, because Win update doesn't do it.

I installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) version 14.36.32532.0.

I then downloaded KB3030369, the "Service Stack" updater (This updates the Win 7 update program to be able to run the newer signed update files.) After installing it and re-booting the guest, I proceeded to install the "Convenience Update" KB3125574" and re-booted again. Then I installed the remaining 2 updates: KB4474419 and KB4490628. 

All the KB updates came from the MS update catalog at http://support.microsoft.com where you can specify any of the other updates. The ones listed here are for X64 Windows 7, SP1.

After a final re-boot, my machine was able to successfully install the VMWare Tools (DX 9.0a did not install, but that did not cause a failure.) As a test, I then installed Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness and it worked.

Notes: 1. the last update is listed in Russian in the catalog, but the downloaded file has the proper English filename.

2. Some of the related "fixes" I found on the web, said I might need to do some registry updates, but they didn't apply to my situation. Most just involved changing the system name from SP1 to SP2.

Thank you again @Technogeezer for your research and help.