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colman2012
Contributor
Contributor

Vmware tools in Windows ME virtual machine is broken. I can not copy any files from Windows 10 host machine to Windows ME virtual machine.

Hello Vmware Workstation Pro community,

I am using Vmware Workstation Pro version 12.59 and I am trying to copy a file from Windows 10 host operating system to Windows ME virtual machine. I  could not copy the file from Windows 10 host machine to the Windows ME virtual machine because the Vmware Tools is broken. When I tried to install Vmware Tools in Windows ME, there were two error messages: "can not open file in virtual machine" and "cancelling the file copy operation".

I tried to a repair install of Vmware tools in Windows ME virtual machine by completely uninstalling Vmware Tools first and then reinstalling it again. When I reinstalled Vmware tools again, there were two error messages: Vmware service has caused an error in Vmwareservice.exe. Vmwareservice will now close. If you continue to experience problems, try restarting your computer.

How do I repair the Vmware Tools installation? I tried copying files from Windows 10 host to Windows ME virtual machine but it could not copy because Vmware Tools installation is broken. Thank you very much for your help.

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Mits2020
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hello and welcome to the Community!

Regarding the transfer or that file I can think of three ways to do it:

- mount the guest .vmdk as a disk using menu-File-Map Virtual Disks

- copy the file to a USB disk and passing that to the guest

- use Shared Folders (if that works in ME, can't remember now)

Regarding the re-installation of VMTools, did you remember to reboot the guest in each step?

Also, I think that WS 12.5 is rather old for recent versions of Win10, it would be preferable to try with a more recent version of WS (15.5.6 is required if you are using Win10 2004).

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colman2012
Contributor
Contributor

Hello Mits2020,

I have a Windows 98 SE virtual machine (a second virtual machine running in the same Windows 10 host machine).. I am able to copy files from Windows 10 host machine to the Windows 98 virtual machine because Vmware Tools is not broken and running in Windows 98 SE virtual machine. Do you have suggestions how I can repair Vmware Tools in Windows ME? I am can not run any version of Wmare Workstation Pro higher than version 12.59 because I have an old cpu. I am a student and cannot afford to buy a new cpu to run Vmware Workstation 15.

Thank you for your help.

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Mits2020
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I understand your problems regarding your old CPU (what is it?) - it's a miracle that Windows 10 runs on it (I guess it's an old Win10 version too). How much RAM have you provisioned for the guest, can you increase it a little bit?

I just did an installation of a Windows ME guest in WS 15.5.6 and Win7 as a host. Everything went perfectly. I installed VMtools and there was no problem at all, sound works, drag-drop files work, the guest is lightning fast (and sadly shared folders do not work on ME).

Is this an old ME guest? Did you ever scan the filesystem for problems using chkdsk? Can you make a new installation and test whether the problem persists?

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colman2012
Contributor
Contributor

Dear Mits2020,

My cpu is codename Intel Lynfield. I think it came out shortly after Intel Nehalem which was around 2010. I am running Windows 98 virtual machine on Windows 10 host (version 2004). I am running it with 16 GB of RAM and provisioned 256 MB for Windows 98 and 256 MB for Windows ME. I am able to copy files from Windows 10 host to Windows 98 SE virtual machine.

The Vmware Tools in Windows 98 virtual machine is working but the Vmware Tools in Windows ME is broken. I think Vmware Tools is broken because it runs into two errors that I wrote in the first email. Are you pretty sure shared Folders does not work on Windows ME? Does Vmware Tools work in Windows ME virtual machine? Does Vmware Tools make use of shared folders? I tested topying files from Windows 10 host to Windows 98 SE virtual machine by dragging and dropping the files into Windows 98 SE. Draging and dropping the files doesn't work in Windows ME virtual machine.

Thank you for your help.

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Mits2020
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Shared folders does not work in WinME (see my screenshot below)

WinME-shared_folders.png

However VMTools are fully supported and they work (in my recent test, see my previous post). I still suggest trying a fresh installation of WinME.

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colman2012
Contributor
Contributor

Dear Mits2020,

I tried to drag and drop a file from the Windows 10 host downloads folder to the Windows ME virtual machine desktop folder. The the drag and drop operation failed with two error messages: "Can not open file in virtual machine" and "Cancelling the file copy operation". These two error messages were the same error messages as the first email. Can you show me how to install Vmware Tools in Windows ME virtual machine. When I tried to install Vmware Tools in Windows ME virtual machine I get an error message during the installation procedure. I don't know how to install the Vmware Tools completely without any error messages. I think the error message broke the Vmware Tools installation. The drag and drop operation doesn't work because Vmware Tools is broken.

Thank you for your help.

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Mits2020
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

In Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs you will see an entry for VMware Tools. Click on Add/Remove and the installation wizard for VMware tools will offer three options. Select the second one - "Repair" and tell us how it went.

If in Control Panel you don't see an entry for VMware Tools, you have fully uninstalled them, so you need to install them again by going to the VMware menu and selecting VM - Install VMware Tools (exactly the same procedure as you did in your Windows 98 SE guest).

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

I would not expect that copy and paste into a Win ME VM works from a Win10 host.

Use alternatives instead.

To copy files from Win10 to WinME create an ISO-file with the files you need and attach it to the VM.

Or use Winimage and use floppy images to exchange files.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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Mits2020
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I would not expect that copy and paste into a Win ME VM works from a Win10 host.

   This is surprising new info. Is it possible that drag-drop between a Win10 host and Win XP guest also does not work?

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

NT* host to NT* guest is a combination.

NT* host to Win9x* guest is a different one

The first one : NT 10 host to NT 5.2 guest (win10 to winxp) will require a code that is way more likely to be maintained properly than the more and more exotic win9x variant.

Keep in mind that WinME additionally is the black sheep in the 9x family.

And honestly even the popular NT host to NT guest combination no longer appears to offer flawless copy and paste.

Personally I dont  attempt copy and paste from host to guest when I use Workstation ...


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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