I know Windows 2K Server and ESXi 5.0 are long past their prime. I've obviously chosen to use software well past its prime for a reason so let's please skip all the suggestions to upgrade since I can't. I have a VM setup on ESXi 5.0 and running Windows 2K Server with PCI passthrough for the required security dongle. The only thing I can't get working is VMware Tools for a better user experience. Namely a screen resolution above 640x480. The error being thrown by the installer is "The program requires that you have Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows NT4 (with Service Pack 4 or greater) installed in this virtual machine." These are the things I've done/tried...
- I've double checked I'm on Server 2000 SP4 and have the KB835732 update installed as suggested on other forums.
- Verified that "Windows Server 2000" is set on the VM Settings->Options->Guest Operating System option.
- I've tried changing the Guest Operating System setting to Windows XP Pro (32-bit)
- I've tried setting the Guest Operating System back to Windows Server 2000
- I've tried ever version of the VMware Tools installer for ESXi 5.0 from the original to the latest version
The weirdest part of all this is VMware Tools worked just fine when the machine was running Windows NT4.0 prior to the 2K update. Before the update to 2K I uninstalled VMware tools in anticipation of problems and switched the Guest Operating System.
Anyone have any thoughts? I really need this to work as this VM runs a press machine worth thousands of dollars that the company will not replace any time soon. Any assistance is much appreciated. Hopefully I've provided enough details up front to make this an easy process.
