Why do you need such an old version?

You can get the latest release of 14.x, 15.x, and 16.x here: https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstatio...

I have an old Virtual PC VM I want to convert.  It seems what I actually need is an old version of vCenter Converter Standalone, but these are also all removed as far as I can tell :-(.

This works for me:

https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/downloads/details?downloadGroup=PLAYER-1259&productId=522

Note that the first time you click you'll be forced to log in.

After logging in, it redirects to somewhere useless.
Close the browser tab page and do it again.
The 2nd time you no longer have to login and it goes to the download page.

At least that's how it works here.

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva

Nice!  That linked me to the 12.5.9 version of VMWare Player alright.  But as I've discovered it's actually an old version of vCenter Converter Standalone that I need, as VMWare Player just delegates to converter to do the conversion ... are you able to perform the same magic to get a link to older versions of Converter?

... there's been many "old" versions..

AFAIK this is the oldest one that is still available that has a public link:

Download VMware vCenter Standalone Converter 6.2.0

Not sure if that's the one you're after.

edit: Hmm.. looks like that is just the latest version too.
According to one of the people from VMware, even while it does not officially support older versions like Windows XP etc... that doesn't mean that it does not work. It _should_ still work for older OS's.

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva

Thank-you but no, I have that one, and the feature to convert Virtual PC VM's is removed from version 6.2.0.  I've found offsite links to version 6.0 and 5.5.3 out in the wilds of the internet, but I'm extremely hesitant to use them.

See my edits above.

re. Using downloads "of the wild internet"

You can probably still verify if the binaries are signed with a valid VMware certificate.

Alternatively perhaps you can get the official md5sum hashes of those files. Just had a peek at my normal iso library and I don't have your versions exactly and I can't really share the binaries, but I can give file hashes:

$ md5 -r VMware-converter-en-5.5.0-1362012.exe 
da50a8bc9ac823fd9a603dcc404f3d16 VMware-converter-en-5.5.0-1362012.exe
$ md5 -r VMware-converter-en-6.1.1-3533064.exe 
7b6d7a99f046d20715b2fbfd773d0faf VMware-converter-en-6.1.1-3533064.exe

So that hopefully that helps you to verify authenticity (FWIW I only download official versions)

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva

Great idea, but sadly finding those checksums seems to be as elusive as finding the old downloads!

"Why do you need such an old version?"

I know this might not be immediately obvious, but VMware Player v12.5.9 is the last version that works on older processors from before 2011*.

While that is probably not mainstream for VMware's commercial customers, there are some of us still using these old systems for personal use.  So upgrading VMware is not an option for us, we are stuck on v12.5.9, and that is fine for most personal use anyway.

That said, it is getting harder to continue using this old version.  Newer versions of the operating systems are making breaking changes to the system shared libraries that are increasingly incompatible with the VMware proprietary binaries.  Nevertheless, there are workarounds.

I really hope VMware keeps the installer and product documentation around for this particular version v12.5.9  indefinitely, as there is a valid need for this version to still be available and installed.

* see https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14.0/com.vmware.ws.using.doc/GUID-BBD199AA-C346-43...

Well, if I were you I would download and squirrel away the old versions' installers and docs.  It took me a long time to suss out a valid download for the latest versions to support 32-bit host OS's (Player 6.0.6/7, Pro 10.0.6/7), as an example.

I understand the need. However consider that older versions of both Workstation and their supported host operating systems may have security vulnerabilities that have not been patched. 

You're running these old versions at your own risk. It's not out of the realm of possibility that VMware could remove downloads for versions of their products that are unsupported and contain unpatched vulnerabilities. I've seen other vendors do that to protect both themselves from liability and their customers from becoming malware targets.