Hi all,  remember this issue I raised last year?  Its still happening.  The DCHP idea didn't work.  But thanks for the suggestion RaSystemlord. 

I came up with another clue though.  I've pinned the issue down to shutdown/startup of the host PC (Windows 10 pro) versus restart.

On startup, I rarely, if ever, get a connection between guest and host.  After a restart, I pretty much always do get a connection.

So what's the difference?  From some Google searches ...

"A shutdown in Windows 8 or 10 is not really a shut down, the state of RAM is written to the hard disk and then read back into RAM when you start your system again.

Whereas a Restart does actually clear RAM and does not read the state of Windows. That is why in Windows 8 and 10 a restart takes a lot longer than turning off and back on your PC"

How affects VMWare, I don't know. It's quite annoying to have to restart before I can use my VM images, but at least I can use them. 

If this gives anyone an idea for a permanent fix, do please let me know.

Cheers all

Sue