"Re-installing VMware seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut."
Yes, prior to Win 10 this wasn't a likely candidate for anything. Now the "continuous updating model" has got it to be a relevant consideration with Windows Updates and mostly Upgrades. No wonder, Windows 11 doesn't have that updating model - or that is the assumption in some Media.
But, as mentioned already, typically an application stops working because of bad or missing dll's. You might want to study logs (in 'temp's) and Windows Event Viewer to find out what actually fails - sometimes that solves the case or at least makes the case clearer.
It is also possible that any application installation can compromise any other application or Windows functionality. Uninstall does not necessarily help, because that is written by the same group of people, who wrote the wrong install & application program. However, this falls into the same "bad or missing dll" -consideration, where a reboot would not cure the problem. Also, you are not reporting on any application installs and uninstalls having some effect on this.
EDIT: Actually turning off firewalling might not be enough. For some changes to really happen, you need to reboot - Windows just doesn't ask for a reboot in many cases, but it still needs it (or running "something", which might be difficult to comprehend what that "something" in Windows is).
