Windows 7 x64 host running Workstation 10.0.5 build-2443746. Today I found all my "C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini" settings had been wiped out after I changed a setting through the GUI in Workstation. After some testing I've determined this is caused by the comments I used in the config.ini. Often I will want to disable a setting temporarily or write myself a note why I have a setting, so I use INI-style comments by starting the line with a semi-colon. It seems that as soon as VMWare encounters a line that starts with a semi-colon it wipes out that line and any line after it, regardless. Luckily I had a backup.
The bug is 100% reproducible. For example, create a config.ini with this content:
.encoding = "windows-1252"
bios.bootDelay = "5000"
; your comment here
mainMem.useNamedFile = "FALSE"
Now open Workstation and try to change a preference in the GUI. For example, Edit > Preferences > Memory > Fit all memory in RAM. Exit Workstation and check the config.ini, and it will show:
.encoding = "windows-1252"
bios.bootDelay = "5000"
prefvmx.minVmMemPct = "100"
The comment line and any line after it has been wiped out. This is catastrophic when you have a lot of important settings in config.ini. Luckily as I said, I had a backup.
