I fixed it, using a similar process that allows me to run programs with administrator rights from shell:startup when I login:
- I created c:\directory\startup-vmwarehostd-fix.cmd:
@echo off
start "" sc.exe start vmwarehostd - I created a shortcut to that file (startup-vmwarehosted-fix.lnk) in the same directory, and under its advanced properties had it run as administrator.
- I created c:\directory\startup-vmwarehost-fix.vbs:
Set Shell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Shell.ShellExecute """c:\directory\startup-vmwarehostd-fix.lnk""", 0
Set Shell = Nothing - The command used in step 8 became c:\directory\startup-vmwarehostd-fix.vbs, and step 9 was not required.
(In actuality, c:\directory, above, is named something else on my system.) I would not be surprised if either both steps 2 and 3, or just step 2, can be omitted and Task Scheduler can simply run the batch file task with administrator rights directly—but I didn't feel like rebooting my computer yet again to test the theory. (Note: It's steps 1-3, with similarly structured files in shell:startup, that allow me to run programs with administrator rights when I login.)
Let me also say that I hate whatever Microsoft has done with Windows 10 to require these gymnastics. (But, then again, the fact that vmwarehostd is not behaving the same as every other process that does start automatically is partly VMware's fault.)
