Unable to upgrade existing VMware Tools or need to remove VMware tools manually

This issue may occur because the previous version of VMware Tools was not fully removed.

To manually remove VMware Tools:

Windows XP virtual machines

  1. Start the virtual machine and log on as the Administrator.
  2. Open the Windows Registry editor. Click Start Run , type regedit, and press Enter.
  3. Delete these registry keys, if they exist:
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerFeaturesC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerProductsC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerFeaturesC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerProductsC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInstallerUserDataS-1-5-18C2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall{FE2F6A2C-196E-4210-9C04-2B1BC21F07EF}
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREVMware, Inc.

Windows 2003 virtual machines

  1. Start the virtual machine and log on as the Administrator.
  2. Open the Windows Registry Editor. Click Start > Run, type regedit and press Enter.
  3. Delete these registry keys if they exist:
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerFeatures05014B32081E884E91FB41199E24004
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerProducts05014B32081E884E91FB41199E24004
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerFeatures05014B32081E884E91FB41199E24004
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerProducts05014B32081E884E91FB41199E24004
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInstallerUserDataS-1-5-18B150AC107B12D11A9DD0006794C4E25
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall{3B410500-1802-488E-9EF1-4B11992E0440}
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREVMware, Inc.
  4. Some services might need to be removed manually from the registry. Delete these as well if they exist:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesVMTools
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesVMUpgradeHelper
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesVMware Physical Disk Helper Service
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesvmvss

Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines  

  1. Start the virtual machine and log on as the Administrator.
  2. Open the Windows Registry editor. Click Start, type regedit, and press Enter.
  3. Delete these registry keys, if they exist:
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerFeaturesC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerProductsC2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{D86ADE52-C4D9-4B98-AA0D-9B0C7F1EBBC8}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInstallerUserDataS-1-5-18C2A6F2EFE6910124C940B2B12CF170FE
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall{FE2F6A2C-196E-4210-9C04-2B1BC21F07EF}
Windows 7 virtual machines
  1. Start the virtual machine and log on as the Administrator.
  2. Open the Windows Registry editor. Click Start, type regedit, and press Enter.
  3. Delete these registry keys, if they exist:
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerFeaturesB634907914A56494B87EA24A33AC1F80
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInstallerProductsB634907914A56494B87EA24A33AC1F80
    • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{D86ADE52-C4D9-4B98-AA0D-9B0C7F1EBBC8}
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerFeaturesB634907914A56494B87EA24A33AC1F80
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesInstallerProductsB634907914A56494B87EA24A33AC1F80
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInstallerUserDataS-1-5-18ProductsB634907914A56494B87EA24A33AC1F80
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall{9709436B-5A41-4946-8BE7-2AA433CAF108}
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREVMware, Inc.

All Windows virtual machines

  1. Search the registry for vmware and delete all associated entries.
  2. Close the registry editor.
  3. Open Windows Explorer.
  4. Delete the folder %ProgramFiles%VMwareVMware Tools.
  5. Restart the virtual machine
  6. Install the new version of VMware Tools.

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