VMWare Tools 7.0 upgrade on Windows NT 4.0 Server
Situation: We were running Windows Nt 4.0 on VMWARE with Vmware Tools 4.0.
We needed to upgrade to VMWARE Tools 7.0 (including the Hardware)
The tools upgraded easily (surprisingly) but after the power off, snapshot, and upgrade HW of the virtual server, the network stopped working.
Logging on the server was using cached credentials (first obvious error)
Secondly trying to start the device (Start > control panel > devices > VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter)
Resulted in
“Could not start the VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter service on \server”
“Error 0031: A device attached to the system is not functioning”
Reinstalling the tools would result in “vmware setup failed to install the vmxnet driver automatically”
Solution: The below attached VMWARE KB article is not entirely correct though was helpful
The process was
1) remove the ethernet adapter entirely (take NOTE OF THE IP address DETAILS FIRST)
2) reboot
3) install a NEW adapter (start > control panel > network > Adapters tab) + Add
4) Copy the driver files for the vmxnet from c:program filesvmwarevmware toolsdriversvmxnet to c:vmxnet
(we had issues with windows nt.40 figuring out the path with spaces – even 8.3 names didnt work)
5) it should discover its a new Adapter and install successfully
6) provide the old IP address details and ENSURE you include a WINS address or on the WINS tab enable DNS for Windows resolution if you dont have a WINS Server
7) restart
8) don’t get scared by the Windows NT 4.0 Startup blue screen of death look alike! 🙂
References: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1018546
