Weird problem with Vista x64 and VMWare

[rado992]

Hi guys,this problem seems kind of unusual,at least for what I've seen. :confused: So,the trouble is,in Vista Ultimate x64 VMWare Workstation 6 suddenly started to refuse starting. Whenever i tried to run the "vmware.exe" from its directory,the program flashed for a second and exited. I tried starting the VMWare installation exe,which also contains "vmware" in its name. Kaboom! Flashed for a second, then exited. Now comes the funny part. I renamed the installation exe so that it didn't contain "vmware". it started properly and I succesfully repaired my installation. After reboot i tried starting vmware.exe - it wouldn't run,same problem. So I renamed that exe to "omfgwtf.exe" (just an example,anything else would have done the job,too). Guess what!:eek: It started with no problems...almost,that is. When I try to start any virtual machine,it comes up with a "Failed to launch peer process." error (obviusly because the virtual machines' processes are named "vmware-vmx.exe" - they contain "vmware" in their name). Just to verify for sure that this is a filename-related issue rather than a software bug in VMWare, I renamed a working GPU-Z 0.1.9 executable to "vmware.exe". As you might expect,it flashed for a second and closed.

So what could be causing this obviously filename-related problem? Maybe some kind of malicious software? I'm really out of ideas. :confused: :shrug:

EDIT: Actually,after some more experimenting I found out that it's just the "vm" part in the fimename that causes the problem. Just to mention it in case it helps. :)

[m^2]

First, scan your hard drive with antivirus or two.
Second, try to disable antivirus, firewall and all other protection software and then try to run VMWare.
Third, are you the only admin of your computer? It may be something with policy settings.

[rado992]

In fact,i am the only user of the computer (and an administrator as you might guess) so no policies that i'm not aware of,I hope. The virus scanning,however,is something I will try. :)

[rado992]

Ok,scanned thoroughly for badware...the only thing that came up was one trojan,which i hadn't even noticed (barely surprising :D) ,but removing it didn't help at all. I'm beginning to think that the OS itself is restricting access to these files :mad: What i can't think of is how. I've tried poking software explorer to see if VMWare has been disabled somehow.Nothing. Using "services.msc" I tried starting the VMWare services - none of them (they usually start at bootup) is started,I noticed once while examining the processes in task mananger in a try to spot some unwanted and potentially badware process. I assume this is due to their name (they're all named "vm...something"). When i try to start any service, it starts and ends immediately with this error: error 1067: process terminated unexpectedly. Been using vista for only 5-6 months,compared to 5-6 years of XP experience so i haven't dug into Vista's darkest and deepest system tweaks (yet :p:). Any ideas? :confused: If you need any more info,i'll be glad to provide it.

P.S. I had no antivirus at the time the problem first occured,so AV software blocking VMWare can't be the problem.
P.S.2: This Vista x64 is really walking on my nerves recently..used to be so problem-free...but now little annoying bugs like this are beginning to come out of nowhere. :mad: Stupid thing is I'm stuck with it cause of my 8 gigs of ram...

[MadHacker]

I use vista64 Ultimate with VMware as well... fortunately i never had this problem.
all i can suggest is reinstall the OS, clean... and install vmware again...
it worked before... then it didn't ...
antivirus should be the problem,
not running antivirus could be it.

after you get your system installed, Ghost it...
then when the problems comes back restore your ghost image.
but always run antivirus. the Trojan might not have gotten in and possibly screwed up your VMWare.

my 2¢

[m^2]

It is likely that the antivirus missed something - if you run a crapware with admin rights you can practically never be sure that you cleaned it.
I also suggest reinstallation.

[Der_KHAN]

i'm running vmware server under x64 sp1 and i have no problems whatsoever. so i too would say that it has nothing to do with the os.

btw, m^2 your avatar is killing me man :ROTF:

[rado992]

btw, m^2 your avatar is killing me man :ROTF:

+1 :up:

Well,reinstalling the OS is always a solution to any problem. In fact,that is the first thing I would do if it was an option for me. It's just too much work to be worth for VMWare(ATM I use it mainly to test tweaked XP/Vista installations and I could have lived without that for some time). Anyway,you'll never guess what solved the problem :D I just uninstaled my webcam drivers (which i had installed shortly before I discovered the problem) and voila! VMWare starts normally! That also inludes all the services VMWare uses. (even the GPU-Z renamed to vmware.exe ran properly :D) What remains a mystery to me is how exactly those webcam drivers caused such major problems. Every single exe containing "vm" was being shut down because of them. :shrug:
Anyway,big thanks for the help and advice guys. :up::up:

EDIT: Found out the culprit. To anyone who might be using a Canyon webcam on Vista x64 and have the same issue as mine: When Canyon webcam drivers install,they create a file in C:\Windows named "FixCamera.exe",which blocks vmware for some reason. If you end that process in Task Manager,then disable it to auto-start at bootup using msconfig.exe ,the issue is fixed!(so far I haven't noticed any side effects from that process not running :)) Too bad Canyon can't make a driver that works without tweaking, though. :down: