Windows 10 users have been complaining since the weekend that VMware Workstation no longer runs after a cumulative Windows 10 Update prevents it from starting.

To manually remove the hcmon.sys driver from the server: Right-click My Computer and click Manage. Click Device Manager. Click View Show hidden devices. Double-click Non-Plug and Play Drivers. Right-click VMware hcmon and click Uninstall. Rename the C:windowssystem32drivershcmon.sys file to hcmon. 2) Make sure none of the VMware installation or uninstallation process is running. Select and Delete all vmware files and folders in this location. 3) Restart the computer: 'win+R' type shutdown -r -t 0. SYS files such as hcmon.sys are third-party (eg.VMWare) device drivers or critical system files that come as part of the Windows operating system. Most SYS files allow internal PC hardware or attached hardware, such as a printer, to communicate with third-party software programs (eg. Web browsers, word processors, VM Ware Workstation 3.0 Upgrade) and the operating system (eg. 4 thoughts on “ DirectX 11 Now in Testing with VMware Workstation Tech Preview 20H2 ” Carlton Shen May 22, 2020 at 1:26 am. It cannot be installed – somewhere during installation, near installation of network adapter driver, it will fail and rollback. Or it will say hcmon driver installation failed and rollback.

Only older versions of VMware Workstation are affected, but even users willing to pay for an upgrade may face other compatibility issues.

The culprit seems to be KB4517211, which upgrades Windows 10 to build 18362.387. Although not mentioned in the knowledgebase, this update adds entries to the Windows Compatibility database, the result being that attempting to run VMware Workstation 14 or below gives the message 'VMware Workstation Pro can't run on Windows'.

In a thread on Microsoft's site, one affected user complained that upgrading their 100 VMware Workstation licences would cost €11,500.

There are other factors, though. A user trying to run the networking software GNS3 found that after upgrading, the software no longer worked. In addition, newer versions of VMware do not work on some older processors, so an upgrade is not always possible.

Windows maintains this kind of compatibility information in a Shim Database called sysmain.sdb. This is part of the Application Compatibility Framework which is able to patch applications on the fly as well as informing the user of compatibility issues. Some desperate users (not only in the VMware case) have tried replacing this file with an older version to get blocked applications to run.

This is not a sound strategy, since it is a system component and tinkering with it could have unpredictable effects on other applications or system stability. In addition, relaxing permissions on sysmain.sdb could make it a security vulnerability.

That said, some users who have done this subsequently reported that VMware 14 then works, leaving them puzzled as to why Microsoft chose to block it.

Another solution is to block the update, but it seems likely that a future update will cause the problem to return. Blocking updates is also not a good long-term strategy, since it leaves Windows 10 vulnerable to security issues.

Vmware Workstation Failed To Install Hcmon Driver Windows 10 Bootable

Plenty of old applications run well on Windows 10 and in general compatibility is fair. Low level applications like hypervisors are more likely to run into issues though, making this type of problem understandable. What is needed is a better mechanism for flagging the issues in advance so that admins have a chance to prepare. ®

Hat tip to Mayank Parmar for spotting the blunder.

One of the most recent issues that users experience on Windows 10 version 1903, or May 2019 Update, concerns VMWare Workstation Pro, which apparently can no longer launch if an older version is installed.

Certainly, this sounds concerning, especially for enterprises using this software on a regular basis, but according to reports, it may all come down to VMWare Workstation Pro itself being removed from the Windows Application Compatibility database.

Let’s see what’s happening here.

First and foremost, the issue first made the rounds earlier this month, apparently after installing the latest cumulative updates. Judging from posts on the official VMWare forums, there are four different cumulative updates for Windows 10 version 1903 that might be triggering this behavior:

October 24, 2019—KB4522355 (OS Build 18362.449)October 8, 2019—KB4517389 (OS Build 18362.418)October 3, 2019—KB4524147 (OS Build 18362.388)September 26, 2019—KB4517211 (OS Build 18362.387)

Once one of these cumulative updates is installed on Windows 10 devices, trying to run VMWare Workstation Pro fails with the following error generated by the Compatibility Assistant:


VMware Workstation Pro can’t run on Windows.
Check for an updated version of this app that runs on Windows.
According to user reports on the VMware forums, the issue affects all versions of VMWare Workstation Pro prior to 15.1. In its turn, VMWare Workstation Pro 15.1 was released earlier this year with Windows 10 19H1 (version 1903) support, although at that point, nobody expected earlier versions to be blocked on Windows 10.

As per AskWoody, Microsoft has recently removed VMWare from the Windows Application Compatibility database, which means that the app can’t run because it’s not considered a compatible product. While Microsoft hasn’t provided any specifics on the reasons for removing this app from its compatibility list, some think this is the correct approach given the risk of issues when running older software.

On the other hand, buying the latest release isn’t necessarily the thing that everyone wants to do, especially given its rather high price, so blocking older VMWare on Windows 10 clearly causes much frustration in the Windows community.

Fortunately, a workaround already exists, albeit it’s so much simpler than you’d normally expect.

Several users have confirmed on the linked discussion forums that it’s enough to rename the VMWare executable file to bypass the block. This is obviously ridiculous, but right now, it’s pretty much the easiest way to get VMWare to work around (registry changes that let the app bypass the restrictions are also available though):

Vmware Workstation Failed To Install Hcmon Driver Windows 10 32-bit

So browse to the following location (if the default installation path is used):


C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware Workstation
And rename this file:

How To Uninstall Vmware Workstation


vmware.exe
To:
vmwarea.exe
If VMWare Workstation Pro doesn’t work correctly on the first launch, just reboot your device and everything should be back to normal after that.

Vmware Workstation Failed To Install Hcmon Driver Windows 10 Pro

Gunther Born suggests that the issue might be caused by a compatibility block that was required because of changes related to Hyper-V virtualization. Because of the updates, Microsoft needed to restrict older versions of VMWare for running in order to prevent conflicts that would have caused bigger issues, albeit for now, a confirmation does not exist.

Vmware Workstation Pro Uninstall

Microsoft hasn’t provided any details on this problem, and I’ve reached out to the company to ask for more information in an attempt to determine why exactly VMWare Workstation Pro is blocked on Windows 10 version 1903. I’ll update the article when an answer is offered, but in the meantime, you can use the ridiculously-easy workaround detailed above to get the software up and running.