1

We've had our two virtual servers migrated to a new service provider and they converted them from VMware to Hyper-V. This left behind "VMware Tools", which should be removed. But from "Apps & features", when I choose to uninstall it, it shows a small uninstallation dialog for a second or two, then it vanishes and nothing else happens.

How do I uninstall VMware Tools in this situation?

The virtualized OS is Windows Server 2016.

With help of @vssher comment I trie this command line:

msiexec.exe /uninstall {742FCBAF-EE5D-48B2-9E95-DA0513B79570} /lv!* vmwareuninst.log

Looking at the log, I find this:

MSI (s) (4C:F8) [10:31:19:589]: Doing action: VM_LogStart
Action start 10:31:19: VM_LogStart.
MSI (s) (4C:40) [10:31:19:589]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIC327.tmp, Entrypoint: VMLogStart
MSI (s) (4C:9C) [10:31:19:604]: Generating random cookie.
MSI (s) (4C:9C) [10:31:19:604]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 6776 (0x1A78).
MSI (s) (4C:F0) [10:31:19:620]: Running as a service.
MSI (s) (4C:78) [10:31:19:636]: Hello, I'm your 64bit Impersonated custom action server.
CustomAction VM_LogStart returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)
Action ended 10:31:19: VM_LogStart. Return value 3.
MSI (s) (4C:F8) [10:31:19:808]: Doing action: VM_SendMsiLogToHostOnError
Action start 10:31:19: VM_SendMsiLogToHostOnError.
MSI (s) (4C:A0) [10:31:19:823]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIC412.tmp, Entrypoint: VMSendMsiLogToHost
CustomAction VM_SendMsiLogToHostOnError returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)
Action ended 10:31:19: VM_SendMsiLogToHostOnError. Return value 3.
Action ended 10:31:19: INSTALL. Return value 3.

Looks to me like it's trying to send log to the OS hosting the VM, which of course won't work, since the new provider's host is not "VMware aware".

So, I suspect I need to do some kind of manual uninstallation. Any ideas? Maybe I should just ask VMware support...

Improve this question
2
  • If you open your Windows REGEDIT and goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Open that key, on the right you should look in the list of software installed, when you find your software there should be UninstallString. You should be able to copy and paste that string into Powershell or a Comand Prompt (open as administrator), then press enter. If that does not work find the folder where your software is you want to uninstall, there maybe an uninstall program there.
    – vssher
    Apr 2, 2020 at 7:01
  • @vssher Thanks for the hint. At least it enabled me to get a log to analyse...
    – Kjell Rilbe
    Apr 2, 2020 at 8:47

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0
  1. Download an installation package of VMware tools (newer version than installed prefered)
  2. Run in CLI “setup64 /c” This uninstalls VMware Tools and performs a complete clean up.

If it won’t help, you can “upgrade” VMware tools, reboot and start uninstallation.

Improve this answer
3

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .