• You are unable to install VMware Workstation, Server, ACE, or Player
• The installer exits with an unknown error
• You receive an error indicating that a previous installation exists
• You receive an error indicating that you do not have the proper permissions or enough free disk space
• You receive an error indicating that another VMware product is installed
• You receive one of these errors:
  • Package could not be installed on this machine.
  • Install of <product> failed. Contact VMware Support or your system administrator.

1. Confirm that your host operating system is supported by checking the VMware Compatibility Guide.
    
2. Verify that you are not trying to install a virtualization product within a virtual machine. VMware does not support the installation of a virtualization product within another virtualization product. For more information, see Determining if you are running on a virtualized platform (1005436).
    
3. Verify that your user account has the correct permissions to install the product. These VMware products require administrative access to install. For more information, see Verifying sufficient permissions exist (1005410).
    
4. Confirm that you have enough disk space for the installed product and that you meet the other installation prerequisites. For more information, see the Host System Requirements section in the product's User's Guide.
    
5. Check for a previous installation of a VMware product. Most VMware products cannot coexist on the same computer. For more information, see the appropriate article:
   • Cleaning up after an incomplete uninstallation on a Windows host (1308)
   • Manually uninstalling VMware Workstation from Linux hosts (38)
      
6. Verify the health of your operating system. Most software does not install if there are issues with the underlying operating system. For more information, see Verifying the health of an operating system (1003956).

• If you are using Terminal Services to connect to the server on which you are installing the product, verify that you are using install mode.
• If you are connected to the computer via remote desktop or terminal services, disconnect and create the virtual machine using the physical console of the computer. Certain operations may fail when performed over a remote desktop (RDP) session.

You might also see certain specific failures. These articles may help:

• Troubleshooting an MSI error during a VMware Workstation installation (1031302)
• Installing Workstation outside the 64-bit Windows 7 default directory causes the installation to fail (1016348)
• Workstation versions 7.1 through 7.1.2 do not install on post-2.6.34 Linux kernels (1030365)
• When installing VMware Workstation, the Setup window displays a blank screen (1027986)
• Installing VMware Workstation fails with the error: Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file (1014644)