This article guides you through troubleshooting why Workstation cannot be licensed and thus virtual machines do not power on. The article identifies and provides you steps to eliminate common causes leading to the issue.

• Cannot power on virtual machine in Workstation
• Virtual machine does not start in Workstation
• Virtual machine does not power on after upgrading to new version
• You receive the error:
  
  Serial number doesn't match existing licenses
   
• While entering the License /Serial key in VMware workstation you get an Error
  
  You do not have permission to enter a license key. Try again using the system administrator account.

1. Ensure your copy of Workstation is licensed correctly. For more information, see Licensing VMware Workstation (2014291).
   
   Note: Workstation 6 was previously sold for Linux and Windows operating systems and serial numbers work only for the specific host platform. If you enter a Workstation 6 for Windows serial number on the Linux version or vice versa, it does not license the product and you receive the Serial number doesn't match existing licenses error. To confirm whether the serial number supports your current platform check the order details for product description.
   
   You can also view your license in Customer Connect. For more information, see Viewing license keys in Customer Connect (2006831).
    
2. Verify your serial number is specific to the version installed on your computer. For more information, see Determining VMware Software Version and Build Number (392).
   
   Each major version upgrade of Workstation leads to new serial numbers. For example, if you upgrade from Workstation 6 to Workstation 7, you receive a new serial number from VMware. In addition, you have to ensure new software binaries are downloaded from VMware website and installed on top of the existing software.