Symptoms:

• Powering on a Windows virtual machine fails with an error
• You see the error:
  The VMware Authorization Service is not running

VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Windows)
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Windows)
VMware Player 5.x (Windows)
VMware Player 3.x (Windows )
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Windows)
VMware Player 4.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Windows)
VMware Player 7.x (Windows)

This issue occurs when the VMware Authorization service is not running or when the service does not have Administrator rights.

Resolution of the Error: "The VMware Authorization Service is not running":

• Start the VMware Authorization service or to check whether it is running
• Provide Administrator rights to the VMware Authorization service

Process to Start the VMware Authorization Service or to check Whether it is Running:

1. Login to the Windows operating system as Administrator.
2. Click Start and enter Run. If you are unable to find the Run option, refer to Microsoft article What happened to the Run command?
   
   Note: The preceding link was correct as of September 30, 2015. If you find the link is broken, provide a feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
3. Enter services.msc and click OK.
4. Scroll down the list and locate the VMware Authorization service.
5. Click Start the service, if the service is already not showing a status of Started.
   
   Note: The VMware Authorization service depends on the Windows Management Instrumentation service. This service must be running as well. If the VMware Authorization service does not start, or starts and then stops, locate and start the Windows Management Instrumentation service.

Note: This issue typically occurs with Windows Vista hosts, but can occur with other versions of Windows operating systems too.

Process to Provide Administrator Rights to the VMware Authorization Service:

1. If using Windows Vista or later, disable User Account Control (UAC).
   
   Notes:
   • For information about UAC and Windows Vista (including instructions on disabling it), see the Microsoft article How to use User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista .
   • For information about UAC and Windows 7, see the Microsoft article What is User Account Control? .
   • For instructions on disabling UAC on Windows 7, see the Microsoft article Guided Help: Adjust User Account Control settings in Windows 7.
   • The preceding links were correct as of July 31, 2018. If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
      
2. Add Administrator rights to the Windows user account that runs the VMware Authorization service.
   
   Notes:
   • To ensure that you have Administrator permissions in Windows XP, follow the instructions in Step 1 of Microsoft's Knowledge Base article 951244.
   • To log on as an administrator in Windows Vista, see the Microsoft article Change a user's account type.
   • To log on as an administrator in Windows 7, see the Microsoft article How do I log on as an administrator?.
   • The preceding links were correct as of July 31, 2018 If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
      
3. Uninstall VMware Workstation.
4. Reboot the host machine and log in as a local administrator (not as a domain administrator).
5. Reinstall VMware Workstation.

If this problem persists, contact VMware support.

For information on issues related to incorrect permissions, see Settings changes are not saved in VMware Workstation (1006213).Settings changes are not saved in VMware Workstation
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