Hello All,

I posted the following question to Microsoft guys,  but the fellow at Microsoft support was 1000% sure that this issue is related to VMWare only. I am hoping to  get some assistance at least here.

My question as below:-

Hello All,

NOTE: I have gone through many forums already and have followed all the steps recommended by different experts there. NO AVAIL! Hence, I am posting this here.

I have been trying to install VMWare Workstation 11 on my Windows 8.1 and I keep getting the MSI Error which says, "could not write value vmware-tray.exe to key \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows'CurrentVersion\Run.  Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel" 

This is really very frustrating now. And I am beginning to hate Windows 8.1 :-(

I have disabled Anit-Virus, Windows Defender, Firewall ...everything possible. Tried to run the program as "Administrator",  changed the permissions of all the HKEY related stuff under 'regedit"  to "Full Control"....  I did everything that was asked. Nothing happens. I keep getting the same error.

Please Please help!!!!

So, the MSFT person that said that "VMware-tray.exe" is a VMware Workstation application and that your error is a VMware based issue was 1000% correct.

I am guessing that VMware is attempting to do something within the OS that is being blocked, either via group policy or a security setting.

And, Workstation runs in the background as a service, not in the foreground what you might be able to elevate privileges.

have you run a malware scan on the system?  Have you re-downloaded the installer from VMware and tried again?

Are you able to install other software?

I've installed VMware Workstation on several Win 8.x machines with no issues, so it's likely some configuration or corruption local to your system.

Hi Brian,

Many thanks for your reply. So, if VMware is being blocked by the OS, then I should do something to the OS, shouldn't I? Which means, there are some settings that need to be changed on Windows 8.1 -  is my understanding correct? 

If yes, then that's what I am trying to figure out. What can I do on my Windows machine so that VMware gets installed.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Steve,

Yes, I am able to install all other software. I even uninstalled anti-virus, turned off Firewall settings, no avail. There is something blocking the installation, something to do with the 'regedit' stuff. Some system LOCAL_KEY or something that needs to be modified. I am the Administrator for my Laptop, not sure why it says, I dont have the rights. Thanks!

You posted this in the Windows 8.1 Hyper-V group.

So I will ask, is Hyper-V involved?  Do you have the Hyper-V role installed?

And again I ask, have you posted in the VMware forums? I ask because if this is a known issue, they would be the people that would know the reason and resolution (since it is their software package - regardless of the reason)

And, have you tried manually adding a registry setting to the registry path (without elevating your privileges)?

Hello pkoppart,

If this issue is related to VMware, to receive better support, it is recommended to contact the VMware support.

We dont have the test environment installed the VMware Workstation 11.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best regards,
Fangzhou CHEN