Select the 'Settings' option to edit the hardware settings.Open VMWare Workstation Player and right-click on the VM.How to install/reinstall VMWare tools grayed out Even though I was doing this for Windows 10, this isn’t limited to Windows installations and should work regardless of the virtual operating system. After combing through replies, I managed to figure out the solution to my problem.įor anyone facing this same issue with their VMware installation, here’s the solution in a pleasing format. They were experiencing the exact same issue as I was. However, after everything, I just kept getting SATA0 errors.Īfter a crushing defeat, I began searching for a new solution on the VMware forums. I disconnected and reconnected my virtual optical drive, and added a second CD/DVD drive. I ejected the Windows ISO in the hopes it would free the drive and let me install the tools. For me, the option was set to use my Windows 10 ISO, and I couldn’t change the setting. According to the page, the virtual CD/DVD drive should have been set to “Auto Detect” in order to let the user install VMware Tools. I found VMware’s official support documentation and looked through any suggestions they had. Why is installing VMware tools greyed out? This happens when you try to install VMware tools on a guest machine either with the function already mounted or in the case the system doesn't have a virtual optical drive.

When I clicked on Manage, however, the option to install VMware tools was grayed out.

It even displayed in the log that I had successfully downloaded the tools, so I wasn’t sure what the issue was. It had prompted the option to download it, and I had chosen yes.

At least, it almost did.įor some reason, it didn’t install VMware tools as it should have. So, I grabbed the ISO I needed using Martin's guide on Download Windows and Office ISO images, and the installation went smoothly. This is exactly what virtual machines excel at-being able to run and test out operating systems or applications with a virtual setup that can be put together quickly and won’t affect existing installations and processes with the primary system. However, a few days ago, I wanted to install a virtual copy of Windows 10 to test out some of the new upcoming features. Typically, I use VMware Workstation Player to mainly run Linux as my virtual system.

Vmware workstation pro 16 windows 10