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VMWare Server 2 install question here.* Straightforward question that would probably require a VMWare expert to pull apart, given that Google has been totally worthless on this.

On a patched Windows XP machine, any attempt to install VMWare Server 2.0.1 results in failure, just prior to completion (progress bar is full but I can tell network adapter stuff hasn't been fired yet and most of the services haven't been instaled).

The error:

Error 25032. Failed to customize Windows logon process (). Please contact your administrator.

Upon dismissing the error, you're treated to:

Warning 25033. Failed to remove Windows logon customization (VMGINA.DLL). Please contact your administrator.

Clicking "OK" rolls back your installation. Killing the installer and hoping that it somehow leaves a working install behind was also unproductive.

*I hope install troubleshooting isn't outside the purview of serverfault, I'm typically an SO user.

Justin Searls
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1 Answers1

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If the immediate problem you are having is that the install partially failed and left you with an XP system you can't log into then the quickest short term fix is to start up in safe mode and copy c:\windows\system32\msgina.dll to c:\windows\system32\vmgina.dll. That will allow you to restart XP and log in again. Once you're logged in properly you should remove the VMGina.dll reference from the registry by deleting the following registry value (if it is pointing to VMGina.dll):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\GinaDLL

This is a fairly significant sort of change for a software install to make and if you have any anti-malware\security software installed it may have interfered with Server's installer. There are quite a few hits out on Google for issues with VMWare Server and VMGina but I can't see any consistent root causes.

Have you considered using VMware Workstation or one of the other free alternatives like VMware Player 3 or VirtualBox?

Helvick
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